How Tractor Supply Company leverages experiential retail during its big spring sales season
Spring and summer is a critical time for companies like Tractor Supply Company that see big business from outdoor equipment like grills, lawn mowers and yard tools.
This year, though, colder temperatures hung around longer in the season in late March and early April. Easter was also held later, changing weekend and seasonal shopping habits. Both of these factors may have delayed demand for big-ticket items, as CEO Hal Lawton explained on the company’s most recent earnings call.
To combat those headwinds, Randall Dodds, the company’s svp and general merchandise manager for seasonal and hardlines, said the rural lifestyle retailer leaned into its social, direct email and website marketing to keep driving sales. It also held its annual Demo Days on April 26 and 27, where people could try out some products before they buy, particularly ride-on lawn mowers and other yard equipment.
“We asked, ‘Do we have the right product at the right place,’ and knew there’s going to be a little bit of a shift in buying habits. And I think we really navigated well through that,” he told Modern Retail.
Weather can be a big wrinkle in a seasonal sales strategy, and this year saw added uncertainty due to the macroeconomic climate. But Dodds said the bulk of Tractor Supply Company’s customers are rural homeowners who are still working on their properties and gardens. The company is also seeing record demand for chicks, spurred by higher-than-usual egg prices, and held its annual Deal Days in late April. But the season isn’t over yet. “We’re in the critical window now through Father’s Day,” Dodd said.
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, the company is still experimenting with new ways to drive sales. This year, it bumped up the number of in-store demonstrations, like having the Weber grill company set up grill samples in 50 high-traffic locations. “Conversion is definitely higher during these events, and we’re planning to build on them next year,” Dodds said.
Overall, Tractor Supply is in the midst of an aggressive growth strategy to grow its footprint to 3,200 stores by 2030. With just over 2,300 stores currently, it has plans to open a total of 90 new locations in 2025 alone. Its earnings in late April showed a 2.1% bump in net sales year over year to $3.47 billion. Last year, the company’s annual sales hit a record of nearly $14.9 billion.
Here’s a condensed version of the conversation with Dodd which has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
What’s Tractor Supply Company’s overall approach to in-store demonstrations and letting people interact with merchandise?
“We’re big believers in the value of touch and feel. You’ll see our riding lawnmowers and grills already set up outside our stores. It’s all about giving customers that hands-on experience. And with grilling, it’s more than just grills — it includes accessories, fuel and different pellet flavors. We introduced some new items to the market this year, and we’ve seen that that kind of differentiation usually works well for us.
While customers increasingly do research online or even order directly for delivery, there’s still a big opportunity when someone is on the fence. That’s where our store teams come in. A team member can greet them, answer questions, and walk them through a product—especially with something like grilling, where features matter.”
How do sales perform on days with demonstrations?
“It’s certainly exponential over a normal day. When we have that involvement, when it comes to grilling, it’s driven by our vendor partners. And so this past spring was really the first time that we’ve done something like that in many, many years.”
What’s your internal strategy to planning spring sales events and store sets?
“We’ve already started our planning for next year. There’s enough of the season that has happened that you can determine what’s working, what’s not. We look at new vendor opportunities, like new items that we’ve thought about and we’re testing, and next year maybe they go full-channel or something like that. When you look at when we set stores, we’re very seasonally driven. So we prepare for the season. We usually set our grilling sets in late winter. So we’re planning anywhere from nine to 10 months ahead of our set dates.”
What changes have you observed about what people are looking for in an in-store experience when buying a high-ticket item?
“There is certainly a percentage of customers that will buy sight unseen. They do a lot of their research online. But there’s a sense that customers will walk in stores — I think we probably all do it — walk around, see models and go, ‘I just want it delivered to my house.’
When a customer is on the fence, there’s nothing like the experience. And we kind of pound our chest on our customer experience when they come to our store. There’s a good chance they are going to be greeted right when they walk in, and that a team member will be there to answer those questions that can put them over the hump to make that purchase. And there’s nothing like it being there in front of them, where we can really share the benefits and features of a product. Grilling is a perfect example because there are a lot of benefits and features on grills, and there’s nothing like when somebody’s walking you through that.”
What other initiatives are underway to personalize the in-store experience?
“We’re working on localization all the time, and this year, we’re starting to see some of the fruits of the labor. And there, it’s just having the right assortments, the right depth in the right areas of the country, with seasonal timing and for the [right] type of customer. And that’s a little bit behind the scenes. There’s just a lot of work on that.
As we’re marching to 3,000 stores — we’re 2,300-plus today — we’ve got to get it right. We have stores in pretty much every area of the country other than Alaska. And that’s just a huge opportunity to even get more intimate with our customer.”