As a percentage of total sales, ecommerce sales declined year over year to 60% but would have increased over prior year's 62% if not for public sector growth that transacted through different channels, MSC says.

MSC Industrial Supply Co. ecommerce sales as a percentage of total sales declined slightly in its third quarter of fiscal year 2023.

But MSC Industrial seems to take the downturn in stride. It talked prominently on its third quarter earnings call about strategic plays and why the company is boosting its investment in digital transformation and commerce.

MSC Industrial is “accelerating investments in our ecommerce platform, including an advanced search and product discovery function,” CEO Erik Gershwin told analysts. “We expect these enhancements to increase future growth, particularly with smaller customers and spot buys.”

MSC did not say how much it was investing in new digital technology and initiatives. But during fiscal Q3, MSC Industrial ecommerce sales accounted for about 60% of all sales. Based on that metric, Digital Commerce 360 estimates ecommerce sales totaled $634.5 million in the third quarter. In comparison, total sales grew to $1.054 billion. That’s 10% year over year growth from $958.6 million in the prior year. Net income for the Q3 fiscal 2023 was $95.2 million compared with $99.7 million in the previous year.

MSC Industrial ecommerce sales

As a percentage of total sales, MSC Industrial ecommerce sales declined year over year to 60%. But they would have increased over the prior year’s 62% if not for public sector growth that transacted through different channels, chief financial officer Kristen Actis-Grande said.

“Looking ahead, we are positioning ourselves to capture additional digital and small customer growth with a portion of our accelerated investments being focused on strengthening our digital capabilities,” Actis-Grande said.

In April, MSC became the exclusive ecommerce distributor of metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products to customers of machine tools marketplace and data platform MachiningCloud, the companies said today.

MachiningCloud is an internet software platform for more than 100,000 users. It launched in 2020 and is involved in the sales of industrial machining tools from more than 50 brands.

Among those brands are:

  • Kennametal
  • 3DLive
  • Fullteron Tool Co.
  • Ingersoll Cutting Tools
  • Jergens

It expects to have more than 200 brands by the end of this year.

“This partnership brings a great deal of excitement to MSC, to MachiningCloud, and to the end-user community,” Gershwin told analysts. “It gets MSC closer to the early stages of the manufacturing process, which expands MSC’s reach to new decision-makers, such as engineers and programmers who are key influencers in the procurement process. The customer will benefit from MSC’s brand offering, which will save time and money when selecting the ideal tools needed for their jobs.”

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