Dive Brief:
- Joining other retailers offering summer sales, Dollar General is marking down more than 1,000 items through Labor Day, including products across food, health and wellness, household cleaning and personal care, the discount retailer announced Friday.
- From Sunday through July 12, Dollar General is offering discounts of up to 50% off on one item each day as part of its “7 Days of Savings” summer sale event.
- Dollar General is also offering back-to-school deals, including 30% off digital coupons for teachers.
Dive Insight:
The list of retailers offering summer sales to attract budget-conscious shoppers continues to grow. Alongside Dollar General, Sam’s Club also announced a price reduction on over 1,000 summer items through July 22, as well as a one-day sale on summer essentials and back-to-school items on July 23. Meanwhile, Amazon has extended its Prime Day sale to four days, and Walmart, Target and Kohl’s are launching days-long summer sales events in July.
“Customers from all walks of life seek ways to save on items they need and want and DG is here for what matters, helping them stretch their budgets,” Emily Taylor, Dollar General’s chief merchandising officer, said in a statement. “With kids home from school, there’s often additional meal prep and a desire for additional activities. Our discount offers are designed to enhance affordability on the items our customers need and want.”
Dollar General recently reduced prices on around 200 products and said it is committed to carry around 2,000 items at, or below, $1.
The slew of summer sales comes as some shoppers begin their back-to-school shopping early. A TeacherLists survey released earlier this month found that 20% of respondents planned to start their back-to-school shopping in June, up from 11% the previous year. Nearly two-thirds of parents consider this year’s back-to-school shopping to be “financial challenging” or “stressful,” per that survey.
Dollar General has also scaled back its product assortment. After cutting 1,000 SKUs last year, Dollar General CEO and director Todd Vasos said in an earnings call earlier this month that the company plans to cut more this year, a move it made to create space for “what matters on the shelf.”
The discount retailer has also made changes to its overall store strategy. This spring the company announced plans to close nearly 100 Dollar General stores and 45 Popshelf locations. The company is doing so to concentrate on enhancing its in-store experience.
In its Q1 earnings report, the company reported an almost 8% jump in net income year over year to $392 million and a 5.3% increase in net sales to $10.4 billion. The retailer’s comps increased 2.4% compared to the year-ago quarter.