Even before the Trump administration put tariffs into effect March 4, 2025, online retailers and marketplaces were already uncertain how to factor them into their fiscal guidance for the year.

The day before they kicked in, the National Retail Federation urged the administration to work on negotiations rather than tariffs. The Trump administration had announced 25% tariffs on products from both Canada and Mexico.

“The decision to impose tariffs on our North American neighbors and two of our largest trading partners is a significant measure,” said David French, NRF executive vice president of government relations, in a statement. “Unfortunately, it is one that will only hurt hardworking Americans and the businesses that strive to provide customers with the products they want and need on a daily basis.”

French and the NRF urged the Trump administration and its Canadian and Mexican counterparts to work together. He said tariffs are just one tool the administration can use to achieve a secure border. The NRF suggests exploring other options to accomplish the same goals, he added.

“As long as these tariffs are in place, Americans will be forced to pay higher prices on household goods,” French said.

Then, two days after going into effect, President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met on a call. President Trump said he would postpone the tariffs going into effect until early April. However, the prime minister said Canada’s tariffs on the U.S., which were in retaliation, will remain in effect for the time being.

Leading online retailers brace for tariffs’ effects

Then, the tariffs became active, and some online retailers had to immediately grapple with it being a reality. Although insiders say the administration will reverse its decision, retailers have to operate accordingly for the time being.

For example, Best Buy and Target each reported earnings for their fiscal Q4 2024 on the morning that the U.S.-imposed tariffs took effect — and two days before they were postponed. That gave them little time — if any — to adjust their guidance before their earnings calls.

Best Buy and Target are both among the 10 largest online retailers in the Top 2000 Database. The database ranks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual ecommerce sales. Along with Best Buy and Target, other Top 2000 retailers — and eBay — expressed in late February and early March earnings calls how uncertain they were about how to factor tariffs into their operations.

Among them was a common thread. Many of these online retailers had already begun diversifying their supply chains, not only because it helps with overall business operations, but also because they had dealt with comparable uncertainty surrounding tariffs in the president’s first term.

Read on to learn what 11 of the largest 100 online retailers in North America had to say about tariffs. Online retailers’ tariffs commentary is sorted in alphabetical order. Parentheses indicate the retailer’s ranking in the Top 2000.

1. Abercrombie & Fitch (No. 42)

Robert Ball, chief financial officer at Abercrombie & Fitch, said its outlook factors in the U.S. tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico in effect as of March 4.

“We expect a 2025 impact of around $5 million,” Ball stated. “Our outlook does not include any other potential incremental tariffs.”

CEO Fran Horowitz said Abercrombie & Fitch sources items from 17 countries.

2. Bath & Body Works (No. 69)

About 10% of Bath & Body Works’ supply comes from China, said Eva Boratto, the retailer’s chief financial officer, in a Feb. 27 earnings call with investors. Another 7% comes from Canada and Mexico combined, “split relatively evenly,” she added.

The retailer has included the impact of tariffs on China in its fiscal guidance, Boratto noted. However, it did not include other potential tariff impacts in its guidance “due to the uncertainty.”

Bath & Body Works expects net sales results to range between 1% and 3%, and that was before the March 4 tariffs took effect.

3. Best Buy (No. 8)

Best Buy reported its fiscal Q4 2025 earnings the morning that U.S.-imposed tariffs took effect.

CEO Corie Barry said that “tariffs at this level will result in price increases.”

“International trade is critically important to our business and industry,” Barry told investors. “The consumer electronics supply chain is highly global, technical, and complex. China and Mexico remain the No. 1 and No. 2 sources for products we sell, respectively.”

She said that although Best Buy directly imports only 2% to 3% of its overall assortment, it expects vendors to “pass along some level of tariff costs to retailers, making price increases for American consumers highly likely.”

Best Buy’s fiscal 2026 guidance did not include the impact of tariffs that went into effect the day of its earnings announcement. Barry said that’s because it’s a “highly dynamic situation with uncertainty about the duration, timing, amount, and countries involved, in addition to the potential action of others in the industry, as well as the potential reaction of American consumers.”

However, she said that if the 10% tariffs that the U.S. imposed on China remained at that level for the whole year, Best Buy expects “a negative impact in the ballpark of 1 point of comparable sales.”

4. Beyond, Inc. (No. 68)

Executive chairman Marcus Lemonis told investors in a Feb. 25 earnings call that Beyond does not anticipate tariffs to disproportionately negatively affect the retailer.

“I point out disproportionately because we believe the entire marketplace, the entire space, is subjected to the same first-cost model,” he said.

5. BJ’s Wholesale Club (No. 39)

Chief financial officer Laura Felice told investors on the retailer’s Q4 earnings call that BJ’s Wholesale is not factoring tariffs into its outlook.

