Tractor Supply is taking more control of rural deliveries, deploying its own drivers, pickup trucks, and trailers to move oversized, hard-to-ship goods such as cattle feed and chicken coops. The initiative is designed to overcome the limitations of third-party carriers, which often struggle with gravel roads, tight turnarounds, and rural access constraints.
By tapping its 2,300-store footprint, the retailer plans to speed fulfillment, lift online and bulk business sales, and strengthen customer loyalty in remote markets.
Building a Rural-Ready Delivery Model
From its Brentwood, Tenn., headquarters, Tractor Supply is retooling its fulfillment network to push more orders out of its stores, 10 distribution centers, and 10 regional mixing centers. These facilities position extra stock closer to customers, allowing faster replenishment without overloading stores.
Chief Supply Chain Officer Colin Yankee said rural geography is the primary driver for the shift. Third-party delivery services often aren’t designed for gravel roads, tight turnarounds, or properties that can’t accommodate box trucks. “We understand these markets and have the brand equity with our customers in order to be trusted onto their properties and for their business,” Yankee said in an official statement.
The strategy aligns with broader retail moves to turn stores into fulfillment hubs, a model also advanced by Walmart, Target, and specialty retailers such as Advance Auto Parts. But Tractor Supply’s edge is geographic: many of its locations are already embedded in hard-to-serve areas, giving it a physical network advantage that Amazon is now spending $4 billion to replicate in rural delivery.
Bigger Baskets, Better Retention
The investment also aims to accelerate Tractor Supply’s digital ambitions. Online sales grew more than 340% over the past four years, topping $1 billion in 2024. The company wants e-commerce to account for 10%–12% of revenue by 2029, up from about 8% today.
In markets where Tractor Supply runs its own final-mile service, the average order value approaches $400, well above typical in-store baskets, while satisfaction scores, repeat orders, and retention rates trend higher. That performance mirrors industry findings that tailored delivery for oversized or high-touch goods can reduce returns and improve lifetime customer value.
The company will keep using partners like DoorDash, Roadie, UPS, and FedEx for smaller or parcel-friendly items, while reserving its in-house fleet for rural, high-margin orders. Yankee calls it “different tools for different jobs,” a hybrid model designed to optimize cost and service.
Rural Delivery as a Strategic Cost Hedge
For retailers with heavy exposure to low-density markets, building last-mile capacity can act as a buffer against carrier rate volatility and service disruptions. Parcel surcharges for oversized and rural deliveries have risen steadily in recent years, and in tight freight markets they can erode margins quickly. Owning the customer relationship at the point of delivery gives retailers greater control over both cost and service quality, a combination that can prove decisive when freight networks tighten again.