MERCHANT FOCUS: BPS
BPS: FINDING THE POSITIVE IN THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS
The Covid-19 pandemic has sent shockwaves through the builders’ merchant sector, as its business model has been required to fundamentally change. One independent builders merchant tells BMJ about the lessons it has learned and the changes it has made.
A
s the coronavirus pandemic brought the UK economy to a shuddering halt, Midlands-based independent builders merchant BPS was forced to close all of its branches and shut down its website almost overnight.
Like many others, BPS, as a business, had effectively been brought to its knees by the pandemic that was sweeping the globe. It was an event that few had predicted and even fewer had made contingency plans for. Everyone was left reeling with no playbook to rely on to rescue the situation.
BPS, however, emerged from the crisis in a stronger position thanks to two reasons – firstly, the dedication and hard work of the team in branches but also the fact that they had spent the previous 18 months getting their e-commerce solution optimized with frictionless customer journeys.
Established in 1934 BPS has been owned and run by the Dibble family for the last 50 or so years. It is a reasonably traditional business that offers a one-stop shop, mostly to the white van trade. Attempts to attract the retail customer have been made but this has been hard work. Great customer service and an extensive stock are the USPs for the company, which now operates seven branches across the Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire areas. Their typical customer is
extremely loyal and would normally go into the branches two or three times a week, with an average sale of £50-£60.
Finance and IT director David Battin admits however that the company has an ageing customer base: “Like many traditional merchants, our customer base was an average age 40 to 50+. It would seem that there are not the same number of new people coming into the sector since the last recession.
“We do have a loyal customer base who come to us as we have knowledgeable, friendly staff along with a high stock availability. We have tried to attract the general public but they are sometimes nervous about coming through the door, due to the perception of merchants being a place for professional builders only, so despite trying to stock more retail-focused brands we did not have as much success as hoped.”
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www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net June 2020
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