BUYING GROUP FOCUS DATA AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The IBC Buying Group tells BMJ how its new Members Portal puts essential data at the fingertips of independent merchants.
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n today’s digital world, data is king. For merchants, having real-time live data at hand on everything from stock levels, financials, product information and customer buying habits helps them understand their business and, crucially, improve their business processes. Having accurate data allows them to make business decisions based on fact, rather than theory, so that they can reduce wasted money and valuable time, and thus concentrate on frontline trading. The IBC Buying Group understands the importance of data and why it is so important that the data is up-to-date at all times and accessible 24/7, not just during office hours.
IBC’s latest offering, its Member Portal, offers members instant and secure access to account information all in one place, helping them to keep track of their purchases, payments and rebate benefits. On their dedicated online account, merchants can find the buying group’s latest special offers, promotions, supplier price updates, and details of exclusive deals available solely to IBC merchants. New offers negotiated by IBCs commercial team are added to the Portal all the time, with typical promotions including preferential prices, extra rebate for limited time periods, and access to free training.
Commercial director Paul
Read says: “The relaunch of our improved Member Portal gives merchants a fount of knowledge that means they will be better informed and have direct access to a wider range of products - to enable them to quote for projects they’ve never considered before.” The Portal also contains an A-Z of IBC’s suppliers, including contact details and downloadable literature such as brochures, price lists and the latest news.
Crucially for merchants, logging in gives them access to their full account financials, rebate calculations and payment details, so they can see the status of their account at a glance, any time of day or night. The merchant’s IBC turnover statement provides a detailed monthly breakdown of each deal, along with the amount paid out on the turnover and the total that IBC has accrued for.
Saving valuable time IBC’s proposition focuses on working with merchants and suppliers to create long-lasting partnerships of strength and value. The Members Portal is a central part of this promise, as it helps merchants to clearly see their achievements within the buying group. It also makes it easier to identify promotions and supplier offers that they can take advantage of to help the bottom line.
The Portal went online in
January 2019 as the first stage in a major digital project for IBC, designed to bring new benefits to its members. IBC has been working on this project for some time and was determined to take the time to create an
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efficient portal that features the information its members need. Kishor Harsiani, strategy and finance director at IBC, says: “We didn’t want to just throw money at our digital platform – we were determined to get it right by speaking to our members to understand exactly what they want. That’s why we focused on enhancing the member journey, to make it more appealing for merchants and suppliers to use and engage with the Portal.” As well as streamlining the Portal to make it easier to navigate, IBC made supplier listings fully searchable and ensured merchants could access and look up prices more quickly than was previously possible. Harsiani continues: “We wanted our merchants to have as much information about their account activities available to them 24/7, instead of it just being emailed and posted to them, though we will continue to distribute information that way as well. It’s about being as flexible as possible for our members at all times, and we know how important it is to keep these platforms updated regularly. That’s a priority for us now and we will continue to develop our digital offering in the coming months.” Future development plans include enabling IBC suppliers to login and update their own details. Having their account information readily available helps to streamline a lot of the administrative tasks usually involved in being part of a
buying group, freeing up time that IBC members can then devote to developing their business. Harsiani adds: “We recognise that the industry is always changing and no organisation can afford to rest on its laurels – that’s why we’ve invested in putting the right systems and processes in place to make IBC the true partner that members and suppliers need to grow. “Time is the one thing you can’t buy, but IBC’s philosophy has always been that we’ll do the work for you – we get the deals while taking counsel from our members, then we bring them to you.” IBC’s commercial director Dave Robertson adds: “We’ve got a very slick, very informative, up-to-date portal that gives our members all the details they need. That’s where members are going to see the benefits of being a member of IBC, and from there they can manage their accounts in a much more real-time way. Ultimately, this helps members prioritise daily decisions and saves them valuable time that they can use to actually grow and develop their business.”
As well as the Member Portal, being a member of IBC also gives independent merchants access to a wide range of business support services, including an external sales team, marketing support, and dedicated accounts managers – all designed to deliver exceptional value and strengthen their businesses. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net July 2019
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