For example, the outlook for ecommerce sales in 2024 remains optimistic among small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

65% of respondents anticipate that their ecommerce sales will increase year over year (2024 compared to 2023), with 24% expecting a significant increase and 41% predicting a slight increase, according to the survey.

“The agility of ecommerce platforms allows SMEs to quickly adapt to market changes, manage costs more effectively and reach a broader, global customer base, all without the overhead costs associated with traditional brick-and-mortar operations,” the survey says. “As inflation continues to drive up the cost of goods and services, ecommerce provides SMEs with tools to optimize pricing strategies and streamline supply chains.”

DHL findings on ecommerce sales

Inflation and shipping costs are prominent concerns for ecommerce businesses today. The survey reveals that 40% of respondents view shipping costs as the biggest threat to their business, while 38% identify inflation as their primary challenge. Likewise, 60% of respondents note that inflation is the top issue they will be following for the rest of the year.

International expansion is a key focus for SMEs in 2024. Over half of the survey respondents (53%) see international growth as the biggest opportunity for their ecommerce business. This is further supported by their priority markets for expansion, with 43% targeting the European Union and United Kingdom, and 29% looking toward Mexico and Canada.

“Overall, SMEs remain optimistic about the potential for ecommerce growth despite the economic hurdles,” according to DHL.

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For 69% of B2B organizations, scaling revenue and operations is the top priority. The next priority is, which 53% cited, is prioritizing shifting revenue from in-person channels to ecommerce.

Despite the focus on ecommerce, manufacturers and distributors reported that 74% of revenue continues to come from offline channels and only 26% from online channels. This indicates a huge revenue opportunity to gain experience not only ecommerce revenue, but also the business overall, according to the survey.

B2B manufacturers, distributors want to scale revenue through ecommerce

“While these organizations currently earn less revenue from online channels, those investments are intended to reverse this trend and maximize potential online revenue. B2B companies that already have well-established ecommerce experiences currently generate more revenue through online interactions,” Algolia says.

Other findings include:

• When customers place orders online, 61% of those orders are a mix of large and small value products.
• 58% of B2B buyers made purchases once a week or more through ecommerce portals and 33% made ecommerce purchases a few times per month. Only 9% made a single monthly purchase.
• 32% of manufacturers and distributors recognize that their customers have difficulty finding products due to poor search functionality.
• 23% of respondents want to use search to consolidate data and information from various sources.
• 28% of manufacturers and distributors see search as a fundamental way to level up to advanced technology at their organizations.

“Responses across the board indicate that a top strategy for B2B organizations during 2024 is to scale revenue by shifting it to ecommerce channels,” according to the survey. “Many are already building toward those aims, with 48% either recently invested in ecommerce or prioritizing it for the year ahead. Building on those investments, B2B organizations aim to stand out in a competitive marketplace, reduce costs by simplifying and automating business processes, and drive profitability.”

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Check back soon for more Charts & Data articles, like our weekly B2B infographics. Here’s last week’s. We add new content regularly. 

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Parentheses indicate the merchant’s ranking in the Top 1000, unless otherwise stated.

This week’s ecommerce earnings takeaways

• Nike Inc. saw a 10% drop in ecommerce sales.
• H&M Group reported a 3% rise year over year for its quarter as it refreshed its online store.

H&M Group (No. 14 in Europe database)

Q2 2024 earnings: H&M Group said net sales were up 3% to $5.6 billion (59.6 billion Swedish crowns) in its second fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended May 31. The apparel retailer also noted that 30% of its sales were online during the first half of its current fiscal year.

“During the spring, we have successfully tested an updated online store that we are launching in our larger markets during the autumn,” H&M CEO Daniel Ervér said in the earnings announcement. “The new digital experience will give our customers more inspiration, clearer recommendations on how our products can be styled and which fit is right for them.”

Nike Inc. (No. 8)

Q4 2024 earnings: Nike Inc. net sales dropped 2% to $12.6 billion in its fourth fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended May 31. During the same period, Nike Digital sales fell 10% year over year.

Read more on Nike’s earnings here.

