“In the second quarter, we made significant progress on gross margin and operating efficiencies, which reinforces our confidence that we’re on the right track,” said CarParts.com CEO David Meniane. “We expect the fiscal year 2024 to be a low watermark year as we execute on the changes we have been making.”

CarParts.com is No. 147 in the Top 1000 Database, where Digital Commerce 360 ranks the largest North American ecommerce retailers by annual online sales. There, it is classified as an Automotive Parts & Accessories retailer. Digital Commerce 360 projects that CarParts.com web sales will reach $677.51 million in 2024.

CarParts.com web sales by year

CarParts.com Q2 earnings results

Meniane said the company expects its newly realized operational efficiencies will lead to more robust earnings in 2025. Other notable numbers from the Q2 report include:

• Gross profit of $48.4 million, a reduction from $60.4 million in the year-ago period, with gross margin of 33.5%.
• Net loss was $8.7 million, or down $0.15 per share, compared to a net loss of $0.7 million, or $0.01 per share.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $0.1 million, which is a reduction from $6.3 million the prior year.
• Cash of $34.1 million and no revolver debt.
• Total cumulative mobile app downloads of 450,000, more than doubled from the beginning of the year.

Importance of mobile app for CarParts.com digital sales

While CarParts.com has no physical presence — all its sales are digital — it is heavily promoting and refining its mobile app ordering capability, and that appears to be paying off.

Meniane said in the earnings call that 12 months after launching, mobile app sales accounted for 8% of total ecommerce revenue, with approximately 80% of customers shopping on mobile.

“Over time, we expect direct in-app purchases to drive savings and advertising spending by reducing our reliance on search engines and performance marketing, as well as incentivizing repeat purchases,” Meniane says.

But that doesn’t mean CarParts.com isn’t continuing to invest in more conventional channels.

“We continue to invest in our marketing channels,” Meniane told investors. “We are making strides on building brand awareness and recognition of our leading digital-first and customer-centric automotive ecommerce strategy, which is critical to capturing our target high-value customer base.”

Welcoming a new chief marketing officer

The earnings call also allowed CarParts.com to introduce Christina Thelin, who joined the company in July. Thelin brings over 20 years of experience in marketing with brands like Visa, Twitter, and Google. She replaces Houman Akhavan, who served in that role until last year.

“Christina will lead our strategic marketing initiatives as we continue to expand our market presence, drive customer engagement, and increase awareness for CarParts.com,” Meniane said.

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post CarParts.com’s Q2 earnings sag as CEO discusses transition appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Steve Brass, president and CEO, WD-40 Co.

In a recent earnings call, he said the manufacturer and marketer of industrial and residential lubricants, degreasers and cleansers is making progress on its four “must-win” competitive market battles:

• Geographic expansion worldwide.
• Increasing premium product sales.
• Growing its Specialist product line for mechanics and other professionals.
• Accelerating digital commerce.

Although Brass listed ecommerce fourth on the company’s must-win list, he said it was critical to the other three.

“We see [ecommerce] as an accelerator for all our other must-win battles, as it improves brand awareness and online engagement, leading to an improved customer experience and sales across all our trade channels,” Brass said on a recent earnings call, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha.

He added, “Some of our key objectives within this must-win [ecommerce] battle are to build our brand digitally, grow and develop the ecommerce pure play channel, accelerate growth of the omnichannel, and continue capability-building for our employees.”

Brass went on to note that WD-40’s digital commerce strategy resulted in an 18% company-wide year-over-year ecommerce sales increase through the first nine months of its current fiscal year, “with double-digit growth across the company’s three trade blocks of EIMEA (Europe India Middle East Africa), the Americas, and Asia-Pacific.

The company said total net sales rose 9.4% to $155.05 million for the fiscal third quarter ended May 31; net income increased 5.0% to $19.84 million from $18.90 million.

For the nine months ended May 31, net sales increased 9.5% to $434.57 million from $396.80 million as net income rose 7.0% to $52.86 million from $49.42 million.

Growing sales through online distributors

The company has said its sharpest growth is via ecommerce sales through such business-to-business ecommerce sites as Grainger.com, MSCDirect.com, GlobalIndustrial.com, Fastenal.com and MotionIndustries.com and such online retailers as Amazon, Ace Hardware and Aubuchon Hardware. WD-40 customers can link directly to these ecommerce sites from WD-40.com.

WD-40 is also taking other steps with digital technology to build on its online interactions with customers and drive up operating efficiency.

