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Dollar General (DG) Business Model, Pricing Efforts Bode Well

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Dollar General Corporation (DG - Free Report) remains a compelling growth story in the retail space. Due to its value-creating initiatives, defensive product mix and real estate growth strategy, the company has the capability to gain market share. Its commitment to better pricing, private label offerings, effective inventory management and merchandise initiative should drive sales. The company’s everyday low-price model is attracting customers who have been seeking both value and convenience amid the soaring inflation.

Striking the Right Chord With Customers

Dollar General’s initiatives, such as DG Fresh, Fast Track, non-consumables, digitization and private fleet, should benefit the top line. The company has been sparing no effort to bolster omnichannel operations and ramp up delivery services to provide customers with a frictionless shopping experience. Its partnership with DoorDash continues to yield results, with same-day delivery now available at more than 13,300 stores at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2022.

Regarding the company’s transformational initiatives, DG Fresh is designed to enable the self-distribution of fresh and frozen products. Meanwhile, Fast Track aims at increasing labor productivity in stores, enhancing customer convenience and improving on-shelf availability.

Under DG Fresh, the company has been expanding its cooler facilities to enhance the sale of perishable items. In the second quarter, the company installed more than 17,000 cooler doors across its store base and plans to install more than 65,000 cooler doors in fiscal 2022. The company completed the initial rollout of DG Fresh across the entire chain and is now delivering to nearly 19,000 stores from 12 facilities.

Concerning Fast Track, the company has been expanding its self-checkout facility, which was available in approximately 10,000 stores at the end of the second quarter. The company plans to expand this offering to a total of up to 11,000 stores by the end of the current fiscal year. Additionally, the non-consumable initiative offering was available in nearly 15,000 stores. The company plans to complete the rollout of the non-consumable initiative offering across the entire chain by the end of fiscal 2022.

Store Growth Plans

Dollar General has been making prudent investments relating to store infrastructure, store openings, expansions, remodels and relocations to drive revenues. The company opened 227 new stores, remodeled 533 stores and relocated 30 stores in the second quarter. The company anticipates carrying out 2,930 to 2,980 real estate projects, including 1,010 to 1,060 store openings, 1,795 remodels and 125 store relocations in fiscal 2022.

In the second quarter, the company opened 14 new pOpshelf locations, which took the total count to 80. Additionally, at the end of the quarter, the company had a total of 32 store-within-a-store concepts, a smaller pOpshelf store in Dollar General’s larger format stores.

Management reaffirmed its plan to nearly triple the pOpshelf store count and open additional 15 store-within-a-store concepts. This will result in about 150 stand-alone pOpshelf locations and a total of approximately 40 store-within-a-store concepts by the end of fiscal 2022. The company is targeting approximately 1,000 pOpshelf stores by the end of fiscal 2025.

Wrapping Up

Dollar General’s differentiated product range resonates well with customers’ spending habits. The company, which shares space with Target (TGT - Free Report) , Costco (COST - Free Report) and BJ’s Wholesale Club (BJ - Free Report) , is making every effort to enhance guests’ experience via unique store concepts, affordable and convenient assortment and other innovations.

A Synopsis of Other Stocks

Target has been deploying resources to enhance omnichannel capabilities, come up with new brands, refurbish stores and expand same-day delivery options to provide customers with a seamless shopping experience. Target has been making multiple changes to its business model to adapt and stay relevant in the ever-evolving retail landscape. These have been contributing to the top line. Target intends to spend $5 billion or more in the current fiscal year to continue scaling operations.

Costco continues to be one of the dominant warehouse retailers based on the expanse and quality of merchandise offered. The company’s key strengths are strategic investments, a customer-centric approach, merchandise initiatives and an emphasis on membership growth. These factors have been helping it register impressive sales numbers. Costco’s net sales grew 15.2% year over year to $70,764 million, while membership fees increased 7.5% to $1,327 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2022.

BJ's Wholesale Club’s ability to steer the tough retail environment validates its strong customer value proposition and business model. Its relentless efforts to boost the membership base, simplify assortments, enhance digital capabilities and accelerate club openings should support sales. BJ's Wholesale Club’s total comparable club sales jumped 19.8% in the second quarter of fiscal 2022. Excluding the impact of gasoline sales, comparable club sales rose 7.6%.

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