Why Ecommerce Matters More for Independents Than You Think: Allison Flatjord, Do it Best

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stefanie Couch (00:00):
What if you could increase your in-store
sales and your e-commerce sales?

Allison Flatjord (00:04):
That pays it back very quickly.
You have to look at how the enduser is actually using the
product, why the consumer isusing the product, and really
build all of that into thesolution that you ultimately
develop.

I think a lot about my dad's store and what we
could have done if we hadimplemented just some small
marketing.
A lot of people think marketingis like logos and colors, but
there's such a big part of itthat is data focused.

And especially in e-commerce, we found that
the in-store sales that comefrom an e-commerce platform are
five to nine times the amount ofsales that are actually done
online.
Wow.

Do it best is helping with that because you
guys know what to look for andyou're setting members and
dealers up with platforms thatare already optimized for the
metrics that matter.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast, the playbook for
building unmistakable brandsthat grow, lead, and last in the
built world.
I'm Stephanie Couch, thefounder of Grit Blueprint, and

(01:04):
I'm a lifelong building industryinsider.
I was raised here, built mycareer here, and now my team and
I help others win here.
The truth is, you can be thebest option in your space and
still lose to someone else whosimply shows up better and more
consistently.
Each week on the GritBlueprint, I'm going to show you

(01:26):
how to stand out, earn trust,and turn your brand into a
competitive advantage thatlasts.
If you're ready to be seen,known, chosen, and become
unmistakable, you're in theright place.
Let's get started.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast.
I'm your host, Stephanie Couch,and I'm coming to you today,

(01:47):
live from the floor, in themiddle of the action in
Indianapolis.
We are actually here at the DoIt Best Group Market with Do It
Best and True Value.
Welcome to the show, Allison.
Thank you so much.
Happy to be here.
I'm really pumped to do this.
So you may hear some Fort Listin the background because we are
actually in the action.
We're still setting up for theshow.
So we're pumped about that.
And today we're going to betalking about you and your

(02:09):
background.
So, what does it take toactually double sales at a
fashion brand?
You have rebuilt a party supplygiant.
You have walked into an almost80-year-old.
Now we're celebrating 80 yearsat do it best hardware and
co-op.
And you're leading theirdigital future.
And you've been here for twoand a half years?

Three and a half years.
Three and a half years.
Well, time flies.

I remember meeting you in Orlando the first
time in um in the market.
So you actually done a lot, andyou were the vice president of
e-commerce and marketing here atDo It Best Group.
And you are proving thatbasically retail and independent
hardware and lumber can win inthe e-commerce space against
giants.
And so I'm pumped to talk aboutthis today.

(02:52):
You are an interesting woman.
You marathon.
Yeah.
You have twins.
I do.
You are running around, I'msure, all the time with that.
But you're doing a lot of coolstuff here.
So let's get into it today.
I'm excited.
Tell me a little bit about yourbackground.
So you built this e-commercebrand.
Uh, you actually were at BathBody Works.
I was.

(03:13):
And then a party supply giant.
Yeah.
Tell me a little bit aboutthat.
How did you get started in thatspace and kind of what led you
there?
Because I know you've done alot in your career.

Yeah.
I would say so I started outreally as a math numbers-focused
person.
And I went to school forengineering.
So started out in myengineering career and really
missed kind of that humanpsychology and kind of that
creative side of things.
So I worked in brand marketingfor a little while and then

(03:45):
found that retail actually wasthe best combination of numbers
and kind of that creativity.
So that led me to Bath and BodyWorks, and that was proved in
spades.
Lots of numbers, lots of dataon really anything that you want
to know, but also thatpsychology and that creativity.

Yeah, I love that point.
I think a lot of people thinkmarketing is like logos and
colors, and it is.
I mean, that that's a part ofit, branding and what you see
aesthetically is huge.
But there's such a big part ofit that is data focused, and
especially in e-commerce, whichwe're going to dive way more
into.
The numbers matter a lot.
And there's a lot of keymetrics that maybe some people

(04:24):
might not have time to figureout.
Do it best is helping with thatbecause you guys know what to
look for, and you're settingmembers and dealers up with
platforms that are alreadyoptimized for the metrics that
matter.
So I love that.
Tell me a little bit about howyou went from Bath and Body
Works, you've done the partysupply.
How did you end up working forthe largest co-op in the world?

