Do it Best Powers Up Member Growth at Spring Market

Do it Best welcomed member-owners, prospective members and vendors to Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center for their spring market, March 11–13. It marked the first market ever held by Do it Best outside Indiana, and members reacted positively to the new warm-weather location.

While there were many things to get members excited about powering up their businesses—from hot deals, training and networking opportunities, to exclusive events—the greatest buzz was generated by the introduction of a powerful new ecommerce strategy and platform to drive sales online and in-store.

Do it Best recently announced the promotion of Allison Flatjord to vice president of ecommerce. Flatjord took the stage during Saturday’s Market Kickoff to introduce members to the new, state-of-the-art ecommerce solution, one that has been developed to power up members’ online competitiveness, capture more customers wherever they are shopping and drive more traffic into their stores.         

“The spring market was the perfect time to unveil our new ecommerce platform,” said Flatjord. “We received enthusiastic feedback from store owners about the opportunity to take their businesses to the next level through this innovative solution.”

In addition to its strong focus on ecommerce, Do it Best featured additional growth opportunities through its Knowledge Central seminars and Solutions in Action, a full-size home center right on the market floor featuring best industry practices for merchandising, lighting, layout and branding.

This real-world exhibit allowed members to see and experience the customer journey in-store and online, wrapped in the modern style, bright open floor plans and engaging displays of the company’s new Signature Store Design™. Each aspect was developed by Do it Best to equip members with the tools and assortments to immediately create an outstanding shopping experience for their customers.

“We’ve been making substantial investments to power up the engine that drives efficiency and increases sales for our members,” said President and CEO Dan Starr. “This year’s spring market was just one more way we’re demonstrating our commitment to helping members grow.”

At the market, members had exclusive opportunities to purchase in-demand products at some of the year’s best pricing, identify core categories to refresh assortments with top brands, participate in training and development to support their businesses and their teams, and connect with and learn from their peers and industry experts.

“We’ve gone all-in to ensure our members’ time at the market provided a great return,” added Starr. “With our new ecommerce platform, outstanding deals, our extensive Solutions in Action plumbing, electrical, and seasonal exhibit, educational seminars and great networking events, this market was one of our best yet.”

Starr provided an update on the co-op’s finances seven months into the current fiscal year. “After two straight years of phenomenal growth, our sales have maintained the momentum and risen to $3.2 billion, keeping pace with our aggressive growth plan. Warehouse and directs have both shown healthy year over year increases, up nearly $100 million, while lumber sales have slipped based on both pricing and unit movement. Most importantly, net profit is $106 million, up 6.2 percent year over year and running ahead of our plan,” he said.

“Investing in each of you to help you expand your business is a cornerstone of our collective growth,” Starr told members in attendance. “We’ve approached that in three big ways this year:

● One is helping you increase sales within your business with more sell through

● Helping you expand, open, and acquire additional locations; and it’s been a great season for growth; and

● Attracting and adding more members to the Do it Best family.”

Dent Johnson, executive vice president of operations, noted that Do it Best has committed $100 million to the infrastructure investments necessary to support members’ product needs. “We’re on track to have our next-gen warehouse management system operating in all our facilities by this fall, bringing you faster service and even greater order accuracy. At the same time, we’ll introduce our new distributed order management system that enhances your confidence in every order you place. And we’re streamlining our core financials to get you faster access to invoices and business data. All of this covers the way we process, 4 ship, and bill every single order, to streamline your operations and make it even easier to do business with us,” he said.

Johnson added, “These are generational investments that are critical to support your growth today, as well as the new business we’re experiencing now and projecting for the future. Our team’s focus is to have all these systems running without interrupting the business or our service to all of you. We’re also expanding capacity in our warehouse network, starting with our Woodburn, Oregon distribution center to address our explosive growth along the West Coast. We’ve already broken ground on what will significantly increase our space. And it’s just one example of the diligent steps we’re taking to strengthen our responsiveness to your product needs.”

Capitalizing on Orlando’s reputation as a tourist destination, Do it Best members were able to enjoy a night of fun and adventure Sunday evening at SeaWorld.