An online contest WD-40 launched in 2021, Repair Challenge, has invited customers across more than 40 countries — including “doers, makers, fixers and builders” — to show how use WD-40 lubricants and other products to extend the lifespan of their tools, bicycles, cars and other items. Brass said that, so far, the contest has created over 0.5 billion online marketing impressions worldwide.

WD-40 is also “making foundational investments in systems and  data that will allow us to grow faster,” Brass said. For example, he said WD-40 had rolled out Salesforce Inc.’s CRM technology in the U.S. and will be expanding it in the near term, “driving sales efficiencies and effectiveness.”

“Use of data analytics and automated tools, leveraging data is increasing and can be a real enabler for the business,” he said. “The foundational work we are doing now around data governance, centralizing our data architecture and data quality management will allow our people to leverage our data quicker and drive better decision-making.”

Brass added that WD-40 has engaged an investment bank to seek suitors for its U.S. and U.K. home-care and cleaning product brands, which account for about 4% of total sales, and expects to sell them in the company’s 2025 fiscal year.

“Post divestiture, WD-40 Co. will be a more focused company with a higher sales growth and gross margin profile,” he said.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

The post At WD-40 Co., ecommerce underpins all “must-win” battles appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Curt Westphal, director of program development, HDA Truck Pride

But this year, HDA is going beyond its traditional role as a truck-parts buying group for its more than 140 member companies. Its members operate in aggregate 900 facilities across the U.S., servicing many thousands of trucks, from single-owner-operators to corporate fleets with thousands of vehicles.

It hasn’t been easy to build customer loyalty among fleets and individual truckers across the country, but that’s the route HDA says it’s now taking with its new FUSE National Fleet Program.

In April, HDA launched the FUSE program with TreviPay, a B2B payment technology and services provider. In the FUSE web portal, trucking companies can apply for credit terms that they can use throughout the HDA member network. And at the end of a billing period, they can view a single statement to manage and pay invoices from hundreds of parts and repair shops.

“This is what is helping us build the HDA network to the fleets across the country,” says Curt Westphal, HDA’s director of program development.

A mechanic works on a truck breaking system at an HDA Truck Pride network service center.

Westphal says he expects the FUSE program to support more consistent connections between its member companies and truck fleets, leading to larger average order sizes while sellers avoid taking on credit risk. TreviPay extends the credit terms after an expedited credit check and takes on the risk.

More accurate invoices, faster payments

Westphal adds that a main benefit of the FUSE program is the ability it has shown to improve invoice accuracy by 90%, resulting in faster payments. He says the FUSE program lets the customers of HDA’s companies control their purchase order specifications, which goes a long way toward ensuring the accuracy of purchase orders and invoices processed through the FUSE portal. The system avoids manual double-entry of documents, supporting the increase in accuracy, he adds.

Westphal notes that HDA has already onboarded more than half of its140-plus member companies and is gradually adding fleet customers.

He adds that the FUSE program also lets fleet customers click a portal button to dispute any unrecognized charges, giving sellers  the opportunity to directly work out any discrepancies.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post How HDA Truck Pride is overhauling fleet services online appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The new Digital Commerce 360 report, B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies, covers the growth strategies of these and other companies and is available for free download.

B2B ecommerce can be complicated for both buyers and sellers.

The spirits industry is a good example.

Advanced Spirits, a Houston alcoholic beverage distillery and services company, has launched Barrel Hub, an ecommerce platform for the wholesale bulk whiskey market.

Like other marketplaces featured in the DC360 report, Barrel Hub offers online tools designed to smooth out the purchasing process.

“From our soft launch, we know one of the most pressing questions that buyers and sellers have is around purchase price,” says Advanced Spirits president Rob Arnold. “What is the current value of this whiskey barrel?”

But he adds: “The lack of transparency in the wholesale bulk whiskey market makes this question hard to answer. Therefore, Barrel Hub has introduced a bid feature, so that buyers and sellers can collectively set fair market values.”

At Science Exchange, “our supplier orchestration platform sits on top of P2P [peer-to-peer] and ERP [enterprise resource planning] systems and includes a powerful workflow engine and integration platform, automating the entire process of collaborating with suppliers from intake to payment,” says CEO Elizabeth Iorns. “This improves how life sciences companies collaborate with suppliers, enabling faster project execution, improving compliance, significantly reducing costs, and ultimately bringing therapeutics to market faster.”

