Hawkins HVAC Distributors Inc., a regional, family-operated company launched less than six years ago, is taking an uncommon approach in its industry by stepping up its digital ecommerce technology and operations to implement its growth strategy. According to Melanie Cochran, vice president of operations, whose family has roots going back decades in the HVAC industry, “We know our industry is lagging in ecommerce, but we know it’s going to come on, and we want to be part of that. We want to be a leader of that change.”
Hawkins HVAC Distributors Inc., a regional, family-operated company launched less than six years ago, is taking an uncommon approach in its industry by stepping up its digital ecommerce technology and operations to implement its growth strategy. According to Melanie Cochran, vice president of operations, whose family has roots going back decades in the HVAC industry, “We know our industry is lagging in ecommerce, but we know it’s going to come on, and we want to be part of that. We want to be a leader of that change.”
In order to drive growth, Hawkins has deployed a digital commerce technology platform offering multiple improvements over the prior website, including personalized product pricing and selection for each dealer, the ability to search on multiple product attributes to find exactly what they need, the ability to find the nearest Hawkins distribution branch location when they want to pick up products, educational online content designed to help buyers determine which products suit their job site needs, and the ability to more easily build new customer-serving features.
The company is operating its new ecommerce system on Amla Commerce Inc.’s Znode headless commerce technology platform, which uses an extensive system of APIs (application programming interfaces) to share data between three independent components: the customer-facing online interface, the ecommerce engine, and the enterprise resource planning system. Hawkins retained Xngage, a B2B digital commerce services firm, to implement the Znode platform and integrate it with the distributor’s related technology systems.
The privately held company doesn’t publicize sales figures, but Cochran notes that, after launching the new site at the tail end of that year’s peak selling season with 5,000 available SKUs, Hawkins quickly got to 7% to 8% of total sales online, with an average order value of over $1,400 for a mix of HVAC equipment, replacement parts, and supplies. “For the first year, that was pretty strong for us,” Cochran says.
In addition to providing personalized product catalogs and pricing, Hawkins is also developing online features and promotions to
Sources: https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2023/05/03/a-regional-hvac-distributor-steps-up-with-personalized-ecommerce/
