What is the deal with Tractor Supply Company?
They say that they're "the largest...retail farm and ranch stores [operation] in the United States" and that they're "focused on supplying the lifestyle needs of recreational farmers and ranchers."
That first claim is about numbers so it may be correct. If so then it's just, you know, about size and, as at least half of the population will tell you, size is just not that important.
That second assertion, though, -- about the "focus on ... lifestyle needs" -- is about two patties shy of a fork load. If you get my drift.
I don't mean how it says that they're basically just diddling the dilettante dirt wranglers. Hey; you can't say it's not honest! Just "business sense", you know. A boardroom way of saying, "we're just pantsing the folks with too much money who are buying up the prettiest chunks of the dying, taxed-out family farms." Hey; congrats to TSC for spotting the opportunity. I guess.
But the thing is, you see, that Tractor Supply doesn't follow through on their good idea or on the nice greenish promise implied in there fancy boardroom words.
I guess they can assume that, if they're just going to focus on the well-to-do folks who need to find things to do with their SUVs on the weekend then, hey, no need to give more than lip service to the old-fashioned idea of "delivery". You know, like bringing the seed out to where the farmer -- recreational or not -- is out busy working in the field.
But lip service is what you get at Tractor Supply Co. Online. Look around their website for something that you might want delivered to the old homestead and what you find is "available at stores only" or "out of stock [permanently]".
We all getting greenish these days. It's the smart thing and just the right thing to do. So, in this environment, the idea of delivering stuff to the farm not only is more helpful and efficient for the farmer's time, it's also significant in that it makes, as they say, a smaller carbon footprint for both the farmer and for Tractor Supply Co.
Imagine all of the pollution that would be kept out of the air and ground water if the typical recreational farmer didn't have to drive the 30-40 mile round trip to the TSC store and drip all that oil in the TSC parking lot and ... blah, blah; you get the idea.
So... TSC online with deliveries would be a great idea. Yay TSC!
Except that, as I say, they don't even come close to following through on it. The online site, while it talks the talk about "free delivery" and the coolness of ordering from the online mercantile and all, it totally fails to walk the walk.
Want some examples? OK. Here's what you do:
- Go to any section of their online "store" and poke around a bit. It won't take you too long to find some interesting and useful things for your favorite dirt patch. Doesn't matter if you're talking bird feeders for the patio or a nice sized three-point tiller for the truck farm.
- While you're poking around, notice that a little of it is "online only" (OK with me, I guess. Save the gas!) and that some stuff is available both in the stores and online but that a whole lot of stuff -- most of it by far -- is "available in stores only". What the heck?
Now it starts to get real goofy. (No offense meant to the cartoon character.) - As you're looking at some of that good stuff and when you find something that is both useful and actually available online -- meaning, it can be delivered to your door thus reducing the carbon footprint of your little acre of heaven -- just click on one or two items and see if it doesn't say "temporarily out of stock".
Hey, it can happen; right? Well, I'll bet you dollars-to-donuts that you'll see that label two times or more for every five or six items you click on! Maybe even more. (Seems that way today, as I write this.) - Now, the real kicker is this: come back next week, and in two weeks and in four weeks as I've been doing and recheck these same needful items. Guess what? That's right: they will still be out of stock!
That's just nuts. And it most assuredly is not "focused on supplying the lifestyle needs of recreational farmers and ranchers." Not even close.
So; my question is, what is the deal with Tractor Supply Co.? Is this a real, working, mutual back-scratching idea or is it just another empty pair of overalls?
I spent 5 years as a store manager with TSC and I totally agree with your "pantsing" summary! Couldn't've said it better myself. TSC CEO Jim Wright frequently told us that a horse is "just a big, expensive pet."
As for the online shopping experience, TSC went through almost three complete online shopping administration teams in the same number of years. Their online shopping experience is dismal b/c their vision for the venture continues to shift, it has no foundation.
Delivery? Tony Crudele, CFO, simply cannot shoehorn that expenditure into the fray without shaving too much off the earnings. With the exceptions of the test stores for delivery, the general attitude was that the customers are farmers/ranchers, they've got trucks! As for those richies that come to shop with their Avalanches and Escalades? Sell them a receiver hitch with the correct size trailer ball and one of those trailers on the lot. Than they can haul home whatever they need.
Speaking to your out-of-stock question: I spent some much time and effort as a manager devising ways to keep my store in stock. TSC's inventory system at the store level is designed to keep stock levels at a maximum GMROI (Gross Margin Return On Investment). The problem with using that metric is that it NEVER accurately accounts for lost sales due to out-of-stocks. Out-of-stock for the customer means it isn't on the shelf. For the inventory system, this means it isn't at or on its way to the store/distribution center/manufacturer. Its a dirty snowball effect. My store made sales and profit plan 85% of the time (months), and I was always criticized by my DMs for my inventory levels being too high. The buyer's precious GMROI was always more important than the customer's satisfaction. Thus, with TSC, out-of-stocks will always be the rule instead of an exception.
Politicians and Corporate Executives will always the the last to "Get it" when it comes to changing how things should be. With TSC's execs, they'll have to see they customer base voting with their wallets before they "get it".