Canadian Tire to test home delivery under new CEO
TORONTO — Canadian Tire stores will begin testing home delivery later this year, one of many new initiatives outlined at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, the first since CEO Stephen Wetmore returned to lead the company last year.
“We have no fewer than 30 ecommerce initiatives underway at the moment, providing us critical learning on everything from search optimization to website experience to back-end fulfilment options,” Wetmore said at the meeting.
Canadian Tire stores offer only click and collect-in-store, although online shopping is available at its other banners, including Mark’s, Sport Chek, ProHockey Life and Atmosphere.
Canadian Tire retail has been relatively late to the online game, a weakness in the company’s overall e-commerce game, which Wetmore was purportedly brought back to elevate last year, replacing his successor, Michael Medline.
Profits at the national retailer jumped 26 per cent in its latest quarter, to $107 million, for the 13week period ended April 1, compared to $85.6 million for the same period a year earlier. Revenue climbed 7.6 per cent to $2.75 billion.
The Toronto-based company said the improvement came despite warmer weather in January and February that hurt sales in outerwear, accessories and boots and a cold start to spring that took a bite out of sales in bicycles, running shoes and casual clothing.
Wetmore said Canadian Tire has spent the past eight months reorganizing, including a renewed focus on product innovation. A new consumer brands division has been tasked with creating exclusive products and has grown the owned brands portfolio by $300 million. Canadian Tire has also begun to look at how to sell branded products internationally, Wetmore said. Domestically, it will test selling select assortments from Mark’s and ProHockey life brand in Canadian Tire stores.