Levi & Strauss Inc. (No. 162)

Q2 2024 earnings: Levi Strauss & Co. reported an increase in net sales of 8% to $$1.4 billion for its second fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended May 26. The apparel retailer also said ecommerce revenue was up 19% year over year on a reported and constant-currency basis for the quarter.

Read more on Levi’s earnings here.

Other recent ecommerce earnings results

Alibaba Group Holding Limited

Q4 2024: Alibaba said it grew revenue 7% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024. Meanwhile, net income decreased 96% compared to the prior Q4.

Alibaba owns the world’s two largest online marketplaces by gross merchandise value (GMV), Taobao and Tmall. Taobao ranks No. 1 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest such marketplaces by third-party GMV. Tmall ranks No. 2. Both operate in China.

Read more on Alibaba’s earnings here.

Amazon.com Inc. (No. 1)

Q1 2024 earnings: Amazon net sales increased 13% to $143.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter. Meanwhile, its operating income more than tripled.

It ranks No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).

Read more on Amazon’s earnings results here.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (No. 7)

Q3 2024 earnings: Costco net sales grew 9.1% to $57.39 billion in its third fiscal quarter of 2024 ended May 12. During the same period, ecommerce sales grew 20.7%.

Read more on Costco ecommerce sales here.

The Home Depot Inc. (No. 4)

Q1 2024: Home Depot reported that sales declined 2.3% in its fiscal first quarter of 2024 ended April 28 due to challenges in the broader economy. B2B and Pro sales were equally impacted, while online sales grew.

The Kroger Co. (No. 6)

Q1 2024 earnings: The Kroger Co. reported that net sales were flat year over year reaching $45.3 billion for its first fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended May 25. Meanwhile, digital sales were up 8% year over year during the quarter, said Todd Foley, interim chief financial officer at Kroger, during the grocer’s earnings call.

Read more on Kroger’s earnings here.

La-Z-Boy Inc. (No. 254)

Q4 2024 earnings: La-Z-Boy net sales decreased 1.4% year over year to $553.5 million for its fourth fiscal quarter of 2024, which ended April 27. The company frames its total written sales — down 3% year over year in the quarter for La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries stores — as outperforming the overall furniture industry, which it said were down 8% for the same period. The company also noted challenges in online sales when discussing its Joybird brand.

“Turning to Joybird, written sales declined 14% in the quarter versus a year ago as the online furniture market continues to be challenged, consistent with the broader furniture industry,” said Melinda Whittington, the president and CEO of La-Z-Boy, during the company’s earnings call for the period.

Reitmans (Canada) Ltd. (No. 454)

Q1 2025 earnings: Reitmans net sales were flat year over year at 165.7 million Canadian dollars ($121.3 million) for its first fiscal quarter of 2025, which ended May 5. Ecommerce sales were down 9.2% year over year in the quarter for the apparel retailer, which saw in-store sales rise 3.4% during the same earnings period.

“Comparable sales, which include ecommerce net revenues, were down 4.6%, primarily due to decreased online traffic,” said Richard Wait, executive vice president, chief financial officer at Reitmans, during the quarter’s earnings call. “Sales of product through RCL Marketplace, which launched a little over a year ago, did not contribute significantly to the top line as we continued to develop partnerships and curate offerings. Retail store activity accounted for 75.4% of net revenues in Q1, while ecommerce made up the remaining 24.6%.”

Target Corp. (No. 5)

Q 1 2024: Target reported that total revenue declined 3.1%. That’s down to $24.5 billion in the first quarter of its fiscal 2024 ended May 4. However, online sales did increase slightly. Declines in discretionary categories were partially offset by continuing growth in the beauty category.

Read more on Target’s earnings results here.

Walmart Inc. (No. 2)

Q1 2025: Walmart grew U.S. online sales 22% for its fiscal 2025 first quarter ended April 30, 2024. Consolidated revenue grew 6.0% to $161.5 billion in Q1.

Read more on Walmart’s earnings here.

Ecommerce earnings calendar

Here’s when other ecommerce earnings are scheduled to report this quarter:

• Carvana Co.: July 17
• Adidas AG: July 31
• LVMH: July

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Whereas Q4 revenue decreased about 2% from the same period a year earlier, Nike full-year revenue reached a new high in its fiscal 2024.

