Builders Merchants miss online sales opportunities
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XKO Software product story
Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team
Jun 28, 2007
Builders merchants continue to ignore the online channel for business to business sales.
Steven Hargreaves, Product Director at XKO Software, asks why so many UK builders merchants continue to ignore the online channel for business to business sales citing complexity, cost and a lack of customer demand.
But such attitudes are not only outdated, they are fundamentally constraining business expansion and limiting customer choice.
These organisations claim excellent customer service lies at the heart of their business success.
But failure to offer 24 hour product ordering, access to accounts information or stock availability checks is beginning to look far from impressive, especially when compared with the online services offered by the majority of larger competitors.
It is true there is no customer demand for poorly designed, stand-alone web sites.
Yet by extending core ERP technology onto the web, an organisation can seamlessly deliver consistent pricing, delivery and product information across a range of sales channels.
The result is greater customer choice and improved service at a lower cost of sale and a platform for significant market expansion.
So how can any builders merchants justify the lacklustre, unintegrated web sites that typify this marketplace? .
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