Spring Market: Make decisive buys
As supply chain issues continue to challenge the world, the words “If you can see it, and you can sell it, then you need to buy it,” from Do it Best President and CEO Dan Starr, reverberated at the 2022 virtual Spring Market.
“I think product shortages remain a regular occurrence across the entire retail spectrum,” said Starr. “That affects grocery, electronics, restaurants, and, of course, home improvement. The environment we’re in right now is very unforgiving if you hesitate.”
Starr said, “Our team has partnered with the best vendors to offer the best deals of the market. And I’d encourage all Do it Best members to make the time to connect and leverage everything at this market to build for their growth.”
The CEO said the co-op’s members have added 220 new locations, so far, halfway through the fiscal year.
On the topic of the Customer Journey, Starr discussed e-commerce projections with host Curtis Smith.
Virtually every retailer in every segment, they agreed, has incorporated online shopping, and not just from the website, but this ability for BOPIS, or Buy Online Pick Up In-Store. They’ve done it for one reason: Customers demand it.
“E-commerce sales are expected to reach $72 billion by 2024, that’s not far away,” said Smith. “Half of that is expected to be through BOPIS.”
“It’s stunning, the enormity of that,” said Starr. “And what it spells is opportunity. There are 5.6 billion Google searches a day. And many of those start with a search for product.”
When you consider the rise of BOPIS, combined with the consumer need for in-person product knowledge and support, said Starr, “online shopping with BOPIS is very well-suited to complement in-store sales and the service our members offer.
“The real strength of ours, is the presence of stores that we have in every single state and in thousands of cities and towns across the country where customers are conducting those searches and they want to do that business.”
These are all points of differentiation, the CEO said, “that we’re going to use to our advantage.”
More News from Spring Market: The CEO also announced the launch of the Do it Best e-commerce division, with Nick Talarico leading the team.
“One of the big advances to build on our members’ success involves an exclusive endorsed partnership with Epicor, one that’s going to offer a new level of service capabilities,” said Starr.
“This is the impetus for our commitment to improve our platform, to build our team – all of that to help our members grow.” (More on this e-commerce expansion in the next article.)
Starr shared with members: “Not long ago, everyone treated in-store and online shopping as though it were two different things. But I would say the distinction between brick and mortar and e-commerce has largely gone away.
“We’re fans of saying it’s just commerce. Businesses that do well do both.”
