For B2B Lumber Dealers, eCommerce Is More Than Online Shopping

The lumber industry is primarily a business-to-business (B2B), where transactions and sales occur between dealers and contractors rather than directly to individual consumers. While individual consumers may purchase lumber and building materials products from retailers for small-scale DIY projects, most of the lumber industry's sales and transactions occur between various businesses along the supply chain. This B2B nature is a defining characteristic of the lumber industry.

For medium sized and regional dealers, especially family-owned businesses, being compared to “big box stores” is cringeworthy. This is due to the nature of big box brands, such as Lowe’s, serving the consumer. Smaller dealers thrive on the relationships they’ve built with their contractor customers. This relationship is built on customer loyalty and experience. Contractors trust the dealer to be consistent and available, and know the dealer understands their needs without asking and keeps their past jobs and orders safe and ready for the next project. This brings us to the idea of B2B ecommerce.

ECommerce combines the power of a building materials dealer’s inventory, warehouse processes, accounting documentation, that fuels the online shopping experience for project ordering. Where online shopping is the experience of “adding to cart” and “pick up in store”, a proper ecommerce solution involves a B2B experience spanning layers of the supply chain: suppliers, distributors/dealers, and the contractors.

Ecommerce Connected to Your Business Operations

Integrating all the areas of the supply chain that dealers manage means building supply businesses that can not only deliver exceptional customer experience for their contractor clients but can enjoy their perks in their purchasing, inventory, and accounting by implementing the ecommerce strategies inherently connected to their POS and ERP systems.

With this integrated setup, a dealer is now offering their contractors:

• Real-time inventory visibility, such as integrating inventory management systems with the e-commerce platform to display accurate stock levels and availability. This transparency helps contractors plan their projects effectively and avoid delays due to out-of-stock items.
• Enabling takeoffs, orders, and project management allows contractors to build takeoffs and place orders online, track materials availability and status, view order history, and manage their projects seamlessly. This convenience saves time and streamlines the procurement process.
• Offer customization options with Spruce ERP, which has built-in tools for contractors to customize products, such as easy-to-calculate tallies for specific lumber dimensions and specifications. This tailored approach caters to their unique project requirements. This also serves the dealers’ warehouse staff well by minimizing errors in picking through the ERP warehouse management system.
• Implement secure payment gateways secure payment gateways that allow multiple payment options (credit cards, purchase orders, ACH, etc.) to ensure a smooth and secure checkout process.
• Provide detailed product information between the ERP product list supplied by any vendor or buying group catalog, and the ecommerce storefront grouping. Dealers can efficiently offer comprehensive product descriptions, technical specifications, installation guides, and other relevant resources to help contractors make informed purchasing decisions.
• Customer loyalty and customer relationship management (CRM) tools utilize CRM systems to track customer interactions, preferences, and purchase history, enabling personalized service and targeted marketing and loyalty efforts.

In summary, ecommerce is not limited to “online shopping.” It's about a fully integrated mobile storefront, loyalty programs and portals through a POS system, and accounting, business operations and warehouse management through the ERP system.

ECI Solutions offers a fully integrated solution to the building supply industry through Spruce ERP and Spruce eCommerce.