Dollar Tree Growing Both Online And In-Store
By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA
Company is also well on its way to reaching goal of 7,000 U.S. stores
Dollar tree reported a strong third quarter, with net sales rising 9.5 percent to $1.88 billion and comparable store sales increasing 3.1 percent. CEO Bob Sasser says, “During a very cautious consumer environment, comparable-store sales increased as the result of growth in both consumer basics and growth in seasonal and variety merchandise, with our higher margin variety categories growing at a faster pace. Our comparable-store sales increase was driven principally by increased customer traffic, as new customers are finding Dollar Tree to be part of their solution to balance their household budgets.”
So far, the company is having a strong year. Year-to-date figures show the company’s consolidated net sales have reached $5.61 billion, an 8.9 percent increase from last year. Dollar Tree has also seen a large amount of growth; in the third quarter alone, the company opened 117 stores, expanded or relocated 19 stores, and closed 6 stores, bringing the total number of stores to 4,953. And the company will only continue to grow; CEO Sasser says the company is right on track to reaching its full-year goal of 340 new stores and 73 relocations/expansions. By the end of 2013, Dollar Tree should have completed 413 projects.
To keep increasing sales in all its locations, Sasser says the company has worked on the presentation of seasonal and party goods, while also remerchandising each store’s front-end and checkout lanes to drive a larger number of impulse sales. But beyond in-store measures, the company has seen success in its multi-channel merchandizing through its Dollar Tree Direct (DTD) program. The company initiated this online platform several years ago to give individual shoppers, businesses, or organizations the chance to shop for merchandise in large quantities online or in-store. The company still offers free shipping for those who agree to pick up their goods in-store — a service that is becoming even more standard, not to mention necessary in the retail industry.
Considering the fact that the company saw a 25 percent increase in traffic to 5.6 million visitors during the third quarter, it would seem Dollar Tree is well on its way to making the online service an increasingly integral part of business. Susser says that the online offerings have been expanded by 40 percent this year. In addition to its online store presence, the company has seen 1 million Facebook fans and more than 1 million opt-in email subscribers, showing that the Dollar Tree brand is becoming increasingly more important and is being talked about across channels.
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