Industrial distributor MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc. (NYSE: MSM), Melville, New York, reported fiscal 2020 first quarter sales of $823.6 billion, a 1% decrease compared to fiscal 2019. Annual profit was $65.4 million, a 11.8% decrease compared with the first quarter last year.
Ecommerce sales inched up barely in the quarter, which ended Nov. 30, but remained virtually flat at $499.9 million, compared with $499.8 million a year-earlier quarter.
By comparison, in the first fiscal quarter of 2019, ecommerce sales increased 8.7% over the first fiscal quarter of 2018. As a percentage of total net sales, ecommerce in recent quarters has hovered around 60% after steadily increasing in recent years.
“We will continue to invest in ecommerce, for sure,” sais CEO Erik Gershwind in the first quarter conference call with investment analysts. “Customers want to buy electronically.”
Ecommerce still inched up as total sales dipped, accounting for 60.6% of the company’s total sales, up slightly from 60.1% a year earlier.
