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Dollar General (DG) Looks to Maximize Customers' Wallet Share

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Dollar General Corporation (DG - Free Report) , one of the renowned names in the Retail – Discount Stores industry, has been making changes to its business model to adapt and stay relevant in the ever-evolving retail landscape. The company, which is among the winners amid the pandemic, has been deploying resources to enhance omni-channel capacities and adopt strategies to provide seamless shopping experience.

The company’s initiatives such as DG Fresh, DG Go and “popshelf” coupled with real estate growth strategy position it well to gain market share by targeting low-to-middle income group consumers. Without a doubt, it has remained keen on expanding its offerings to serve customers better, and recently announced the planned expansion of its healthcare products and services across stores to become a popular healthcare destination.

Building Strong Presence Across Spectrum

Better pricing, private label offerings, effective inventory management, and merchandise initiatives have helped Dollar General in carving out a niche in the retail space. Its everyday low-price model has been drawing customers. The company has been offering better-for-you products at affordable prices. To engage further with customers, Dollar General introduced a new retail store concept “popshelf.”

Management had earlier introduced two transformational strategic initiatives — DG Fresh, designed to enable self-distribution of fresh and frozen products, and Fast Track, an in-store labor productivity and customer convenience initiative. By the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2021, the company was self-distributing to more than 17,000 stores from 10 facilities. We note that the non-consumable initiative offering was available at more than 7,300 stores at the end of the first quarter. The company plans to expand the offering to a total of more than 11,000 stores by year end.

Additionally, it has been expanding cooler facilities to enhance the sale of perishable items. During the first quarter, Dollar General installed about 18,000 cooler doors across its store base, and plans to install roughly 65,000 cooler doors in fiscal 2021. It has been expanding DG GO! mobile checkout, and was available in more than 3,400 stores at the end of the first quarter. The company’s DG Pickup initiative, which is buy online and pickup in store, is available across entire stores.

 

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Dollar General has been making prudent investments relating to store infrastructure, store openings, expansions, remodels and relocations to drive revenues. The company’s efforts to expand healthcare assortments are backed by its strong infrastructural capabilities, robust supply chain as well as its existing health and nutritional offerings.

For fiscal 2021, Dollar General remains on track to carry out 2,900 real estate projects. This includes 1,050 new store openings, 1,750 remodels and 100 relocations. Approximately 75% of the nation’s population lives within a 5-miles vicinity from a Dollar General store. This unique positioning and ease of access aids the company to cater to customers in rural regions.

Wrapping Up

Dollar General’s efforts to become one-stop shopping destination, brand expansion initiative and customer centric approach such as enhancing digital tools are likely to keep it in good stead in the days ahead. Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have advanced 19.3% in the past one year compared with the industry’s rally of 45.6%.

Stocks to Consider

Target (TGT - Free Report) has a long-term earnings growth rate of 13.3%. It currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Burlington Stores (BURL - Free Report) has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 74.7%, on average. The stock sports a Zacks Rank #1.

Costco (COST - Free Report) has a long-term earnings growth rate of 9.1%. It presently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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