Hal's Hardware

The company instead needs to change to a first in First out approach to keep inventory moving on shelves and develop a new enterprise resource system (Phillips, 2008). In addition to this change which would directly affect the floor employees since it is labor intensive and involves constant moving of product, the company would implement a sales tracking portable device that directly connects the store with the ecommerce site and the distributors. Under this method, store clerks can carry the portable tracker on their person and be able to directly engage with the customer by locating products faster as well as order products directly with the consumer if the product is out of stock or not carried at that location. In addition, the sales tracker will be an inventory tracker with a minimum quantity set with distributors that can automatically order additional product to keep stock or for the company to ship excess material at one location to another location in

This can be done at a fraction of what it would cost the businesses to build their own systems and infrastructure. This system provides businesses with a network of distribution centers, warehouses, inventory management, and customer call centers so they can take orders on their web sites.

Uploading the stock level online only for staff and suppliers to access and check. Staff will receive the pre-set quantity of goods on their own from the suppliers. The new suppliers can send quotation of prices and goods online.

Getting into this enormous Warehousing infrastructure, four main elements can be explained to picture how things work in an Internet retailer; Inventory Segmentation, Order Profiling / Item Activity, Distribution Center Inbound and Order Fulfillment.

Lowe’s designed their stores to be the opposite of competitors such as Home Depot. The spacious and well-lit Lowe’s stores appealed to potential customers that may not regularly visit warehouse-type hardware stores, such as women (Rouse, 2005). Furthermore, to increase their current customer experience and satisfaction, the company sought to enhance their installed and special order sales as well as modify their programs to be better equipped to handle commercial business customers. To do this, Lowe’s created an installed sales program where customers were able to select the design and materials used for their project and then hire Lowe’s professionals to complete the installation. In addition, specialty kiosks were set up around Lowe’s stores to educate customers and simplify special order home improvements. Special orders enabled Lowe’s to offer an assortment of products without having to invest the money up front in inventory (Rouse, 2005). To increase their commercial business customer base, the company began to offer professional quality materials and initiated commercial financing programs. Their logistics strategy was another area of strategic importance. At the center of Lowe’s logistics strategy was their desire to find the most efficient way to stock their shelves with an assortment of products (Rouse, 2005). Lowe’s operated ten regional distribution centers

Employing new merchandising tools aid the company in realizing lean production measures with its supply chain. Forecasting capabilities substantiated through “The combined efforts of our supply chain, merchandising, operations and finance teams, we reduced inventory by almost half a billion dollars in 2009, while at the same time improving our in-stock position” (Datamonitor 360, 2010).

In addition to these regional and flatbed centers, Lowe’s has three transload facilities for products that are imported along with four specialty centers to support their import business and flexible fulfillment capabilities. One way that Lowe’s is reducing inventory costs is by stocking the slower moving expensive items in the regional distribution center so they do not take up space in the store. Through this system, Special Order Sales system, they are able to reduce investment in inventory and provide quick delivery of the product to the customer when it is ordered. Lowe’s has an efficient supply chain that allows them to obtain, track, and distribute almost 75% of merchandise to its stores through its logistics system of purchasing their merchandise in large quantities so they can receive a discount. A portion of the discount they receive then go on to the customer. Lowe’s reaches out to their customers in many different ways such as in the store, online, on-site, and contact centers. They are always focused on providing flawless multi-channel knowledge to their customers so they can engage with the company from anywhere at anytime. To do this they updated their technology by incorporating touch screen technology on different displays, in-store Wi-Fi and barcodes, on their online channel they introduced mobile applications, and they also introduced mylowes, which is an online tool. All of these

Techknology Shack will take full advantage of the online revolution by offering direct and prompt distribution from truck to porch in a timely manner. No longer will customers be disillusioned by long waits and item unavailability after acquainting the public with this fully reinvigorated online store site. Techknology Shack will continue to carry small electronic components that are currently stored in parts bins within each store. However, as part of the restructuring plan of 2014, many of these small items will be moved to the back store room in order to free up essential showroom space. Information kiosks will be added to stores for the purpose of assisting customers in their efforts to locate just the right part for whatever

Examples include Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Sears, 84 Lumber, Best Buy, Costco Wholesale, Menard, Northern Tool, Sherwin-Williams, Target, Wal-Mart, True Value Hardware and Lumber Liquidators. Through imitation and replication, principal rival Lowe’s, Inc. ($30.2B) has grown from a (1946) small family-owned North Carolina hardware store, to an international home improvement giant with over 1,700 retail outlets. Lowe’s Inc. ($30.2B) is now the premier challenger to Home Depot’s competitive advantage as these firms manifest duopoly characteristics in the US home improvement industry. According to the Data Monitor Group, the maximum capacity of the US home improvement market is 3,500 stores. With Home Depot Co. ($51.1B) and Lowe’s, Inc. ($30.2B) collectively operating at that level, both companies have begun to focus on international markets for future growth.

With the change of Home Depot’s, employees started to feel dissatisfied with their role of handing customers. Furthermore, building supply market is very fragmented; many contractors contacted their regional suppliers for assistance. However, the contactors regional suppliers offered trained sales staff and specialized services, while HDS process was standard warehouse format.

The Home Depot’s management with comparison with the Lowe’s in technology the Home Depot lost it’s competitive advantage. This was the huge challenge posed by Lowe’s towards the Home Depot in terms of technology.

Order Placement: A web-store should be setup with both a customer and employee-facing portal that allows orders to be placed based off of real-time inventory counts.

Home Hardware is a privately held Canadian owned and operated home improvement, furniture and construction materials retailer. It is one of Canada’s largest independent retailers of home improvement. Over 1,100 small business operators own this company under different banners, namely Home Hardware, Home Building Centre, Home Hardware Building Centre, and Home Furniture banners. It was founded in 1964 by Walter Hachborn, with its’ corporate headquarters based in St. Jacobs, Ontario. In 2016, Home Hardware was recognized as one of the most influential brands and the best-managed companies in the country according to Canadian Business Magazine. According to the report from Hardlines Inc., Home Hardware places 3rd with 13% of market share in the industry amongst the total retail home improvement industry in Canada, with Home Depot and Lowe’s Canada in the 1st and 2nd place with 16.1% and 14.8% respectively of market share in the industry (Ali). Therefore, due to the increasing competition amongst the home improvement retail landscape like those of Lowe’s, Home Depot, and other big-box operators; Home Hardware’s current CEO Terry Davis is racing to become better than these competing companies and to outperform them.

 Good distribution concepts with no one store more than 6 hrs. away from warehouse.

A common way of decreasing the amount of inventory a business holds on a daily basis is implementing a just-in-time inventory process. A Just-In-Time inventory system means that the business gets the materials for a product, as they are demanded. “The electronic data