Why A Logistics Partner Is Key To Optimising Business Operations

The smooth running of a builders’ merchants’ business is integral to the success of their customers. Whether their customer is a huge corporation struggling to have certain materials delivered, or an independent builder that spends hours sourcing and collecting materials from their merchants, the effect can have clear consequences on the efficiency of their business. 

Recently there has been a noticeable shift in the sector. Whilst traditionally, builders’ merchants have used a collected model, where tradespeople collect whatever materials they require from trade counters in person, there has been an increasing shift towards a delivery model. 

With this change comes huge opportunity – within this highly competitive landscape a strong delivery offer can be a real point of difference for merchants. With the ‘Amazonization’ of the sector there has been an increasing demand for same-day and next-day delivery. But for many builders’ merchants there is a gap between the service they are currently offering and that new customer expectation. All too often we see branch managers jumping into vans to make deliveries themselves, taking staff away from their customers at trade counters and ultimately impacting their level of customer service. This is not a sustainable model to successfully run a business, which is why having a strong, cohesive delivery strategy is so important. 

Here, logistics has a key role to play in helping builders’ merchants expand the range of products they can deliver with the added value of time-definite delivery services – and importantly without expanding their own fleet resources. By finding the right logistics partner, builders’ merchants can streamline and increase the efficiency of their supply chain, helping to ensure their operation runs like clockwork. 

In addition, outsourcing can also help merchants provide key delivery information, including live vehicle packing and estimated time of arrival – information which customers now expect more and more. Given that builders’ merchants’ products are likely to be delivered to their customer’s customer, all parties involved need to be aware of the products’ movements to ensure that everyone is on site and the delivery is managed well. As such, having time definite delivery options and visibility over the job in progress is vital to ensure that all parties have oversight over the process. 

And, with volumes heavily affected by seasonal peaks and troughs, outsourcing can also help merchants to boost their efficiency by enabling them to take advantage of a variety of vehicle types as and when they need them, to cater to their diverse product supply. Not only will this help to increase sales, but margins are also improved significantly by not investing in expensive vehicle resources that might stand idle for large periods of the day. The scenario is a win-win as trade counters offer an improved customer service, enabling them to offer solutions more quickly – ultimately giving them the competitive edge. 

However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for this. Whilst same day delivery might be the best solution for one business, it might not be the right answer for another. As such, merchants must consider what the best service looks like to meet the needs of their company and customers. At CitySprint, our clients often come to us with a problem rather than looking for an off the shelf solution. We then work in collaboration to create a bespoke solution that works best for them – enabling us to add the maximum value to their offer. 

For smaller builders’ merchants, the best solution may be to use a logistics partner as an extension of their own team, to enable them to be flexible and adjust their capacity depending on demand. Whether complementary to in-sourced delivery capability or fully outsourced, larger corporations may choose to take advantage of a greater variety of delivery options for their customers – including time-definite same day and next day delivery. This will allow them to offer a superior service whilst maximising volumes and margins. 

In this highly competitive landscape, builders’ merchants will need to do everything they can to ensure they have the competitive edge. Delivery is a key point of difference for them and having the right logistics partner will set them up for success.

Source : Darren Taylor, Business Solutions Director at CitySprint (pictured)

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