In an earnings call with investors, chief financial officer Matthew Friend attributed the decline in Nike Digital sales to “softer traffic, higher promotions and lower sales of certain classic footwear franchises.”

Although Nike Digital has grown at about a 26% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since the retailer’s fiscal 2019, Friend said, the company missed its targets in its fiscal Q4. Nike Digital sales “underperformed” in April and May, continuing into June, he noted. This comes as Nike continues “to drive retail sales growth at a high full-price realization,” Friend added.

Friend had said in Q3’s earnings call that Nike’s target has been “to achieve the 40% digital metric.” So far, Nike has not disclosed how far along it is toward hitting that share of sales through digital channels.

In the earnings call, president and CEO John Donahoe said Nike is “taking our challenges head on and we’re regaining our edge.”

Nike ranks No. 8 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s database of the largest North American e-retailers by online sales. It’s also the highest-ranking Apparel/Accessories retailer in the Top 1000.

Total Nike revenue in fiscal 2024

For its full 2024 fiscal year, Nike revenue totaled $51.4 billion. That’s up 1% year over year from $51.2 billion. The full-year revenue growth comes despite a 2% year-over-year dip in Q4 Nike revenue, to $12.6 billion.

With the exception of the first COVID-19 pandemic year, 2020, Nike has grown its annual revenue in each year since 2011.

Total Nike revenue fell to about $12.61 billion in its Q4, which ended May 31, 2024. That’s down from about $12.83 billion in the year-ago period. This marks the fourth year-over-year drop in Nike revenue in a quarter since Q1 of the retailer’s fiscal 2019.

It’s the third such drop to happen in the retailer’s Q4 in that time frame — the first of which was at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Moreover, Q4 2021 rebounded to outperform the same period in the two prior years.

The only non-Q4 drop in the past five years was Q1 FY21, though the drop was moderate (less than $100 million) compared to the Q4 FY20 drop of about $4 billion. That was the second quarter to have been affected by the pandemic.

Before Q4 this year, the last year-over-year drop in Nike revenue was in Q4 of its fiscal 2022.

Revenue from Nike’s namesake brand accounted for $12.1 billion of the company’s $12.6 billion total revenue across brands, which include the Jordan brand and Converse.

Nike Digital sales drop again in Q4

Nike Digital, encompassing global sales through the retailer’s website and mobile app, decreased 10% in Q4. That follows a 4% year-over-year decline in Q3 Nike Digital sales.

Similarly, Nike Direct revenue fell 8% year over year, to $5.1 billion. Nike Direct refers to the retailer’s direct-to-consumer sales, both in physical stores and online. On the opposite end, Nike wholesale revenue increased 5% year over year, to $7.1 billion, in Q4.

In North America, Nike Digital sales decreased 11% in Q4. Meanwhile, Nike store sales decreased 5% while wholesale grew 6% in the region.

In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Nike Digital sales declined 14% in Q4. Nike Digital sales also declined in Asia-Pacific and Latin America (APLA), down 12% while wholesale grew 9%. However, Nike Digital sales in greater China grew 8% in the quarter; wholesale grew 15% while in-store sales dropped 6%.

Nike outlook for fiscal 2025

Nike expects Q1 fiscal 2025 revenue to decline about 10%, Friend said. That includes lower Nike Digital growth, “especially in the first half of the year due to lower traffic on fewer launches.”

“This reflects more aggressive actions in managing our classic footwear franchises, continuing challenges on Nike Digital, muted wholesale order books with newness not yet at scale, a softer outlook in greater China, and a number of quarter-specific timing factors,” he said.

Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding. Check back for more earnings reports. Here’s last quarter’s Nike report.

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These same merchants also want £1 billion ($1.28 billion) from Amazon. The British Independent Retailers Association is representing the merchants in a newly filed lawsuit. The association alleges Amazon is “illegally misusing their data and manipulating the Amazon Buy Box to benefit its commercial operation and its overall revenues and profit.”

