Unlocking DIY Success: Expert Tips to Overcome the Industry’s Toughest Challenges

The share of eCommerce in the DIY sector has been growing continuously since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and has now stabilized at a high level. Customers are still keen to do-it-yourself (DIY): 87% of Germans do not rely on professional support when building their own home (immowelt). This also increases the demands for retailers to link their sales channels – marketplaces, online shops, stores, social media and drop shippers – and to focus on omnichannel with a seamless, service-oriented customer journey.

Create transparency across′all channels

The DIY sector handles an extensive and complex range of products. In some cases, this involves more than 80,000 products per store, ranging from screws to fitted wardrobes. The sizes and product ranges of the individual stores often vary greatly. In addition, warehouses and drop shippers also hold stocks. This is why keeping track of stock in the DIY segment is often a major challenge for retailers. As a result, stock is not used optimally, overstocks and out-of-stocks occur, and customer demand cannot be met.

If retailers do not have an overview of which goods are available at which location, this also leads to rising delivery costs due to the provision of products from different sources.

By connecting your entire fulfillment network, you can synchronize your stocks in real time with the help of an inventory management. That way, you can also offer your customers various information (e. g. on availability and delivery times) and services (e. g. on assembly) at the checkout.

Reduce costs through optimized order routing

Trading in DIY products presents several challenges when processing orders. This is mainly due to the variety of products from different brands, which requires complex handling. For example, if a customer’s order consists of products that vary in size and required shipping method, this can be challenging in fulfillment. An internationally distributed network also poses various challenges, as different countries have different fulfillment requirements. The fulfillment network of DIY stores usually consists not only of their own warehouses and stores, but also includes drop shipping and crossdocking. There are therefore many factors in the DIY sector that make fulfillment complex.

In order to offer customers the same experience online and offline, a technical solution such as an order management system is required. This can help to find the best route and location for the fulfillment of a customer’s order based on configurable rules, taking into account the special features and characteristics of the individual products.

Example:

If a customer orders a hammer and a built-in wardrobe, the hammer is usually sent as a parcel, while two-man handling is required for the built-in wardrobe. The order is also split between different sources to ensure complete fulfillment: The hammer is shipped from the warehouse and the cabinet via drop shipper. The challenge is to distribute the order in such a way that the process costs are minimized, the customer receives the products conveniently as well as quickly and the individual components of the order are delivered in quick succession.

The distribution of the hammer and the cabinet to different sources in a network requires different routing rules for the shipment of two-man handling and parcel goods. When delivering the cabinet, the distance between the shipping location and the customer address directly influences the price, which is not the case for parcel deliveries. In order to act cost-efficiently, different methods must be used to distribute the two products to the sources of supply.

Optimize your deliveries with various checkout, shipping and pick-up options

Show delivery information during checkout

By creating transparency about your stocks, you can show your customers availability and delivery times at the checkout. With an order management system, you can seamlessly connect different carriers and give your customers the option of selecting the carrier themselves. You can also show your customers split shopping baskets in the checkout and inform them how many packages they can expect and when they will arrive. You can even give your customers the option to choose whether they want to wait for all items to be delivered or whether one item should be delivered faster by splitting the order.

Enable fast deliveries

Same and next day delivery is becoming increasingly important for consumers and more

and more standard for retailers. In the DIY sector, you should think about same day and

next day delivery if you sell products that customers cannot wait for. If, for example, a special tool or the right screw is missing on the construction site at home, the speed of delivery of orders has a major impact on the customer’s purchase decision. With ship-from-store and a seamless connection to CEP service providers, you can easily send orders from a store close to the customer. This allows you to achieve short delivery times and even quick commerce. A well-functioning Click & Collect service is another way for customers to receive the missing products quickly. Customers can also check that their order is complete when they collect it from the store and return products that do not meet their expectations on site if necessary.

Offer additional services

A shipment that is sent via a forwarding agent cannot simply be left with the neighbors if customers are not at home. For this reason, you should offer the option of booking a delivery date on the website or when ordering in the store in order to accommodate the customer’s wishes as much as possible. The assembly of items should also be offered to customers as an additional service in order to increase customer satisfaction. An order management system can determine the best way to handle services such as the assembly of a wardrobe and coordinate the processing of the service.