Company: GWW
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000277135-25-000010
Chunk: 33

Company: W.W. GRAINGER, INC.
Filing Date: 2025-02-20
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 33
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 processes to improve service and cost through customer experience, technology and supply chain infrastructure which ultimately delivers long-term returns for shareholders.
Recent Events
Macroeconomic Conditions
The global economy continues to experience volatility and uncertainty including to the commodity, labor and transportation markets, arising from a combination of geopolitical conditions and events, and various economic and financial factors. These conditions have affected the Company's operations and may continue to affect the Company's business, financial condition and results of operations. 
The Company continues to monitor economic conditions in the U.S. and globally, and the impact of macroeconomic pressures, including repercussions from changes in interest rates, currency exchange fluctuations, changing inflationary environment, and a potential recession on the Company’s business, customers, suppliers and other third parties. The Company has implemented strategies designed to mitigate certain adverse effects from the impact of the changing inflationary environment while remaining market price competitive. Historically, the Company’s broad and diverse customer base and the nondiscretionary nature of the Company’s products to its customers has helped to insulate it from the effects of recessionary periods in the industrial MRO market. The full extent and impact of these conditions are uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.
For further discussion of the Company's risks and uncertainties, see Part I, Item 1A: Risk Factors of this Form 10-K.
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Results of Operations
In this section, Grainger utilizes non-GAAP (as defined below) measures where it believes it will assist users of its financial statements in understanding its business. Non-GAAP measures exclude certain items affecting comparability that can affect the year-over-year assessment of operating results and other one-time items that do not directly reflect ongoing operating results. For further information regarding the Company's non-GAAP measures including reconciliations to the most directly comparable U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) measures, see "Non-GAAP Measures."
The following table is included as an aid to understanding the changes in Grainger's Consolidated Statements of Earnings for the twelve months ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 (in millions of dollars). 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    For the Years Ended December 31,
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      % of Net Sales
2024                                                                                                                                        2023                                                    % Change                          2024                                                        2023
Net sales(1)                                                       $17,168                                                     $16,478                                                         4.2         %                                             100.0         %                                             100.0         %
Cost of goods sold                                                  10,