The lawsuit filed in a London court stated that between October 2015 and the present date, Amazon used data belonging to UK retailers on the company’s marketplace. It says the data is non-public and belongs solely and specifically to the retailers.

Amazon has yet to comment publicly on the lawsuit.

The Featured Offer (formerly Buy Box) is a window that appears at the top right of a product detail page. It’s above the Buy Now button.

“This automated component lifts products above the competition to help customers find what they need and compare alternatives based on factors like product price, condition, and shipping speed,” Amazon says.

Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 1000, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers. Amazon is also No. 3 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database, which ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party GMV.

Why are UK merchants filing a lawsuit against Amazon?

Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges Amazon used the data in combination with manipulating the Amazon Buy Box. In doing so, the suit says, Amazon used a product-entry strategy that diverted sales revenue and profits from these retailers to Amazon.

“By misusing their proprietary data to bring to market rival products that are sold cheaper, Amazon is effectively pushing many of the UK’s independent retailers out of the market,” according to the lawsuit. “The consequences of Amazon’s abusive conduct have been to inflate its profits and harm the UK retail sector, especially the smaller independent retailers who are struggling at a time of difficult economic circumstances.”

The lawsuit alleges that Amazon alleges that products sold by third-party retailers were less likely to appear in the Buy Box than Amazon’s products, reinforcing the anticompetitive effect of Amazon’s decisions to take sales away from third-party retailers.

“Amazon set itself up through these unlawful practices to maximize the profit it would make and, in doing so, it must have known about the damage it would cause to third-party retailers,” according to the lawsuit.

“One might ask why an independent retailer would use Amazon if it were so damaging to their business?” says association president Andrew Goodacre. “In reality, we have seen a significant shift in consumer buying behavior and, if small businesses want to sell online, Amazon is the dominant marketplace in the UK. As a result, for small retailers with limited resources, Amazon is the marketplace to start online trading. While the retailers knew about the large commissions charged by Amazon, they did not know about the added risk of their trading data being used by Amazon to take sales away from them.”

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The smaller screen size can make it more difficult to find products, so Casio UK and its G-Shock watch website, have been using content personalization and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered search in an effort to boost conversion. So far, it seems to be working.

One way has been through creating a sense of urgency. Casio UK has tested FOMO (fear of missing out) messaging on its website. Monique Green, ecommerce manager at Casio UK, told Digital Commerce 360 that an SKU with less than 10 remaining units for sale will display messages such as “last chance” or “only five left in stock.” This has driven conversion rates up to 18%, according to Casio.

Using technology from Nosto, Casio UK’s website will display how many times a product has been viewed (on its Casio site) or purchased (on its G-Shock website) in the past 24 hours. Nosto is a commerce experience platform (CXP) that offers automation and AI tools to provide insights on ecommerce data.

Casio sells watches, calculators and musical instruments. It has different ecommerce websites for:

• North America
• Latin America
• Europe (including a separate website for the UK and Ireland)
• The Middle East and Africa
• Asia and Oceania

Casio UK taps Nosto for personalization tools

Although Casio sells wholesale, it said it wants to encourage shoppers to buy directly from both its Casio and G-Shock websites. Using a Nosto feature, Casio and G-Shock’s UK websites have achieved a 40% conversion rate on a retention campaign that triggers a pop-up message offering consumers a discount code. The catch is that it appears when a shopper copies and pastes product details to potentially search online for the same product elsewhere.

Danny Power, head of digital at Casio UK, told Digital Commerce 360 that the retailer’s focus “has been on DTC improvements in the past 5 years anyway, to understand the customer more and serve content that fits.”

He added that Casio UK had “a lot” of customers shopping directly on its websites during the pandemic, but that tailed off over the past few years and is building back up toward peak levels.

“Stock was difficult to move to retailers as their warehouses shut, so customers had to come direct during [the COVID-19] pandemic,” Powers said.

Additionally, Green said, Nosto will generate a pop-up on Casio UK’s site suggesting returning visitors pick up where they left off. That pop-up would take consumers to pages they’ve already visited, nudging them to convert.

