At Fastenal, ecommerce is becoming part of our DNA – Digital Commerce 360

When Dan Florness took the reins as president adn CEO of Fastenal Co. in 2016, ecommerce accounted for less than 6% of total sales. But for the recent third quarter ended Sept. 30, ecommerce sales grew to 18%.

Its becoming part of our DNA, he said on a Q3 earnings call today.

Dan Florness, president and CEO, Fastenal Co.

That share of ecommerce, including web sales and EDI transactions, amounted to $324.43 million out of $1.802 billion in total Q3 sales for at the wholesale distributor of fasteners and other industrial and construction supplies. But factoring in other digital sales through internet vending machines and other digital channels what Fastenal calls its total digital footprint digital commerce overall accounted for 50% of total sales, or $901.20 million.

Moreover, Florness noted that digital commerce is expanding throughout the companys operations.

When I stepped into this role [in 2016] ecommerce was about 5.5% of our sales, he said. They had been stuck there and they were stuck in purgatory because were a service organization not a catalog company or a ecommerce company.

But Fastenal figured how it could play to its strengths as a service-oriented business and make ecommerce part of our business. For example, its network of 1,716 physical branch locations learned how to support customers ecommerce transactions. In the third quarter, 52% of Fastenals branches had over 10% of their revenue in ecommerce, Florness said.

He asserted that the ecommerce channels 18% share of Q3 total sales isnt coming from a few Fastenal operations. Its coming from a lot of activities throughout the organization, which means its becoming part of our DNA.

Florness added that Fastenals growth trend in ecommerce is following similar trends in the companys broader digital footprint. That includes its vending machines and OnSite inventory management services.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Fastenal reported:

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Fastenal reported:

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At Fastenal, ecommerce is becoming part of our DNA - Digital Commerce 360