Science Exchange features include:

• Users can access Science Exchange’s existing network of 3,800 suppliers under a standard legal agreement and synchronize existing suppliers they use daily.
• Automated guided buying tools also help each transaction comply with purchasing and third-party risk management (TPRM) policies.
• Configurable workflow automation supports purchasing and compliance requirements across sites, teams and purchase categories, among other areas.

The B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies report also covers statistics on marketplace industry growth and provides an inside look at marketplace strategies in case studies on OnlineMetals.com, electronic components and hardware distributor Bisco Industries, and the apparel business FashionGo.

In addition, the report also covers how the used-vehicle marketplace is using AI and computer vision technology to help buyers evaluate vehicles online before  purchasing, and how a new AI-powered catalog management tool from marketplace technology company Mirakl expedites how online sellers list their products.

B2B Marketplace Growth Strategies  is available as complimentary download.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post What’s behind the rapid growth of B2B marketplaces appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Nissan Canada supports 209 independent Nissan dealerships, including 143 electric-vehicle-certified dealers, and 39 Infiniti dealerships across Canada. It sold 92,000 vehicles in 2023.

Now, Nissan Canada is rolling out a revamped ecommerce platform to generate even more car sales — and give consumers even more options to buy and finance a vehicle online.

The new ecommerce platform enables customers to reserve their desired vehicle with a 100% refundable deposit of $500 or $1,000.

Other features let consumers:

• Build and price new vehicles online.
• Filter search results by categories such as budget, number of seats, and other specialized metrics.
• Book a test drive for a vehicle at home or at a dealership.
• Search for available inventory.
• Compare pricing with similar vehicles from other competing manufacturers.

“We have observed increased interest and reservations for vehicles aimed at this demographic, particularly for  the Sentra and Kicks, and it is important to mention this is the first step towards an entire end-to-end experience, allowing customers to buy anytime, anywhere,” says a Nissan Canada spokesperson.

Overall, Nissan worldwide is spending $200 million to upgrade its digital commerce infrastructure, according to a recent story in Automotive News.

Nissan USA sold 900,000 vehicles last year, including 201,747 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

But it’s unclear if or when Nissan USA will update its ecommerce platform.

“Ecommerce is part of Nissan’s global customer experience strategy, but countries have autonomy to create their own solutions that adjust to market needs,” the spokesperson says.

Nissan Canada is retooling ecommerce now because customers want more options to buy vehicles online, the spokesperson adds.

“According to Google’s research, 50% of Gen Z and Millennials are willing to buy vehicles online, and ecommerce provides our customers with 24/7 access to a Nissan showroom,” he says. “Ecommerce will also be a powerful tool for bringing electric vehicles (EVs) and their accessories to our customers as we transition to a more electrified portfolio.”

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

The post Nissan Canada puts better digital commerce for vehicle buyers on a fast track appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

The third annual Automotive Aftermarket Digital Health Report reviews nearly 13,000 product pages across eight auto parts categories on the ecommerce sites of seven merchants: RockAuto.com, Advance Auto Parts, Amazon, Auto Zone, NAPA, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Walmart. The report was produced recently by Content Status, a digital content management technology provider, and Pivotree, a digital agency and systems integrator.

For displaying products online effectively, the report notes the significance of developing:
● An effective product data taxonomy for helping online buyers discover products across multiple categories.

● Comprehensive and accurate product descriptions with images to help buyers decide on purchases and become loyal customers, leading to increased conversion rates and sales.

But the report found that only about half of the reviewed merchants’ ecommerce sites followed effective product data management procedures.

For example, it found:

● 49.4% “adhere highly to category taxonomy and intermediary category page guidelines.”

● 50% “adhere highly to product image and gallery user interface (UI) guidelines.

● 40% “adhere highly to product information and specification guidelines.”

● 66% of displayed products have only four or fewer images.

● 82% of displayed products don’t include 360-degree spin images.

● 82% of products have no videos.

The report also notes the challenges merchants face in receiving and managing often incomplete product data, often in various formats, from multiple suppliers. “Incomplete or inaccurate product information hampers your customer’s ability to make informed decisions, resulting in decreased conversion rates and diminished customer trust.”

Automotive aftermarket lags in digital content

It adds that, despite digital technology improvements for automating and streamlining data management, “the automotive aftermarket industry remains heavily reliant on manual entry, review and normalization of data,” resulting in a lack of efficiency and accuracy in managing effective online product content.

The report breaks out performance scores for the seven retailers by overall content management, data taxonomy, and content by eight auto product categories, including brakes, car batteries, fuel pumps and oil filters.