“If I want to put a banner on the site, that’s a bit different,” she said. “I would go in and manually do that. But a lot of the things like PLP, products gone out of stock, that would drop to the last page. No one wants to see an out-of-stock product they can’t buy. So that’s, I’d say, like 90% just working in the background.”

Product recommendations

Casio UK said it also uses Nosto’s product recommendations feature “to help consumers find the right products quickly.” The retailer said it uses A/B testing to optimize where those recommendations appear across its site. That can include triggering a notification on a product listing page that a newer model of a product is available. This is driving 26% of sales on G-Shock’s UK site and 11% on Casio UK’s.

Green said Casio UK doesn’t have options on its site to save a product for later or to compare it with another product. However, the site shows recently viewed products at the bottom of the page as consumers are browsing.

“So for example, our GA 2100 is our best seller, and we have it in like four different colors,” Green said. “So before, you would only see that product when you clicked on it. Now, when you click on that product, you can see the different colors also on the PDP.”

Improving search functionality

Casio said Nosto’s AI-powered search makes it easier for consumers — especially those on mobile — to find products on its website by entering attributes including color, shape, or product names.

12% of Casio and G-Shock UK’s site visitors use the search bar during their buying journey. But Casio said its “previous search functionality suffered from a lack of advanced product data processing, meaning it couldn’t provide relevant matches to complex queries unless the team spent time manually linking attributes for each product.”

Other technology Casio UK uses

Green said Casio UK also uses Yotpo for user-generated content. Yotpo is a retention marketing platform that retailers can use to produce reviews, text messages, email, subscriptions and more. Casio UK also uses Hotjar, which offers website heatmaps and behavior-analytics tools.

Heat maps are “really useful, especially when you’re trying to see what’s annoying people or bugs,” Green said. “Or if someone’s clicking on something loads and it’s not working, it helps you pick up things on the website. … But because it requires you to go back and watch it, it’s quite time consuming.”

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The retailer operates Ted Baker in Canada, Ted Baker Limited in the United States, Brooks Brothers in Canada, and Lucky Brand in Canada. Ted Baker was founded in the U.K. It has locations across North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Sales are only available at retail locations, Ted Baker said.

“As of May 10, 2024, online shopping is no longer available for the time being, and all sales are final across all of the Company’s retail locations,” the retailer said in a statement.

Authentic Brands Group, which also owns Forever 21 and Aeropostale, acquired Ted Baker for $253.5 million in 2022.

Ted Baker is No. 261 in the Europe Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in the region.

Which Ted Baker locations are closing?

Sales will take place at all 31 Ted Baker locations in the U.S. and nine Canadian locations, the retailer said. The retailer has locations in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

Eight Brooks Brothers Canada stores and seven Lucky Brand Canada stores will also hold liquidation sales. Both are concentrated in Ontario. Brooks Brothers and Lucky stores in the U.S. will not be impacted.

All items will be priced up to 30% off original prices, Ted Baker said. All purchases are final sale, with no returns.

Ted Baker bankruptcy

On April 24, Ted Baker filed for insolvency in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. On the same day, it filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to have the Canadian proceedings recognized in the U.S.

A month earlier, the men’s fashion chain entered insolvency in the U.K. — the country’s version of bankruptcy. 

Ted Baker attributed many of its problems leading to bankruptcy to its European partners. Specifically, the filing mentions No Ordinary Designer Label, an operating partner in Europe.

In the filing, Ted Baker addressed several reasons it was filing for bankruptcy.

• Supplier delays: No Ordinary Designer Label was responsible for paying suppliers for Ted Baker Canada. When Ted Baker Canada paid the European partner for merchandise, they did not pay suppliers on time because of their own financial troubles, the filing said.
• Accelerating payments: Leading up the U.K. bankruptcy, suppliers and manufacturers began demanding upfront payments from Ted Baker Canada.
• Delays in the new tech stack: As part of the Authentic Brands acquisition, Ted Baker Canada had to invest in new technology quickly. Then, delayed migration to the new tech stack during the busy season exacerbated supply chain problems, the retailer said.
• Ecommerce issues: Ted Baker Canada was unfairly compensated for giving up the TedBaker.com URL to Authentic Brands Group, the filing said.
• Poor sales performance: Sales from January 2024 to April were trending 30% below the previous year, in part due to supply chain disruptions.

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Parentheses indicate the merchant’s ranking in the Top 1000, unless otherwise stated.

More retailers in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 list of leading ecommerce retailers in North America reported ecommerce earnings results for the most recent fiscal quarter.

This week’s ecommerce earnings takeaways

• Car and motorcycle retailers are both dealing with the impact of consumers searching for value. Consumers didn’t buy as many new motorcycles from Harley-Davidson, but O’Reilly benefits from that same trend as consumers pay for maintenance to keep their vehicles running.
• Columbia continued a trend among retailers of slowing promotional activity compared to 2023, which could depress sales.

Avery Dennison Corp. (No. 319)

Q1 2024 earnings: Avery Dennison said net sales grew 4% to $2.2 billion in the first quarter ended March 30.

“We are off to a strong start to the year. In the first quarter we delivered significant earnings growth, driven by higher volume and productivity gains,” president and CEO Deon Stander said in a written statement. “Materials Group delivered significant volume growth and margin expansion, as downstream inventory destocking subsided and volumes continued to normalize. Solutions Group delivered strong top-line growth, driven by high-value categories, despite apparel imports continuing to be below demand.”

Columbia Sportswear Co. (No. 157)

Q1 2024 earnings: Columbia reported net sales declined 6% to $770.0 million in the first quarter ended March 31. Despite the decline, that result exceeded expectations, CEO Tim Boyle said. Direct-to-consumer in-store sales grew year over year, while ecommerce sales declined. That was largely due to promotional activity in 2023 inflating ecommerce sales numbers, he said. Specifically, U.S. DTC sales declined by “mid-teens percent,” Boyle said.

“The overall e-commerce environment remains challenging,” he added.

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (No. 426)

Q1 2024 earnings: Harley-Davidson said revenue declined 3% to $1.73 billion in the first quarter ended March 31. Global motorcycle shipments decreased 7% year over year in the first quarter, in line with the auto company’s expectations, it said. Accordingly, wholesale shipments declined and sales prices were lower, leading to declining revenue. Revenue grew 12% for the financial services side of the business, despite higher-interest expenses, it said.

Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc. (No. 102)

Q1 2024 earnings: Keurig Dr. Pepper reported that net sales increased 3.4% to $3.47 billion in the first quarter ended March 31. Keurig sales continued to grow among higher-income consumers, while lower- and middle-income consumers are more pressured, the retailer said. Ready-to-drink products represent an area where it can continue growing, it said.

The beverage company also announced incoming CEO Tim Cofer took over the role on April 26 after starting the CEO succession process in September 2023.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. (No. 137)

Q1 2024 earnings: O’Reilly announced that sales grew 7% to $3.98 billion in the first quarter ended March 31. Same-store sales also increased 3.4%, on top of a 10.8% increase in Q1 2023, the retailer said. O’Reilly said the state of the economy plays to its advantage.

“In situations of heightened economic pressures, we believe consumers will continue to prioritize investing to maintain their vehicles, particularly given the significant cost and monthly payment burden of a new or replacement vehicle,” CEO Brad Beckham told investors. “We believe the composition of our sales results support this view of the consumer in the current environment.”

Other recent ecommerce earnings results

Adidas AG

Q1 2024 earnings: Adidas reported preliminary results for its first quarter ended March 31. Revenue grew 4% year over year to 5.46 billion euros. The latest Yeezy drop generated 150 million euros in revenue and 50 million euros in operating profit in the first quarter, Adidas said. Due to better-than-expected results, the retailer increased its 2024 guidance to expect mid to high single-digit growth.

Adidas ranks No. 16 in the Europe Database, which ranks the largest online retailers in the region.

Amazon.com Inc. (No. 1)

Q4 2023 earnings: Amazon beat expectations with earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023. Its net sales in the quarter grew 14% year over year to $170.0 billion.

Full-year sales grew 12% to $574.8 billion in 2023, up from $514.0 billion in 2022. Read more about Amazon’s earnings here.

