Expert Hardware Feature

EXPERT HARDWARE

Steadfast commitment underpins Expert’s approach

There’s been a lot written about the ‘boom’ in DIY sales during the pandemic. For merchants, including the members of Expert Hardware Group, it was never taken for granted. At Expert it was about charting the right course to ensure longerterm sustainable benefits for all – not least the customer.

They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. One thing is for sure; the Covid-19 pandemic has seen new levels of resolve and initiative on the part of many operators.

In our sector, one organisation where this has been keenly observed is Expert Hardware.

Yes, it has been a positive time for the industry as a whole, with new heights of DIY-related activity being witnessed across the board, agrees Chairman, David Baker.

‘We might have expected an increase in activity and therefore, sales, but the extent of the DIY and maintenance boom has been unexpected,’ he says.

While that is undoubtedly the case, to Baker and colleagues, this all comes with responsibilities, and is most definitely not a case of putting products on shelves and watching them walk out the door by themselves!

Essential

It has been essential to Expert, that the cohort of DIYers, and returning DIYers, get not just the products they need but access to advice – the right advice – on how to use them.

This will mean that they can not only do the jobs at hand but, hopefully, can feel empowered enough in the process, to keep coming back – after the pandemic has ceased.

And so, pivoting to meet the changing needs and requirements of these extra numbers of new customers – and nurturing this new and changing aspect of the market, and the market in general – has been important.

Managing this growth and doing right by the customer has also been important. Because, at the end of the day, the hopes are that this new customer will keep returning. That they will be there for the long haul, just like the group itself.

Dealing with Covid: a diligent adherence to guidelines (and more besides)

‘A precursor to every activity in our stores has been the diligent implementation of government Covid guidelines,’ says Expert Hardware Group Chairman, David Baker.

‘Where we felt that the guidelines did not go far enough, we introduced additional safety measures for the benefit of our staff and customers.

‘Safe trading has been the driving force and still remains so to this day.’

David Baker

Managed well

Expert members, says David Baker, are not taking this change for granted. It’s been a welcome transition in customer loyalty and behaviour, but all the time there is the feeling that this is something not to be taken lightly, something that must be recognised and managed well.

Part of each and every day, points out David, will involve taking people through the jobs they are intending to do, perhaps for the very first time, making sure they have not just the products they need but the understanding of how to proceed in confidence.

EXPERT HARDWARE

We have the independence and exibility to adapt immediately to changing conditions David Baker, Chairman, Expert Hardware Group. ❜

David Baker welcomes new member Andy Culleton of A&M Hardware.

Says David: ‘If you go to a local independent hardware store you will always meet someone who has all of the product knowledge necessary, to make sure that the customers not only get the correct product to do the job at hand but also that they are given clear and accurate advice on how to complete the job safely and e iciently.

‘When they wrap all of that up with the trusted brand Expert Hardware over their door, they have the ultimate winning formula for a very successful business into the future.’

And as a result, members of Expert Hardware have been up there among the players that have really shone over the last year and a half. Then again, they were o en just doing what they did naturally all along!

Well-positioned

Location-wise, the group has found itself well positioned to cater to the surge in customer numbers of course. ‘During the pandemic people have been shopping locally,’ says David.

‘There was the opinion that once the vaccines came out and more and more people started getting them that we would see shopping habits revert back to older ways, people heading o to supermarket-type outlets more.

‘This has not happened and it is clear as to why. Once customers experience the knowledgeable service and realise that this is commonplace in the Expert Hardware stores they keep coming back for more – and why wouldn’t they?

‘What we see now is independent hardware retailers’ businesses settling a bit – back from the highest highs we experienced – but settling at a still-higher point than it would have been at before the pandemic.’

Benefits

So yes, it has come back a bit from the peak now but sales are still up. Is that because people have experienced the benefits of their local hardwares? Definitely and more besides.

Is it because those novices who started DIY activities during lockdown – and gravitated towards their local stores – found trusted advisors there, in their local hardwares? Again, definitely.

Certainly, local stores o en did benefit as people were staying closer to home. However, it is clear that the experience they had when they went in is what has kept them coming back.

Again, it’s down to having done the right things when those customers came in, to having ‘managed’ the increased footfall safely and securely and, most of all, with integrity – and a view to the long-term. This is what is now showing when it comes to retention of customers.

They got the right help at a time they really needed it and people do not forget that.

Materials

So what was up in terms of sales? Anything surprising?

‘Paint sales were up hugely of course,’ says David. This was most dramatic of all – perhaps not surprisingly – as painting is o en the first thing people will do themselves in their homes at times like this.

‘Accessories were also up of course, as a result.

‘Overall, our 2020 sales were up an average of 67% on 2019 figures which itself was a great year.

‘The most comforting thing for Expert Hardware members is that this increased sales trend has maintained.

‘Elsewhere, tools, especially hand tools, have been very much in demand. People who never had them at all need them now for jobs that they historically never took on themselves.

And then there are some ‘less expected’ things. Take siphons for cisterns. Because of the long-term lockdown of the hospitality sector, toilet facilities were being le unused. This was unprecedented.

But once the owners came back and toi-

EXPERT HARDWARE

lets started to be reused, issues arose.

‘The plunger plate in the siphon can get jammed when they are used again a er a long period of inactivity and break,’ explains David.

‘There is one that is easier to replace but some need a plumber to replace them’, he adds.

Anyway, the upshot is that this is something Expert have found a huge demand for, as indoor dining has reopened.

‘We have them in stock when most of the DIY sheds don’t.’

Seamless

All the above makes for busy times in stores. But the skill of course is to make each and every customer feel confident that they have the full attention of the sta member/s and can leave with confidence when it comes to their task.

David is confident that this is just what the customers get in Expert member stores.

And yet, behind the scenes, there have been – and still are – new challenges to rise to, in order to make sure it all appears seamless on the shop floor.

One aspect has been stock availability. This is another area where the Group has excelled.

Suppliers

Says David: ‘In Ireland and because of our dependence on the UK suppliers, as a nation of retailers we have been badly hit by Brexit.

‘Very few of us envisaged the di iculties that the Hardware industry would experience because of Brexit.

‘A strict policy of Expert Hardware has always been to deal only with suppliers in Ireland who give employment, rather than deal directly with the UK suppliers and importing ourselves.

‘As a result we have built sterling relationships with the indigenous suppliers over the years and this is now paying o big time for members of Expert Hardware, particularly at this period when Brexit is causing so many problems.

‘If you were to ask any one of our fi y-two members throughout Ireland, they will tell you unequivocally that without the Expert Hardware brand behind them they are not sure how they could possibly manage in this new situation.

‘Throughout the network of Expert stores’, says David, ‘if we run out of something that is a basic item for example, we will move heaven and earth to get that product – to make sure it is on our shelves as it’s a thing that brings people in – a thing that people really need.

‘We also have that great communication between stores in the group – where we learn about suppliers and stock availability from each other.

‘That has always been a huge asset of being an Expert member – more importantly now than ever before.’

Independent

‘The bottom line is we are independent store owners / managers who will go to great lengths to do what is needed.

‘But also, we have the independence and flexibility to adapt immediately to changing conditions.

Ask any one of our fi y-two members and they will tell you themselves ‘WITHOUT THE EXPERT HARDWARE GROUP BEHIND US, WE WOULD BE LOST.’

Expert members with Brent Pope, Brand Ambassador.