“Given the evolving landscape, we are not contemplating the impact of tariffs on our current assumptions,” Felice said. “Tariffs could shape the trajectory of inflation and broader consumer demand and ultimately influence our results for the year.”

She added that “BJ’s is better positioned than most retailers to weather times of uncertainty.”

CEO Bob Eddy said that tariffs and the resulting rise in prices run counter to the retailer’s purpose. He added that tariffs may “disrupt consumer spending and the greater economy in general.”

At the same time, he said, “periods of rising prices and supply chain disruption have often been good for our company. When consumer wallets are stretched, most consumers search for value, they come to our channel and they come to BJ’s.”

6. Costco (No. 7)

CEO Ron Vachris told analysts on the retailer’s fiscal Q2 2025 earnings call that tariffs “are very fluid right now.”

“Given events over the last week, it is difficult to predict the impact of tariffs, but our team remains agile and our goal will be to minimize the impact of related cost increases to our members,” Vachris said.

He said Costco is equipped to lower prices and defer any cost increase that comes its way.

About a third of Costco sales in the U.S. are imported from other countries, Vachris said. Less than half of those are items that come from Canada, Mexico and China, he added.

7. Foot Locker (No. 67)

CEO Mary Dillon said in a Q4 earnings call that Foot Locker is factoring tariffs into its 2025 outlook.

“The industry has done some good work over the years to diversify portfolio outside of China, so that’s an advantage,” she said. “And also I would say that our direct exposure is pretty moderate to small.”

Chief financial officer Mike Baughn added that half of Foot Locker’s private-label business stems from China. However, for Foot Locker as a whole, that’s “really a low single-digit percentage of our sales,” he assessed. “We also do have some minor exposure tied to fixtures across China, Mexico, and Canada. Pretty modest impact to how we’re thinking about our capital plans this year.”

8. Gap (No. 21)

The Gap Inc. sourced less than 10% of its products from China in its fiscal 2024, said chief financial officer Katrina O’Connell on the retailer’s Q4 and year-end earnings call with investors. It sourced less than 1% of its products from Canada and Mexico combined, she added.

Gap expects full-year net sales to grow about 1% to 2% year over year in 2025, O’Connell said.

“Our fiscal 2025 outlook is informed by what we know today regarding tariff policy and includes any expected margin with impact, albeit small, from current actions related to those countries,” she said.

9. Lowe’s (No. 11)

CEO Marvin Ellison said Lowe’s is prepared “for anything” in response to a question about tariffs in the retailer’s Feb. 26 earnings call with investors for its fiscal Q4 2024.

“The one thing that we do know is if there are any policies that impact our business, we will not be alone, and so our objective is to just focus on controlling what we control and being very keenly aware of the marketplace,” Ellison said.

Brandon Sink, chief financial officer, said Lowe’s did not explicitly include tariffs in its guidance based on what policies the U.S. had enacted at the time.

10. Macy’s (No. 17)

Adrian Mitchell, Macy’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, addressed tariffs in the retailer’s Q4 earnings call with investors on March 6.

He said retail is currently “in an uncertain environment.” A combination of day-to-day policy changes regarding tariffs, as well as inflationary pressure, will affect the retailer’s Q1, he said.

“We have worked hard to create a flexible supply chain that allows us to mitigate the impact from potential disruptions to global trade and tariff activity,” Mitchell explained.

As far as inventory goes, CEO Tony Spring said they “are in good shape. There’ll be no impact from the pending tariffs. As we look at the remainder of the year, we’re taking a case-by-case basis and trying to react in real time as we learn more.”

Spring added that Macy’s private-label penetration is at an all-time low. He said that gives the retailer an opportunity to rebuild its business and that it “insulates” Macy’s from some tariff uncertainty.

11. Target (No. 5)

About half of what Target sells is made in the U.S., said Rick Gomez, chief commercial officer, in the retailer’s year-end earnings call.

Among what its owned brands produce, Target reduced what it sources from China to about 30% currently, from about 60% in 2017. Gomez added that Target plans to reduce that even further, to less than a quarter of production by the end of 2026.

Chief financial officer Jim Lee said Target plans “to make some extra flexibility” in its budget to help “navigate uncertainty regarding tariffs. With a sourcing organization that’s decades old, our team has a lot of experience in navigating this type of volatility.”

Lee said Target’s full-year guidance reflects “a wide range of potential scenarios and uncertainty” in the market, which “certainly covers tariffs.”

Do you rank in our databases? 

Submit your data and we’ll see where you fit in our next ranking update.

Sign up

Stay on top of the latest developments in the online retail industry. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Digital Commerce 360 Retail News. Follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and YouTube. Be the first to know when Digital Commerce 360 publishes news content.