Dick's Sporting Goods is dominating the pandemic shopping wars by seizing on a new wave of customers

• Dick's generated huge sales gains in the second quarter as customers pivoted to working out at home when gyms closed.
• The company also lured a new subset of shoppers who are more concerned with their health and fitness due to the pandemic, according to Neil Saunders, the managing director of GlobalData Retail.

Dick's Sporting Goods' sales are surging as shoppers stock up on fitness gear and apparel and engage more in outdoor activities such as biking and camping.

The company's overall sales rose 20.1% to $2.71 billion and same-store sales increased 20.7%, even with about 15% of its stores closed on average during the quarter.

The results represent the company's highest-ever quarterly sales and earnings, according to Dick's.

Read more: Retailers are calling curbside pickup a pandemic era success, and it's a sign they won't abandon brick-and-mortar stores anytime soon

The pandemic helped drive this strength, as gyms closed and fitness-focused shoppers shifted to working out at home.

Dick's has also captured a new subset of customers that may not have previously shopped at the retailer, according to Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

"In addition to the gym crowd pivoting to working out from home, our data also show that many traditionally less-active customers have engaged more in fitness over the past few months," Saunders wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday. "Some of this is because of an absence of other things to do and some is related to more people being conscious about their health and wellbeing as a result of the virus. This trend has created a new wave of shoppers, many of which gravitated to specialist sports retailers for the service and authority they provide."

Dick's seized on this trend in part by rapidly rolling out curbside pickup for online orders. The company's online sales jumped 194%, with e-commerce accounting for 30% of total net sales — up from 12% in the prior year.

The company also likely benefitted from demand-driven inventory shortages at other big-box retailers, such as Walmart, Target, and Amazon.

"During this pandemic, the importance of health and fitness has accelerated and participation in socially distant, outdoor activities has increased," Dick's CEO Ed Stack said in a statement on the company's second-quarter earnings. "There has also been a greater shift toward athletic and active lifestyle products with people spending more time working and exercising at home. The majority of our assortment sits squarely at the center of these trends, and while mindful of the uncertainty in the current environment, we are in a great lane right now."