Bouwmaat, the wholesaler of building materials aimed at "real professionals," is now fully committed to hyper-personalization. "When we send out a newsletter, we already know what tools the customer uses," says Nick Vieberink, Manager of Marketing and E-commerce at Emerce B2B Digital.
Omnichannel shopping experience
Many years ago, Bouwmaat had an online store that operated separately from its dozens of branches. Tools, for example, were offered at discounts to encourage customers to order online. "
In the end, this led to skewed sales at the branches and we also saw a decline in sales at the stores."
Today, everything at Bouwmaat is about omnichannel. No more cannibalization, no more separate actions through separate channels, but a data-driven experience that determines, for example, whether the customer orders online or picks up orders in store. Hence Bouwmaat offers customers insight into store inventories, "so you can get your drywall right away."
Own bosses in construction
The chain focuses on own bosses in construction, or self-employed workers. Traditionally, the company has known its customers personally. Personal service and advice, combined with smart ordering, preparation and delivery has long been policy.
And so that personalization is also being implemented digitally. "We know in many cases, based on previous purchases, the brand preference of our customers," Vieberink explains. "Tiler customers are hugely brand specific. If you get a mailing from us about a drill you get to see your favorite brand because you already have batteries from that."
