W.W. Grainger (GWW) FY2025 results: revenue $17.9 billion, up 4.5% on the year

Grainger was incorporated in Illinois in 1928 and distributes maintenance, repair and operating products and services, with operations mainly in North America and Japan. In the fourth quarter of 2025 it left the United Kingdom, completing the sale of the Cromwell business and closing the Zoro business there. Its two reportable segments are High-Touch Solutions North America and Endless Assortment, which match its two go-to-market models. High-Touch Solutions covers the Grainger-branded businesses in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico and sells to customers with complex buying needs; Endless Assortment is an online platform offering one-stop shopping across millions of products through Zoro in the United States and MonotaRO in Japan. American operations generated approximately 81% of consolidated net sales in 2025.

Who buys

The two models together serve more than 4.6 million customers worldwide, ranging from small businesses to large corporations, government bodies and other institutions across commercial, healthcare, manufacturing and other industries, and no single end customer was more than 10% of total sales in 2025. High-Touch customers are typically mid-size and large businesses with complex purchasing processes, focused on the total cost of procurement, often buying through electronic purchasing platforms that talk directly to Grainger's systems. Sales and service representatives help those customers select products and hold down costs by keeping Grainger as a consistent source of supply, and the KeepStock inventory service works on the customer's own site. North American customer service centres handle interactions by phone, email, e-commerce portals and online chat. Endless Assortment customers are typically smaller and mid-size businesses with straightforward needs who want transparent pricing and easy ordering, though MonotaRO also attracts and keeps large enterprise customers.

What it sells

The product offering is grouped into broad categories including safety and security, material handling and storage, pumps and plumbing equipment, cleaning and maintenance, metalworking and hand tools, with items added and dropped according to customer demand, market research and supplier recommendations. No single product category was more than 20% of sales in 2025. The high-touch businesses offer approximately 2 million products alongside services such as technical support and inventory management, with Grainger.com showing real-time availability and price and carrying search and compare tools. The endless assortment businesses reach far beyond traditional industrial categories: Zoro offers approximately 13 million products and MonotaRO gives access to approximately 29 million, mainly through their websites and catalogues, and both keep adding items and third-party held products. Grainger trades under marks including DAYTON, GRAINGER, CONDOR, WESTWARD, SPEEDAIRE, TOUGH GUY, LUMAPRO, ZORO and AIR HANDLER, and approximately 19% of 2025 United States stocked product sales in the high-touch segment were private label items carrying its own trademarks.

Supply and fulfilment

More than 5,000 primary suppliers worldwide provide more than 1.5 million products stocked in distribution centres and branches, and no single supplier was more than 5% of total purchases in 2025. In High-Touch Solutions the distribution centres are the main fulfilment channel, mostly shipping direct to customers, with automation allowing complete orders to go out for next-day delivery and replenishing branches that offer same-day availability. The North American network supplies inventory planning and management, transportation and distribution to all the group's businesses in the region, and branches also let customers collect items in person and draw on branch staff for technical expertise. The KeepStock programme adds on-site expertise, storage arrangements and customer tools. In Endless Assortment orders come mainly through online channels, with Zoro using the North American distribution network and third-party drop shipments and MonotaRO using local distribution centres and drop shipments.

Competition, seasons and people

Competitors include manufacturers, some of them Grainger's own suppliers, selling direct to parts of the market, alongside wholesale distributors, retailers and internet-based businesses, and they range from large broad line distributors and e-commerce retailers to small local and regional firms. Grainger separates itself on local product availability, the breadth of the product line, its sales and service representatives and its electronic and e-commerce technology, plus services such as inventory management and technical support. Demand for some products moves with winter or summer seasons or with natural disasters, though the filing states that historical seasonality has not been material to operating results. At 31 December 2025 the company had approximately 25,000 team members worldwide, approximately 22,100 of them full-time and 2,900 part-time or temporary, with approximately 90% in North America and 10% in Asia.

From W.W. Grainger's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025. The filing

Written from the 10-K filed 19 February 2026: read the full 10-K.