Dealers in the rural lifestyle market got some interesting news on Oct. 28. Tractor Supply Co. announced a partnership with online food delivery platform DoorDash, which now offers on-demand delivery to consumers from almost 2000 Tractor Supply stores nationwide.
The press release states that the DoorDash app allows users to order products in categories such as home improvement, farm and ranch, lawn and garden and more. A quick inspection of the app shows lawnmower oil filters, starters and chainsaw chains for sale. As of Sept. 24, Tractor Supply Co. had 2,027 stores in 49 U.S. states.
What Do Dealers Think?
When asked in a Rural Lifestyle Dealer survey how much revenue they estimate they could lose as a result of the Tractor Supply Co. DoorDash partnership, 32.9% forecast no loss at all. Over half of all surveyed dealers, however, forecast a revenue loss of 1-10%. Another 8.8% forecast losing 11-20% of their revenue to the partnership.
In their commentary, one dealer pointed out they could lose on both the parts sale and the potential subsequent call they get from the consumer when their DoorDash order goes wrong.
“It will mean a lot of wasted time talking to DIYs who will purchase their parts from someone else and then call in for us to bail them out when something doesn’t go right,” the dealer said. “We lose out on the parts sale and on the lost man hours that we will not get compensated for.”
Another dealer said the consumer is the one who will ultimately suffer for the partnership, saying “[This is] just another steppingstone on the path to eliminate all the mom and pop stores out there. In the long run, the consumer will end up paying more and getting less customer service.”
One dealer did comment they are 45 minutes from the nearest Tractor Supply Co. and doubted a DoorDash driver would drive that far to deliver a part.
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