E-commerce accounts for 40% of Grainger’s total U.S. sales

 BY PAUL DEMERY Managing Editor, B2B E-commerce

U.S. e-commerce sales at the distributor of business and industrial supplies were $1.60 billion in the first half.

Online sales continue to account for a larger share of total revenue at distributor W.W. Grainger Inc., with e-commerce accounting for 40% of total sales in the first half, the company said in a podcast about its second-quarter earnings Friday.

That means Grainger, which sells supplies that companies use to maintain and repair their facilities and equipment, had total U.S. web sales of about $1.60 billion for the first half of the year ended June 30, up from $1.36 billion a year earlier, when e-commerce accounted for 35% of total sales.

Grainger didn’t provide a separate web sales percentage for U.S, sales in the second quarter, but the company said earlier this year that its first-quarter U.S. e-commerce sales were “close to 40%.” The company sells online atGrainger.com.

In contrast, Grainger’s total U.S. net sales for the first half increased 2.9% to $4.003 billion from $3.890 billion. Its total Q2 U.S. sales increased 1.9% year over year, to $2.031 billion from $1.993 billion.

Grainger doesn’t break out e-commerce sales for its worldwide sales, which for the first half increased 1.4% year over year, to $4.962 billion from $4.892 billion. Its total Q2 worldwide sales increased about 0.6% to $2.522 billion from $2.506 billion a year earlier.

The company also reported:

● Net earnings for the second quarter of $225.2 million, up 7.7% from $209.1 million a year earlier;

● Net earnings for the first half of $439.4 million, up 2.6% from $428.1 million.

Grainger is No.13 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, which ranks retailers by their annual online sales. Last month the company was named the top business-to-business e-commerce company in the inaugural Internet Retailer Excellence Awards sponsored by Vertical Web Media LLC, the publisher of the weekly newsletter B2BecNews and the monthly business magazine Internet Retailer.