Page 43 - Hardware July 2019

global eyes
Bunnings brings digital plan forward
Key elements of customer satisfaction
According to the JD Power 2019 Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study, 41% of home improvement retailer customers research and/or shop online before making an in-store purchase.
That same group of customers also spends more on home improvement products than customers who do not conduct online research.
However, adds JD Power, many home improvement retailer websites don’t measure up to customer expectations.
The following are some key findings of the study:
· Web enhances in-store sales – 41%
of US home improvement retail customers say they have either researched or shopped online prior to visiting a store. What’s more, they spend an average of US$620 more
a year than those who just visit the
store.
· Retailers could learn from social media – While home improvement retailer websites are the most popular sources of information for online shoppers, overall satisfaction for those who visit a home improvement retailer website is lower than those who visit supplier websites, image and video sharing websites or social networking sites.
· You have 120 seconds to help me – Home improvement retailers have just a two-minute window to provide assistance to customers, after which time customer satisfaction reduces. Currently, retailers are providing such timely assistance for a little more than a quarter of customers.
· What do your staff know? – One
of the key differentiators among top-performing retailers is the ability of their staff to consistently and thoroughly explain product features, says JD Power.
Ace Hardware and True Value, which the survey ranked in equal first place, both performed significantly above the study average in this key performance indicator, followed by Lowe’s, Menards and Home Depot.
www.jdpower.com
MID-JUNE WE learned that Bunnings Australia would be fully transactional this year rather than next, as originally announced just a few months ago.
At the Wesfarmers Strategy Briefing Day on 13 June, Bunnings Group MD, Michael Schneider, announced Bunnings Australia would be fully e-transactional at least six months earlier than planned.
“We believe that done right we will be in a position probably by Christmas this year to have all of our Australia network online, fully transactional, which is well inside the guidance we’ve been giving before,” he told investors.
The e-commerce pilots that have been running in Tasmania and Victoria have apparently been weighted towards click- and-collect alongside online ordering and delivery and, says Michael Schneider, the test sites have also shown that customers still want to “shop the store”.
Retail customers’ click & collection points will be at the front of the store, this being the best solution of several tried out, while trade customers will get a drive-through option having clicked for collection using the PowerPass app.
To get in deeper with tradies, Bunnings will also be boosting dedicated trade- facing staff numbers and optimising staffing around times of trade customers’ peak demand.
The tests revealed no “material impacts” to store productivity or to cost or profitability, said the BANZ MD, Bunnings having “engineered out some processes” in the pilot stores “to make way for this work to be done”.
This comment may well relate to other aspects of Bunnings’ digitisation which will enable retail customers to find products in-store themselves using their smartphone, while advantages to the stores would include less paperwork and better data capture, enabling personalised marketing for example, along with more accurate inventory management.
“We want to make sure our digital aspirations are not just about selling products online but using technology to make the business more efficient,” said Michael Schneider at the Strategy Briefing Day.
Related rumours add that click & collect orders may be delivered direct from Bunnings’ Distribution Centres to store collection points rather than divert store staff to picking and packing.
Other aspects of a “new Bunnings” include in-store “studios” to promote
its Kaboodle flatpack kitchen kits (with the hint of other room- or project-based categories being treated the same way).
www.bunnings.com.au
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JULY 2019 | NZHJ 41