Hardware and Lumber integrates
Construction retailer Hardware and Lumber (H&L) last week announced the integration of WhatsApp messaging services into its sales channel as a response to serving customers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re always focused on the best ways to engage, reward, and support customers, but that has been amplified in recent weeks when COVID-19 brought changes to the ways people interact in daily life.
“Our new WhatsApp ordering process brings the network of the ten H&L Rapid True Value and five H&L Agro stores right into the hands of our customers,” said Marcus Richards, managing director of H&L Limited.
The company’s use of the global communication service was led by local licensee CGR Communications and carries a flexible artificial intelligence platform and engine that allows for an automated interface customised for H&L.
Once a WhatsApp message is sent “a customer is almost immediately connected to the branch of their choice to facilitate their order. They can then either schedule curbside pick-up or have it delivered to their door on the same day in most cases,” a release said.
In addition to the use of WhatsApp, the company has also revamped its website, which now features more than 2,000 of the top-selling products of H&L Rapid True Value, and H&L Agro.
“These past few weeks have been challenging, but we have also been agile in finding ways to serve customers. There is little doubt that COVID-19 will change the face of retail. There is a surge in e-commerce that is not only driven by our existing customers but also by first-time visitors who are trying to figure out how to get on with their lives, farms, and businesses despite the required restrictions,” Richards said.
The retailer of home, hardware, garden, and agricultural products and solutions shared the view that when the crisis ends, the hope is for customers to maintain their new online shopping habits of buying by phone or computer.
“The company expects to grow online shopping significantly by the end of the second quarter of the year and will be continually adding products to those currently featured on its website,” the release also said.
