Building Supplies ecommerce Comparison: Why Spruce eCommerce Wins

When choosing an ecommerce platform for your building materials supply business, it's essential to consider your specific goals. No two merchants are the same, so spending your hard-earned money on an ecommerce platform should be tailored to your needs.

When evaluating an ecommerce platform, you should ask your solution provider if their product has the following:

• Integration with industry-leading ERP
• Building supply-specific features
• Scalability
• Customer retention
• Ease of use
• Customisability
• Both B2B and B2C functionality
• PIM or connected catalogues
• A trusted legacy

What you may find is that many platforms have some of these features, but very few have all.

Well good news, Spruce eCommerce is the leading ecommerce platform for the building supplies industry. Why? Because it offers a wide range of features and benefits specifically designed to help building materials suppliers grow and succeed. Want to know exactly how? Get into the nitty gritty without jargon or filler, to help you make the most informed decision to take your merchant business to the next level.

Having your ERP integrated directly with your ecommerce platform is becoming a must-have for merchants. In fact, 57% of merchants said integrating their ERP system with their ecommerce platform streamlined their business operations. These merchants are also 19% more likely to see improved profitability.

Spruce eCommerce integrates directly with Spruce ERP, so you can streamline your operations and manage your entire business all from one place. This eliminates manual data entry and reconciliation, saving you time and money.

Many generic ecommerce platforms tout a low monthly price but require dozens of plug-ins to meet the needs of a builders merchant. There are ecommerce features like shopping lists and then there are building supply ecommerce features such as Click & Collect, and branch-driven inventory counts. To provide customers with the shopping experience they expect, your solution needs the latter.

Spruce eCommerce includes a variety of features designed explicitly for the building supplies industry, such as:

• Timber Tally
• Branch Switching
• Split Shopping Carts
• Quote Builder Tool
• Forward Delivery and Collection

These features can help you improve your operational efficiency, customer service, and sales. Three cornerstones of surviving uncertain economic headwinds and shifts.

When evaluating an ecommerce platform, you should ask the following questions:

• Is there a maximum number of online transactions that can happen on my site?
• Is there a limit on the number of SKUs I can add?
• Is there a cap on the number of accounts or users I can add to my online store?

You’d be surprised at how many ecommerce platforms will promise you growth but aren’t able to grow with you.

Even better, Spruce eCommerce can scale with your business, regardless of size. It has unlimited SKUs and transactions, so you'll never have to worry about outgrowing your platform. This gives you the confidence to invest in your ecommerce future without worrying about switching platforms down the road.

There are a number of co-op ecommerce options that appear to be a steal with their monthly payment price. But be wary – many co-op sites will actually direct customers to a different store based on their location.

When users land on your site, you want them to stay and shop with you. After all, you put in all the effort to get them there.

Spruce eCommerce keeps shoppers on your website through the entire shopping process, so you can avoid directing customers elsewhere. This is achieved through a variety of features, such as:

• A unique, branded website that isn’t chained to any co-op website
• A seamless checkout process
• A variety of shipping and collection options

Navigating the back end or admin of an ecommerce website can be as fun as filing your tax returns. It can be difficult to accomplish the most basic tasks like creating a promotion or resetting a customer’s password.

When exploring your ecommerce options, ask a sales engineer to demo the admin. See how many steps it takes to make these small adjustments. Ask how they document these steps. Finally, imagine yourself using the platform. Would you be able to step away from the demo and easily locate the features they just showed you?

Spruce eCommerce is easy to manage, without needing high-tech developer skills. It has a user-friendly interface and a robust knowledge library of support articles and videos. You and your team can jump right into the platform to make your own updates without having to pay an arm and a leg to outside developers.

You may be considering a third-party web developer like an agency to build your ecommerce website. We should warn you, the site may look great, but it can be impossible to make even the slightest change.

Since these sites were often built by web developers, they also need someone with developer experience to manage them – which costs you money. Something as simple as changing out a website banner or updating your “meet the team” page can cost you hundreds of pounds.

Spruce eCommerce requires no developer skills to operate. The platform is highly customisable, with drag-and-drop layouts and a team of in-house ecommerce web design experts. This means you can create a website that perfectly matches your brand and meets the needs of your customers.

Your building supply customers are unique. Some are businesses that require contract pricing or quoting software. Others are DIYers, your weekend warriors who are on an HGTV kick and need supplies to turn their 1980s home into a picturesque farmhouse.

In both cases, these customers will only purchase from your online store if you meet their unique requirements.

Many ecommerce providers specialise in one or the other, but few can offer both.

Spruce eCommerce caters to both B2B and B2C shoppers. Below are just a handful of features you can offer these customers.

B2B features:

• Restricted user access
• Approval workflows
• Contract pricing

B2C features

• Click & collect
• Credit card processing
• Rewards points

This means you can use Spruce eCommerce to sell to a wide range of customers, whether businesses or individuals.

Product content – the hidden hurdle when selling your products online. Thanks to the online shopping boom, many customers expect to research products on their own before they make a purchase.

To provide customers with the best information, enriched product content is now table stakes. This means multiple product images, specs, documents, and more. But you also need a place to easily house and manage this content.

Many ecommerce providers don’t have a solution or restrict what products you can show on your webstore.

Spruce eCommerce has a proprietary PIM that makes product content management much more accessible. This PIM allows you to easily create and manage product descriptions, images, and information. You can also upload your own product content in seconds, meaning what you sell on your site is entirely your own.

As more and more builders merchants invest in technology, software providers are continuing to roll out new platforms and add-ons to help meet demand. The benefit to merchants is that these solutions provide more options. The downside is that these solutions provide, well, more options making it difficult to know what to choose.

Software providers that are new to the industry may not have a full understanding of what it takes to bring your business online. Many are technically sound but couldn’t tell you the difference between particleboard and plywood.

ECI has served the building materials supply industry for over 30 years. This means you can be confident that Spruce eCommerce is a reliable and trustworthy platform, looked after by seasoned industry veterans. ECI is also committed to continuous innovation, so you can be sure that Spruce eCommerce will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the building materials supply industry.

Mobile optimisation

When on the hunt for an ecommerce platform, be aware that some providers will charge extra for mobile responsiveness. This is considered an upgrade when in reality, it should be standard.

With tradespeople in the field, this feature is non-negotiable. Your customers will expect to browse, research, and purchase products from their phone or tablet. A bad user experience will turn them away.

Make sure mobile responsiveness is included in the price of your ecommerce solution.

Spruce eCommerce is optimised for mobile devices, with no additional costs for advanced features like mobile optimisation. Customers can easily browse and purchase your products on their smartphones and tablets.

Conclusion

When choosing an ecommerce platform for your building supply business, it's essential to focus on value, not just price. Spruce eCommerce offers many features and benefits specifically designed to help builders merchants grow and succeed. With its seamless integration with leading ERPs, building supply-specific features, scalability, customer retention, ease of use, customisability, B2B and B2C support, PIM, established business reputation, and mobile optimisation, Spruce eCommerce is the clear choice for builders merchants looking for a value-driven ecommerce solution.

You may also be interested in these articles:

• Why Ecommerce is Crucial for Builders Merchants
• Where Do I Begin? How to Digitalise Your Building Materials Supply Business
• What I learned at the CBS Bahamas Ecommerce Website Launch Party