Chewy Inc. (No. 12)

Q4 2023 results: Chewy, Inc. reported that net sales grew in its Q4 and fiscal 2023 ended Jan. 28, 2024, even as pet adoptions declined.

Read more on Chewy earnings here.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (No. 6)

Q2 2024 earnings: Costco said net sales grew 5.7% to $57.33 billion in its second fiscal quarter of 2024 ended Feb. 18. Ecommerce comparable sales grew 18.4% in the same period.

Read more on Costco ecommerce sales here.

Home Depot (No. 4)

Q4 2023 results: Home Depot reported that online sales increased about 2% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 28. Meanwhile, total Q4 sales decreased 2.9% year over year to $34.8 billion.

Read more about Home Depot’s earnings here.

LVMH

Q1 2024 results: LVMH reported that total revenue declined 2% to 20.69 billion euros in its fiscal first quarter ended March 31. The wine and spirits category recorded the greatest decline, down 16% year over year. The decline in champagne reflected a continued decrease in post-COVID demand. Meanwhile, other products achieved strong growth in 2023, making results appear weaker this year, LVMH said.

Ecommerce sales grew more slowly than physical retail, but that’s not necessarily a problem, said chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony.

“If products are being sold in stores, we see no necessity to put a lot of them onto the ecommerce and vice versa,” he said. “So basically, I would view the fact that ecommerce is growing less than stores as a good sign of the health of the store channel, which is obviously by far the most important for us.”

LVMH is No. 3 in the Europe Database.

Procter & Gamble Co. (No. 512)

Q3 2024 earnings: Procter & Gamble reported net sales increased 1% to $20.2 billion in its fiscal third quarter ended March 31. The business attributed sales growth across beauty, grooming, home care and baby care segments to pricing increases.

“We expect the environment around us to continue to be volatile and challenging, from input costs to currencies to consumer, retailer and geopolitical dynamics,” chief financial officer Andre Schulten told investors in an earnings call.

Target Corp. (No. 5)

Q4 2023 results: Target revenue grew 1.7% to $31.92 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Online sales declined 0.7%.

Read more on Target’s earnings here.

Walmart (No. 2)

Q4 2024 results: Walmart said U.S. online sales grew 17% for its fiscal 2024 fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. Its global ecommerce sales grew 23% over the same period, while international ecommerce increased 44%. 

Read more about Walmart’s earnings here.

Ecommerce earnings calendar

Here’s when other ecommerce earnings are scheduled to report this quarter:

• Amazon.com Inc.: Feb. 1
• Best Buy Co Inc.: Feb. 29
• Costco Wholesale Corp.: March 7
• The Home Depot Inc.: Feb. 20
• Lowe’s Cos Inc.: Feb. 27
• Target Corp.: March 5
• Walmart Inc.: Feb. 20

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GigaCloud launched its B2B marketplace in January 2019 by focusing on the global furniture market. It has since expanded into such additional categories as home appliances and fitness equipment. The GigaCloud B2B marketplace debuted as a public company in the U.S. in 2022. It first became profitable in 2023.

For the year ended Dec. 31, GigaCloud reported:

• Total 2023 revenue of $703.8 million, an increase of 43.6% from $490.1 million for 2022.
• 2023 net income was $94.1 million compared to $24.0 million in 2022.
• GigaCloud marketplace gross merchandise volume in 2023 totaled $794.4 million, up 53.3% from $518.2 million in the prior year.
• Active third-party (3P) sellers totaled 815 last year, an increase of 45.5% from 560 in 2022.
• The number of active buyers grew year over year to 5,010, up 20% from 4,156 in 2022.
• The spending per active buyer was $158,569 compared to $124,692 in 2022.
• Third-party marketplace gross merchandise value (GMV) was $426.3 up 65.4% from $257.7 million in the prior year.

“On the seller side, the platform saw an approximately 46% increase in active 3P sellers, which ended at 815 for the quarter,” CEO Larry Wu told analysts on a recent year-end earnings call. “As I’ve mentioned in the past, we see the expansion of our 3P ecosystems as a crucial aspect of our platform expansion and achieving scale in our supplier-fulfilled retailing model,” he added.

