Risk Sparks Ideas & Innovation
Q&A: Thought Leadership —
Do it Best named Allison Flatjord its vice president of marketing and ecommerce in early 2024. In this role, she leads teams tasked with increasing online sales and driving more foot traffic to member stores. Flatjord joined Do it Best in 2022 as director of ecommerce after the launch of the co-op’s new ecommerce division. Prior to Do it Best, Flatjord was the chief marketing, merchandising, and digital officer for a national party supply e-tailer, where she grew online sales and overhauled the company’s web presence. Flatjord has an MBA from the Harvard Business School, is an active supporter of her twin daughters’ sports activities, an avid runner, and a member of Chief, an organization promoting women in leadership.
HC: In the IT world, the buzz is AI. From your position at Do it Best, how have you seen AI impact hardware retailers in the past two years?
Flatjord: At Do it Best, we’ve seen AI make a significant impact on hardware retailers over the past two years. One of those ways is through search, where AI helps our customers and members more easily find the items they are looking for in our very large product catalogs. We’ve also seen AI make an impact in personalization—showing our customers what they would like to see—which is one of the things we are working on at Do it Best.
HC: What innovations or technological advancements will we see in the next two years? And how will it affect hardware retailers?
Flatjord: Over the next two years, the potential for innovation in the hardware industry is still huge. There are tremendous opportunities for AI to play a significant role not only in personalization but in inventory planning and pricing. I anticipate it will impact nearly every element of business. With AI, we also see huge potential in utilizing data even more in our industry. Do it Best is very focused on helping our members gather and interpret data that can help them run their businesses.
