Competing in The Digital Age: The Online-To-Offline Path to Purchase

In this article, Emily Cain from retail tech company Pointy talks to John Byrne – Marketing Manager at McMahons Builders Providers – about how they are using Pointy to get their products online and drive more foot traffic to their stores.

McMahons Builders Providers was founded in 1830, in the bustling port city of Limerick. Today, McMahons Builders Providers has grown to become one of the largest independent builders providers in Ireland, with a network of 11 stores nationwide as well as a Truss Manufacturing plant and 3 Hardwood & Sheet Material branches.

Marketing manager John Byrne says the business has seen some significant changes over the last 185 years but their commitment to quality and expertise has always remained a top priority.

“The customers are the lifeblood of our company, so we strive to offer them more product ranges and an exceptional customer purchasing journey. Nowadays, with more and more customers beginning the purchasing journey on search engines like Google, it’s essential for us to have a more robust online presence.”

Like most businesses, John wanted McMahons Builders Providers to be able to capitalize on the growing online-to offline purchasing trend and win back the sales they were losing to e-commerce giants. To do this, the first step was getting their products online.

Converting Online Searches into In-Store Sales

Customer attention has shifted online to a much greater extent than retail spending. In fact, online-influenced sales are now five times larger than e-commerce. This means that customers are using their smartphones to search for products online first, before then going to the physical store to buy them.

The problem nowadays is that when a customer does a local search for a product on Google, what they see are dozens of e-commerce results, but almost no information about where the product they desire is available locally. If a shop 50 feet away has the product in stock, they might never know.

McMahon’s Builders Providers are renowned for their great in-store experience, but by not having their products online and optimized for local search, John says they were losing out on valuable foot traffic to online giants.

“We began developing an e-commerce site, but we still needed something to help us reach our local customers.”

McMahons Builders Providers started using Pointy to get their products online and drive more customers to their physical stores. For John, the key selling point of the service is the simple setup and ease of use. “Pointy required virtually no work on my end – I plugged in the device, continued scanning as normal, and my products were automatically online and ranking highly in local searches. The service has really helped us to create a more seamless purchasing journey for our customers.”

John adds that McMahons Builders Providers’ e-commerce website has become a huge part of their business as it provides them with a convenient way to sell to customers in other parts of the country. However, what it lacks is the ability to reach customers in their local area. That’s where Pointy comes in.

“Before Pointy, there was no way for us to capture all of the online-to-offline business that was happening in the local area. This service gives us the ability to show up when a customer nearby searches for a product we stock and directs them to our physical store,” explains John.

He says Pointy has been a huge asset to them in building a continuously updated online profile for McMahon’s Builders Providers with ease and little cost.

“It’s such a small initial investment that the ROI is practically guaranteed with this service, and because they offer a 90 day money-back guarantee, there’s virtually no risk. Given the impact it’s had on our in-store sales, I would recommend Pointy to other retailers without hesitation.”

About Pointy

Pointy helps local retailers be found online so that they can sell more in-store. We do this by making it incredibly easy to display a store’s products online in a way that is optimized for local search. Our ethos is that “we do all the work”, leaving the store owner to focus on their business. For a limited time only, Hardware Association of Ireland retailers can get Pointy at the discounted price of €349 (normally €499). This is a one time payment with no recurring monthly fees.

To avail of this offer visit www.pointy.com/hai or contact [email protected]

This Business Support article featured in the September/October edition of The Hardware Journal.