Page 20 - HW1221

state of the nation 2021
WHEN I LAST undertook this exercise three years ago, only one of the six major players declined to comment.
This time around, two more said they couldn’t participate, which I guess is a sign of the times.
But back to 2021 and looking to 2022, is there a shared outlook for the coming year?
To find out, we canvassed three major players in hardware, home improvement and building supplies – two co-ops of very different scales and a corporate – to share their thoughts.
· In this respect, BuildLink GM Simon Burden talks about brand
building in this the group’s 15th year of operation.
· Ben Camire, Director of Bunnings NZ, says there’s more to come
on the digital and data fronts.
· And Mitre 10 NZ CEO Andrea Scown talks about further
transformation in an age when retailing and indeed consumers have never needed to be more agile.
Is there any common ground?
All make it abundantly clear that bettering their current online
offerings will be key for the coming year-plus.
All also cite customer experience as a central criterion for success. The two larger players offer contrasting views on agility and
adapting to or being hobbled by local rather than national circumstances while both co-ops refreshingly admit to a degree of uncertainty for the coming year.
Let’s get into it.
BUILDLINK – ALL ABOUT THE BRAND
A few years back, we said that 2019 would be something of a watershed year for BuildLink.
And indeed it was, with a lot of change taking place at the co-op’s West Auckland Support Office and, as it turned out, with more to come.
Another step-change for the co-op that year was the agreement to implement Electronic Data Interchange and centralised billing, which were noted at the time as something of a make or break for the group.
Two years on and almost a year into his tenure as General Manager of BuildLink Group, Simon Burden is happy to confirm that EDI is indeed “a big part of BuildLink’s business today.”
2021 marks BuildLink’s 15th anniversary and Simon took the reins in January this year, following the departure of most of the previous Support Office team.
Armed with almost 20 years’ experience in merchanting and the trade, Simon came to the co-op after five-plus years as GM Trade at Grove Mitre 10, two years as Trade Sales & Ops Manager at Mitre 10 MEGA Glenfield and 10+ years at Carters in a variety of roles.
Were there any surprises taking on the key role at BuildLink’s Support Office?
“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise, but I have made no secret in our magazine that a lot of attention needed to be paid to our suppliers – the people that have been supporting us.
“If you don’t have supplies, you don’t have a business, and you don’t have a co-operative.
Building, perhaps rebuilding, some of those key relationships will have been particularly important in the last couple of years given the
industry’s supply chain issues?
These relationships have been “incredibly important,” says
Simon, at store level as much as if not more than at Support Office: “Many of our stores are pretty well-positioned and they get good, consistent supply due to the fact that they’ve had long term, longstanding relationships with suppliers.
“Some of our stores are very well looked after by timber suppliers compared to some of our competitors that have tended to shop around,” he adds.
In terms of the still uber-buoyant marketplace, has it been difficult to cope with demand?
“If we had more, we could sell it, and not just because there’s a massive amount of demand, but because we’re doing really good things – our stores are into it, they’re committed to their local communities and their customers.”
Over the second half of the year, BuildLink members may have become accustomed to coping with multiple price increases and ordering further out but that’s not to say it still isn’t hard to get some products and stay on top of prices, he adds: “There are certainly challenges around price adjustments and definitely around getting the supply we need for our stores to continue to do those good things.”
On top of re-engaging with suppliers and in some cases with members, what does Simon Burden see as his most important goals going forward?
“Focusing on being a support office and on how we can support our members to grow their businesses and position themselves for the future,” he states plainly.
Part of this will include putting more emphasis on the BuildLink brand: “The key opportunity is the brand. We want to put real focus on the brand in the future so members can really see the value of being part of the brand as well as being part of the group.”
We have already seen some subtle branding changes, noticed that BuildLink now has a decent website (with, I guess, more to come on that front) and read the new BuildLink magazine.
In this respect, how is the BuildLink membership at this point? The 39 current members include Reefton Hardware, one of two new members, and a new store, BuildLink Clutha, still in the works.
What about an outlook for the market? “I’d expect it to stay
the way that it is,” says Simon Burden, before adding: “We could probably have this conversation this time next year [and] we might be saying ‘wasn’t 2021 easy going?’ ... I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case either but, fingers crossed, life for our stores and the industry gets slightly easier.
“It’s just the nature of this industry at the moment. It poses plenty of challenges [but] it’s good in one respect – you know that you’re going to be able to go to work every day and you’re going to be busy.
“You just want to be busy with the right things!”
BUNNINGS NZ – BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE...
A year now into his tenure as GM and now Director of Bunnings New Zealand and its 48-store network, Ben Camire came to the role armed with 35 years’ experience in hardware, comprising seven years with Lowe’s in the States, seven and a half years
with the Lowe’s/Woolworths Masters Home Improvement joint
18 NZHJ | DECEMBER 2021/JANUARY 2022
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz