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Putting your trade counter in your customers’ pockets
The electrical wholesale market has enjoyed a period of relatively steady growth over the last few years, with construction output and domestic demand driving sales, tempered only by concerns about Brexit. Innovative product development, new services and regulation changes have all played their part but, while the demand outlook has been relatively rosy, routes to market have been undergoing more of a shiſt. In this article, Rob Mannion, founder and CEO of
b2b.store, talks about the growing impact of e-commerce on the electrical wholesale business.
O
nline sales of electrical products increased by around 300% between 2012 and 2017 and with global tech
behemoths such as Amazon making greater strides into the sector, it has been clear for some time that investing in online sales capability could be a wise move for electrical wholesalers. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has only accelerated this trend, making the move to digital even more pressing.
What’s driving digital? Before investing in an e-commerce offer, it’s important to understand why online retailing that is encouraging customers away from ‘bricks and mortar’ suppliers, even in B2B markets. Firstly, there is the convenience. Travelling to
a distribution centre or depot takes time, so it’s natural to make sure they have what you need before setting out. If an item needs to be ordered in, better to find out in advance and then plan work schedules around availability than have to stop mid job or head back because you forgot to pick up something crucial while you were at the trade counter. Similarly, ordering via digital channels
provides an opportunity to find out more about products, review your choices and check the best deals. With digital ordering, customers aren’t
restricted to trade counter or sales office opening hours to place their orders either. If an electrician remembers they forgot to order a specific part at 11pm the day before a job starts, no problem, they can add it to their order at the touch of a button or create a new order ready for collection next day - or even delivery, as required. Reducing steps in the ordering process reduces opportunities for data input errors too, streamlining the ordering and
30 | electrical wholesalerJanuary 2021
customer service processes and freeing resources for investment elsewhere in the business. As the mass adoption of smartphone
technology takes hold and a new generation that has grown up online establishes itself in the workforce, expectations of how the ordering process should work are fast evolving. For example, to a generation used to ordering a pizza or the latest clothes via social media, only offering a trade counter or telephone-based sales process can seem antiquated. This leaves the market open to suppliers who are able to offer digital ordering in a way that makes this growing part of the workforce feel most comfortable.
A changing market Just a few years ago, creating an e-commerce platform that looked great, offered a high-quality user experience, synchronised across mobile, tablet and desktop, and worked across all key operating systems was an expensive business. However,
b2b.store has spent two years building a highly-scalable Software as a Service (Saas) platform that means it can now create digital ordering solutions in seconds. These user-friendly apps work across all three platforms and all major operating systems in a single click. Better still, they integrate seamlessly with back-office software, reducing set-up costs significantly. So, while the cost barrier to getting online has
been removed, what are the benefits to electrical wholesalers of doing just that, beyond retaining market share? The retail and foodservice wholesale industries have been on a similar digitisation journey over the last few years, with digital becoming one of the fastest growth channels in that time. Ensuring orders transfer seamlessly between mobile, tablet or website is a key component of
any digital strategy and mobile apps also offer greater functionality than traditional ordering channels. For example, push notifications allow distributors to create visually-rich, contextually- relevant promotional campaigns that arrive at a time and place specific to an individual customer. If app data reveals that a customer typically buys a specific type of product at a particular time or day of the week, promotions can be tailored to arrive at that time, catching their attention when they are in buying mode and encouraging additional sales. These buying patterns can also be used to inform stock levels and supplier promotions while premium features such as barcode scanning and list-building can
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