In an effort to combat the increase in robberiesDollar General is implementing changes to its stores during the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
And although Dollar General reported a 6.1% increase in its net sales due to increased customer traffic, gross profits were lower compared to the previous year, mainly due to theft.
Kelly Dilts, Dollar General’s chief financial officer, stated: “We are experiencing losses and a sales mix that is greater than we had anticipated at the beginning of the year.”
CEO Todd Vasos detailed the company’s ongoing efforts to reduce these losses: “Losses continue to be the most significant obstacle in our business, and we are implementing a comprehensive approach to reduce them throughout the organization, including the supply chain, merchandising and within our stores.”
One of the main measures has been the elimination of self-service checkouts.
During the first quarter, the company began convert approximately 9,000 stores that previously used self-service checkouts to a system staffed exclusively by cashiers.
In May, it was decided to expand this measure to another 3,000 stores, adding a total of 12,000 stores without self-service so far this year.
“While this represents a significant change in our stores, we believe it is the right course of action to increase customer engagement and better position us to reduce losses in the second half of 2024, with a more material positive impact expected in 2025,” Vasos commented.
Additionally, Dollar General has begun reducing its inventory in stores, paying special attention to eliminating products that are most frequently stolen.
The company has committed to reduce up to 1,000 items of its supply chain by the end of the year.
Vasos said: “We believe that all of this will help reduce losses, since having too much inventory or excess inventory in some instances always leads to additional losses.”
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