GigaCloud’s expansion plans

In February, the marketplace also announced more international expansion with the introduction of new third-party suppliers in Colombia, Mexico and Turkey that have joined its B2B ecommerce platform, GigaCloud Marketplace.

As GigaCloud broadens its reach, Wu points to challenges stemming from “shifts in the evolving global supply chain” a motivator for resellers to become buyers on its marketplace, which he says is adapting to supply chain conditions, listing products from various regions.

“This strategic move positions GigaCloud as a key player in global trade, offering diverse supply chain solutions that empower resellers to source products globally, supported by comprehensive logistics and fulfillment services to optimize their procurement efficiency and overall supply chain performance — all at their fingertips,” Wu stated.

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JD Sports will acquire all outstanding shares of Hibbett stock at $87.50 per share, totaling about $1.1 billion. That’s a 21% premium over the price of Hibbett’s stock at closing on April 22. 

“Today is a significant milestone for JD Sports as we take this transformative step as a global leader in the sports fashion industry through this transaction with Hibbett,” said Régis Schultz, CEO of JD Sports. “We’re thrilled to acquire Hibbett | City Gear, combining two of the most respected athletic retail brands in the United States, as we continue to strategically expand our global multi-brand platform. With Hibbett’s highly complementary footprint, this transaction represents a logical next step in our strategic growth plans, further enabling us to meet the dynamic demands of consumers globally.”

JD Sports is headquartered in Bury, England, with more than 3,300 stores worldwide. Acquiring the Birmingham, Alabama-based Hibbett and its nearly 1,200 stores will allow JD Sports to continue growing its U.S. presence, the retailer said. 

JD Sports is No. 26 in the Europe Database, Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in the region. Hibbett is No. 303 in the Top 1000. The database is Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest North American online retailers.

Details of JD Sports’ acquisition of Hibbett

The Hibbett Board of Directors unanimously approved the acquisition agreement, it said. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2024. That’s dependent on approval from Hibbett stockholders and regulators.

Once the deal goes through, Hibbett will operate under JD Sports and cease being a publicly traded company. It will retain its headquarters in Alabama. Mike Longo will stay on as CEO, and executive vice president of merchandising Jared Briskin will take over as chief operating officer.

JD Sports said the acquisition would add to its revenue in the first fiscal year and contribute $25 million in cost savings.

“The transaction with JD Sports will create immediate, certain and substantial value for Hibbett stockholders while ensuring that our brands are well-positioned to continue to serve the customers and communities that have always been the central focus of Hibbett’s business,” said Anthony Crudele, chairman of the Board of Directors of Hibbett. “The Board unanimously agreed that this transaction is the best path to maximize the value of Hibbett, and I am proud of what this company and our outstanding team have accomplished for all stakeholders.”

JD Sports will fund the deal with $300 million in cash and another $1 billion in funding from existing bank facilities, it said.

Hibbett’s financials

In its fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 ended Feb. 3, Hibbett reported that net sales grew 1.8% to $466.6 million. Brick-and-mortar comparable sales declined 9.2%. Meanwhile, ecommerce sales grew 6.9% over the same period. Ecommerce represented 18.9% of net sales in the quarter.

For the full year ended Feb. 3, Hibbett said net sales grew 1.2% to $1.71 billion. Ecommerce sales increased 4.1% in the year, to account for 16.2% of annual sales.

The sports retailer forecasted that fiscal 2025 sales will grow up to 2% over 2024 sales.

JD Sports eyes US growth

JD Sports cited Hibbett’s fiscal 2024 revenue in its presentation on the merger to investors. In addition, it noted “strong brand positioning” and “significant store presence” as ways Hibbett will benefit JD Sports. 

Specifically, Hibbett will give JD Sports a foothold in the Southeast and Midwest U.S. That’s “highly complementary” to JD Sports’ other brands with established presences on the East and West coasts, it said.

The British retailer has had a U.S. presence since 2018, which it expanded in 2020 with the acquisition of Shoe Palace. The U.S. is the world’s largest sportswear market, and an attractive place to continue investing, it said. U.S. sportswear sales topped $121 billion in 2023, more than four times higher than E.U. sales, JD Sports said.

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