MidwayUSA

MidwayUSA is a family-owned Internet retailer offering “Just 

About Everything”® for shooting, hunting, and the outdoors.

It is a world leader in its market sector, ranking in the top 3% of 

the best U.S. performers in Customer satisfaction out of 3,500 

internet retailers. MidwayUSA has continued to pursue its vision 

“to be the best-run business in America, and the most successful, most 

respected business in our industry, for the benefit of our Customers.”

This is the third Baldrige Award for MidwayUSA; the company was 

honored in the small business category in 2009 and 2015.

Leadership Founded on Values and Being 

the “Best-Run Business in America”

• Employees’ ratings that the actions of leaders and coworkers align 

with the mission, vision, values, and organizational culture 

improved from 79% in 2017 to 90% in 2021, better than the best 

benchmark of a national survey.

• Senior leaders monitor dashboards daily, with cascading measures 

for departmental accountability. They engage Employees, 

Suppliers, and Partners through the 12-month, rolling Strategic 

Planning Process. During Monthly Results Reviews, the Chairman, 

President/CEO, and departments review performance via 

scorecards to create a short- and long-term focus on the mission 

and operational goals.

• The Senior Leadership Team selects future leaders annually to 

be mentored for leadership positions. Nearly 80% of management 

positions are filled from within, surpassing the benchmark for the 

online KPI Library, a crowd-sourced repository of key performance 

indicators.

Strategy, to Embrace Agility and an 

Open-Door Culture

• A rolling 12-month, seven-step (with 26 supporting steps) Strategic 

Planning Process is designed to help MidwayUSA identify the 

need for, enact, and sustain change, and monthly meetings give the 

organization the agility to respond quickly. The Strategic Plan 

Execution completion rate, which represents the percentage of 

Company Action Plans completed within the allotted time frame, 

is more than 95%. 

• Through an open-door culture, Employees engage with and share 

concerns with senior leaders through State of the Business meetings, 

Department Knowledge Sharing meetings, daily department musters 

(frontline staff assemble to receive performance information), new 

hire orientation, and Employee focus groups. 

2021 Award Recipient

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

Highlights

• Increased sales per full-time Employee from about 

$500,000 in 2014 to more than $1 million in 2020

• Ranks in the top 3% of the best U.S. performers in 

Customer satisfaction out of 3,500 internet retailers

• Achieved 2 million active Customers and has a Customer 

retention rate of over 80%, 20 points higher than the 

national Direct Marketing Association best benchmark

• Averaged 39% net income growth every year over 

the past 12 years

• Outperforms the next-best online retail competitor 

in overall Supplier and Partner satisfaction with 

94% satisfaction rate in 2020 and 2021

 
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

2021 Award Recipient

MidwayUSA 

Benchmark Performance for 

Workforce Results

• Employee satisfaction and engagement have remained steady at 

about 85% since 2015, 10 points above a national survey-provider 

best benchmark. Employees rate their satisfaction with the right 

tools and support to do their jobs at nearly 90%; this improved 

4 points since 2020.

• Sales dollars per Employee cost have nearly doubled, from about 

$9 in 2004 to $22 in 2020. This increase in workforce capability 

and capacity has led to over $1 million in sales per full-time 

Employee in 2020, up from about $500,000 in 2014. 

• MidwayUSA has averaged 39% net income growth every year over 

the past 12 years. This supports the organization sharing profits 

with staff, which it has done for the last 17 years. 2020 was a record 

profit-sharing year for the organization.

Operational Results Based on Relationships 

and Cutting-Edge Technologies

• In 2020, MidwayUSA adopted session replay technology allowing 

Employees to watch Customers’ on-site experiences and predict 

areas of the website that may dissatisfy Customers in the future. 

Through Customer behavior and a Product Recommendation 

Engine, active and inactive Customers are only sent advertisements 

for things that are or predicted to be of interest to them. The 

Customer Behavior Analysis process and algorithms are used to 

identify Customers unlikely to purchase products in the short term. 

• Due to its Supplier and Partner relationships, MidwayUSA secured 

a high level of product allocation (a strategic inventory method 

used when the quantity of products available for purchase is 

limited), allowing for a 65% in-stock product rate, outperforming 

its next-best industry competitor. 

• MidwayUSA significantly outperforms the next-best online 

retail competitor in overall Supplier and Partner satisfaction with 

94% satisfaction rate in 2020 and 2021. Survey data for “friendly, 

courteous, ethical relationship with Suppliers” improved from 

93% in 2018 to 97% in 2020, better than the best-competitor’s 

benchmark. 

Award-Winning Customer Loyalty 

and Advocacy

• MidwayUSA averages 94-95% Customer satisfaction each year, 

outperforming a national marketing research company’s circle of 

excellence benchmark since 2018. In addition, since 2018, 

Customer loyalty and advocacy have exceeded 90%, at or above 

the circle of excellence benchmark.

• MidwayUSA’s Customer retention is at an all-time high, with 

2 million active Customers, retention is at 80%, 20 points higher 

than the national Direct Marketing Association, demonstrating 

MidwayUSA’s benchmark leadership levels in its industry.

• MidwayUSA is a 13-time winner of the national marketing research 

company BizRate’s Circle of Excellence Award®, which it has won 

for the last seven years in a row. MidwayUSA ranks in the top 

3% of the best U.S. performers in Customer satisfaction out of 

3,500 internet retailers. Measures of on-time delivery, Customer 

advocacy (likelihood to recommend), and Customer loyalty have 

all yielded results for several years equal to or better than the circle 

of excellence benchmarks.

Continuously Improving Financial Results

• MidwayUSA’s growth in gross sales outperformed the next-best 

competitor benchmark by nearly 30 points, reaching 100% 2020. 

The organization has grown on average 17% annually over the past 

12 years, almost double the average industry growth rate of 9%. 

• Gross sales exceeded $700 million in 2021. Net income surpassed 

a national risk management association benchmark by nearly 25 

points in 2020. Gross margin has nearly doubled since 2017.

• For the last several years, MidwayUSA has been in the top 3% 

(circle of excellence benchmark) of all organizations surveyed by 

a national marketing research company in terms of price relative 

to other online retailers; product availability; and “frequent, 

engaging, relevant promotions.”

Citizenship and Community Support 

Over $50 million was donated by MidwayUSA to key communities 

in 2020 with over $4 million being donated directly to the local 

community. In addition, shareholders donated $1 million to the 

Baldrige Foundation, to be awarded to the first Missouri public 

school to receive a Baldrige Award.

For more information:

MidwayUSA

5875 W. Van Horn Tavern Rd.

Columbia, MO 65203

(573) 445-6363 x2166

www.midwayusa.com

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

The Baldrige Program educates organizations of all sizes and 

from all sectors in organizational performance management and 

improvement. We also administer the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. Our key services are to identify and recognize 

role-model organizations, share best management practices, 

and help organizations achieve best-in-class performance levels.

We are the only public-private partnership and Presidential award 

program dedicated to improving U.S. organizations. 

For more information on the Baldrige Program: 

www.nist.gov/baldrige | 301-975-2036 | baldrige@nist.gov