Although the report singles out Amazon and Walmart as overall leaders, its retailer scores vary widely across the multiple scoring areas. For overall content, it cites Amazon as tops for “providing more content than other retailers.”

For taxonomy, the report scores AutoZone highest, followed by NAPA, while giving Amazon a “poor” score.

Among the eight product categories, the report calls out several retailers for effective content strategies, such as Advance Auto Parts with detailed product descriptions in brake rotors and O’Reilly in spark plugs for detailed product descriptions and 360-degree images.

The report found that car batteries had the most effective content overall among all retailers, and it cited Rock Auto for providing specification documents for all of its featured battery products.

It found oil filters to have the most lacking content overall but cited Walmart and Amazon “as the clear leaders in this category by consistently providing more content.”

But while the report gave Walmart and Amazon the highest scores for oil filter product descriptions, it gave Walmart a “poor” imaging score for lacking documentation and rich images.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post Want to sell that oil filter online? Spruce up the product data. appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

But the road ahead may get bumpier for the motor vehicle online marketplace and data services company.

For the first quarter ended March 31, ACV posted an increase of 21.7% for revenue of $145.68 million. That’s up from $119.62 million in the first quarter of 2023.

Marketplace and service revenue grew year over year by 23.8% to $129.81 million, up from $104.86 million in Q1 2023. Meanwhile, customer assurance revenue totaled $15.87 million from $14.76 million in the prior year. Net loss was $20.47 million, versus $18.2 million in the first quarter of 2023.

“We are very pleased with our strong first-quarter results with revenue at the high end of our guidance range, strong year-over-year margin expansion, and adjusted EBITDA at the high-end of guidance range, resulting in our first profitable quarter as a public company, on a non-GAAP basis,” says CEO George Chamoun.

Other ACV Auctions metrics include:

• Marketplace gross merchandise volume (GMV) decreased 4% to $2.3 billion, down from $2.4 billion.
• Marketplace units (vehicles sold) totaled 174,631, an increase of 15% year over year from 151,563.
• ACV projects revenue in the second quarter to range from $154 million to $158 million and a net loss of $19 million to $17 million.
• ACV projects total annual revenue of $610 million to $625 million and net loss to range from $80 million to $85 million.

Despite a stronger financial forecast, the B2B marketplace is counting on headwinds from a range of issues including dealer inventory.

“Dealer wholesale volumes remain below historical levels due to lower-than-normal new and used vehicle inventory, which is causing dealers to keep more trades for retail,” Chamoun says. “We expect market headwinds will ease resulting in modest growth in dealer wholesale volumes in the back-half of 2024.”

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

The post ACV Auctions posts a strong Q1 appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

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

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the ecommerce industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.

The post Ecommerce earnings recap: What you missed from Columbia, Harley-Davidson and more appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

Dan Ziegler, Business Partner Integration Manager, Turn 14 Distribution

In March, Horsham, Pennsylvania-based Turn 14 Distribution opened in Indiana its fourth and largest distribution center, enabling it to promise 1-day shipping to 60% of the U.S. population and 2-day service to 100%. It also ships globally.

The company — whose name comes from the fourteenth and last turn on the 4.05-mile Road America racetrack in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, where professional and amateur drivers push their driving skills and high-performance motor vehicles to their limits — is focused on expediting fulfillment and deliveries to online and physical retailers.

To keep Turn 14 Distribution’s growing network of merchant clients fed with the most recent product data and images for its 580,000 available products from more than 400 suppliers, the distributor has integrated its product catalog and related applications with merchants’ ecommerce software platforms. In addition to auto parts and accessories, Turn 14 also handles parts for powersports vehicles including all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles.

Last fall, the distributor integrated its technology with X-Cart, an ecommerce platform that caters to the automotive parts aftermarket. The X-Cart integration provides Turn 14 Distribution’s client merchants with product pricing automation, inventory updates, drop-shipping services and product catalogs.

Up-to-the-minute inventory feeds

“We’re excited to bring on more ecommerce platforms, especially those committed to the aftermarket industry like X-Cart, to be directly and fully integrated with Turn 14 Distribution,” says Dan Ziegler, Turn 14 Distribution’s Business Partner Integration manager. “With up-to-the-minute inventory feeds, real-time order processing, live shipping rates, and 7-day-a-week operations, our aftermarket dealers can thrive with our robust distribution services and proprietary technologies within their X-Cart website.”

