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Yesterday, Retail Brew hosted its first 2022 edition of The Checkout, a conversation about the evolution of omnichannel retail.
I (Katishi here) spoke with Bill Kiss, Ace Hardware’s head of digital and retail strategy, about the company’s omnichannel reboot, which predated the pandemic in many ways.
When he first joined Ace in 2016, Kiss said that a major challenge was creating an integrated retail model that was “channel agnostic”—one that allowed customers to shop, purchase, and return items freely without disrupting the existing business model. Here’s some of what they did.
- Ace replatformed its website to make sure it was fully integrated into stores.
- In 2019, Ace introduced a buy online, deliver from store option, after it saw a shift toward free and fast delivery.
“This omnichannel, channel-agnostic model is really just a way to better serve our customers on their terms,” Kiss told us. “A lot of the burden is beared by our stores. When the rubber meets the road and product needs to be fulfilled, that helpful promise must be delivered.”
Kiss admitted that Ace does face some challenges in replicating its in-store shopping experience among its digital assets. Curbside pickup wasn’t on the company’s roadmap before the pandemic, but once that offering exploded, he said the company created its version within 72 hours. It started out “as a 5% or 10% opportunity of the business and became 20% and 30%.”
Eyes open: Kiss said Ace pays attention to what other retailers are doing right when it comes to bolstering their omnichannel strategy, pointing to Best Buy as a model for curbside pickup.
- “If you placed an order and picked it up in store, you found out how they reconfigured their store environment such that they still have checkout lanes…but they also created and expanded their service hub,” Kiss noted.
Looking ahead…Ace is investing in its supply chain to bring more products to the consumer faster—and also telling them that it’s better done online or picked up in a nearby store.
“We’re thinking about the entire value chain. Honestly, that’s where really good companies evolve their model,” Kiss said. “When I hear the word ‘user experience,’ especially in a digital context, it’s ‘Well, this is the website.’ It stops when you hit the checkout button. That’s not how we think about it. It’s the full fulfillment chain.”
Check out the full interview with Ace Hardware’s Bill Kiss here.—KM