GROWING BUSINESS, GROWING SUCCESS

The delivery model was a success and soon the Toolbx team expanded their operation to Ottawa and Montreal, eventually signing partnerships with large retailers Lowes and Rona.

While the delivery business was proving very successful, there were opportunities that the team was discovering that would lead the company toward its current specialization in e-commerce solutions.

In making their delivery platform better and easier for their customers to use, the team discovered something interesting. Many of the stores they were working with to supply materials to the job sites had little to no online presence, and most of them didn’t have any sort of electronic shopping available. Toolbx built a custom store interface to make choosing the right materials and quantities as easy as possible. It was in building that first storefront that the next phase of their platform became clear. Adding to that, and lending a degree of urgency, the COVID-19 pandemic was taking over the world just two years into their operations and demonstrated the critical need for businesses to offer an e-commerce solution.

“Post-COVID, digital adoption accelerated to projected 2030 levels and consumers’ expectations increased significantly to wanting their order within hours, not days. We believe the trend toward digital is not only going to continue, but accelerate over the next five years,” said Stringer.

They set out to help all those small– and medium–sized businesses make the move to e-commerce. They set to work on a platform that will, “set up a building supply dealer on a single platform that empowers them to sell, deliver, and process payments online through their own e-commerce store.” says company co-founder and CEO Erik Bornstein.

While there are several e-commerce solutions on the market, the Toolbx team is happy to share the mission that makes the difference.

“We’re an end-to-end service,” says Scott Hamilton, Director of E-Commerce and Commercial. “We take the dealers through the process step by step, and teach them the “why” of everything we’re doing. At the same time, we’re providing a customized solution that is designed for the building industry, which eliminates a lot of unnecessary extras that can be confusing.”

In addition to providing a service that’s only going to get more in demand as time goes on, the Toolbx team is also proud to be helping out the small– and medium–sized dealers in a way that lets them maintain even footing with their larger competitors. “It’s nice to see that they’re getting a chance, where they might not have before,” says McCarra. “And it provides room for growth.

Taking a look at the Toolbx website, the process for setting up an e-commerce site is a credit to their promise of simplicity and guidance throughout, with a big, friendly “Get started” in bright yellow in the middle of the page. The site itself is also home to an industry blog that’s well worth checking on for monthly features, new products and innovations, and more.

WRLA members can get a much closer look at the Toolbx platform in January, where their e-commerce solution will be on display as part of “Tech Alley” at the 2023 WRLA Building & Hardware Showcase.

The future is already here, and the future is digital. For those dealers that may find that a daunting prospect, it’s great to know that a partner like Toolbx is just a click away.

1 “A closer look at an innovative product.” LBM Journal, October 2022

2 “TOOLBX online ordering platform connects dealers with contractors.” (hardlines.ca)