Jordan Checketts, chief operating officer of X-Cart, said the integration with Turn 14 Distribution is a key part of the ecommerce technology company’s strategy of supporting merchants with the product information and images they need to attract buyers, boost conversion rates and grow sales.

“We are providing automotive businesses with a comprehensive ecommerce solution, so having Turn 14 Distribution as a reliable parts distributor will empower our customers to thrive in the competitive market,” Checketts says. “This integration allows us to provide a full cycle, complete infrastructure of synched automotive services on our platform that will ultimately help increase distribution.”

More online upgrades to come

Ziegler says Turn 14 Distribution will continue to upgrade its internet connections to merchants “so that it’s easier for them to find the products they need and have the data they need to able to sell our products because it’s mutually beneficial.”

He adds that when the merchants’ customers buy through an ecommerce platform like X-Cart that’s integrated with Turn 14 Distribution, “they’re more likely to come back and buy more.”

X-Cart notes the integration with Turn 14 Distribution provides auto parts merchants with “precise order-routing and comprehensive product information” that enhances supply chain processes to improve customers’ online purchasing experience and grow ecommerce sales.

X-Cart recently integrated its ecommerce technology with Amazon.com, letting online sellers extend their X-Cart product listings to an Amazon storefront. X-Cart also integrates with industry data organizations.

Last year, the ecommerce software vendor integrated its technology with SEMA Data automotive industry catalogs, which are produced by SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Market Association.

At last fall’s SEMA Show, the association’s annual automotive industry conference and exhibition, X-Cart announced that it had also  integrated its technology with the ASAP Network and AutoSync Corp.

The ASAP Network is an automotive aftermarket products organization that works with manufacturers, distributors and dealers to distribute “ecommerce-optimized” product load sheets that comply with the Auto Care Association’s data standards for distributors and dealers selling online. ASAP stands for Advanced Solutions for Aftermarket Products.

AutoSync provides automotive industry product images and a “visualizer” tool to let online buyers view images of vehicles from multiple angles and with added items like special wheels or window film.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post How Turn 14 Distribution revs up its ecommerce channel appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.

That’s among the findings of a recent survey of over 700 product engineers, designers and developers by digital manufacturer Proto Labs Inc.

The company’s market research team surveyed product development professionals across such manufacturing industries as aerospace and defense, automotive, medical equipment and devices, industrial equipment and consumer electronics.

“Respondents made clear today’s product development process is driven by a need for speed,” Protolabs says in the report, “Product Development Outlook 2024: Innovation challenges of today and the future.”

Protolabs provides digital manufacturing services, including 3D printing, injection molding, CNC machining and sheet metal fabrication. Its customers use its services for work ranging from product prototyping to production.

“As a manufacturer serving customers from prototyping to production, we have a front-row seat to watch companies bring products to market faster than ever,” says Luca Mazzei, strategic growth officer.

For now, little help expected from AI

Among the report’s findings:

• While 53% of respondents said they’re developing products “faster than ever,” more than 80% are “looking for ways to be even faster.”
• 65% cite market competition as the primary motivating force behind expediting product development.

The report identified marked improvements in supply chain expectations and the availability of production materials:

• 33% of respondents predicted they would have to deal with materials shortages this year, down sharply from 70% a year earlier.
• 44% predicted material shortages would impact their product development operations over the next five years, down from 74% a year earlier.

The report also revealed how product development professionals expect other trends, including skilled labor shortages and AI, will impact their workload and operations:

• 78% of respondents said the biggest pressure for developing products will come from customers expecting rapid product iteration and modernization.
• 65% cited as a significant challenge a shortage of skilled workers.
• 66% said they expect AI to have “little or no impact” on product development over the next five years before it matures as a technology.
• 63% said they expect sustainability and environmental impact trends will have “little or no effect” on product development.

Paul Demery is a Digital Commerce 360 contributing editor covering B2B digital commerce technology and strategy. paul@digitalcommerce360.com.

Submit a nomination

Nominate a game-changer for the Global B2B eCommerce Industry Awards from Digital Commerce 360 and the B2B Ecommerce Association.

Sign up

Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 B2B News, published 4x/week. It covers technology and business trends in the growing B2B ecommerce industry. Contact Mark Brohan, senior vice president of B2B and Market Research, at mark@digitalcommerce360.com. Follow him on Twitter @markbrohan. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. 

The post A digital manufacturer IDs ‘need for speed’ in product development appeared first on Digital Commerce 360.