Well, it was a really exciting opportunity.
So if you would have asked me,you know, 20 years ago, do I see
myself working in hardware?
I wouldn't necessarily havesaid yes.
Um, but at the time, I live inFort Wayne.
So I had been speaking withsome people from Do It Best, and
it was really an opportunity Icouldn't refuse.
Um, the executive team, DanStarr, they had all just decided

(05:06):
to really commit to working ondigital and to building a
world-class e-commerce site.
And for me, that was a dreamjob.
That was a dream come true tobe able to bring e-commerce into
Do It Best and to really kindof work in a startup within a
larger company.
Yeah.

So I did that and I've never really looked
back.
I love hardware.
That's awesome.
And it's cool that you werealready in Fort Wayne.
So Do It Best is such a hugeplace uh in the Fort Wayne
downtown and that amazingelectric works building.
Tell me a little bit about,I've worked in a startup
environment in a big companybefore as well.
It's really exciting becauseyou do have the resources of a
bigger company, but you alsohave the nimbleness of a

(05:46):
startup.
So that's always fun.
Tell me a little bit about howdid you come to your decision
about what platform, how to goto market with this, what
members needed.
How did that all work?

A lot of it was being as member and consumer
focused as possible.
So one of the things that Ilearned in my career early on in
developing digital products isa lot of times we would do
research, and that researchwould be showing a product to a
customer or a user and saying,Do you like this?
Yes or no?
What do you like about it?

(06:18):
What don't you like about it?
That really wasn't sufficient.
You have to look at how the enduser is actually using the
product, um, why the consumer isusing the product and really
build all of that into thesolution that you ultimately
develop.
So we focused a lot on ourmember experience, our consumer
experience, and the actual usageof the site.

Yeah, and that's a great point because people
don't know what they don't know.
Correct.
And when you're looking atsomething, sometimes you can
tell something's missing, butyou don't know what.
And sometimes you can't eventell it's missing until you get
through the experience.
So I love that you really gothands-on.
I'm sure you got a lot offeedback as you're developing
and iterated from there.
So when you came on, thisplatform was non-existent.

(07:01):
So you said three and a halfyears.
Yeah.
We met in Orlando actually,right?
You were being introduced onstage for the first market when
I was there.
I think it was in 2023, maybe Ithink you were being announced.
And uh it's pretty cool to seewhere you guys have come from
now.
So tell me a little bit aboutthe members that are using this
platform and how it's workingfor them and sort of how it
works for people because youhave a really cool distribution

(07:24):
model where they don't have tostock millions of items to have
millions of items in stock.

Yeah.
Well, part of the design of oure-commerce product, our
platform, was we wanted to makesure that we were highlighting
the independence of all of ourmembers.
So we didn't want it to lookcookie cutter.
We wanted to make sure thattheir assortments, their brand
feel, their pricing camethrough.
So a lot of the success that wesee with our members are those

(07:51):
who are taking full advantage ofthat.
So those that are showing theirfull assortments that are
highlighting something cool thatthey may have, whether it be
lobster pots or, you know,honeybee equipment, um, and just
really telling their stories.
Yeah.
Those have been the membersthat have been most successful
with e-commerce.

Yeah.
One of the things that I thinkis really interesting, you're
talking about transferring yourknowledge from, you know, a bath
and body works for sellinglotion and candles and all the
beautiful things that smellgood, to now selling tools and
lumber and all these differentcategories.
But I truly believe that skillstransfer and they compound.
What type of skills did youlearn maybe that you didn't see

(08:32):
would be as valuable before thatnow you're going to be able to
apply in your day-to-day hereand a teacher team, I would
think, of, hey, when thishappened, you had this
experience, now you're able tobring this here.
Can you tell me some storiesabout that?

Sure.
I would say number one isskills and analysis and data.
I think no matter the industry,even if you are a painter, a
designer, you're always gonnahave numbers, um, whether those
numbers are sales, the time ittakes you to complete something.
So understanding data,understanding numbers is a skill
that really transfers.

(09:07):
The second one I would say, andI don't know if this is as much
a skill as just a personalitytrait, um, but that's curiosity.
Yeah.
So I think understanding, youknow, coming into a new
industry, and I've been in a lotof different um industries,
it's it's really getting inthere and not assuming that you
know anything.
It is being very curious, notonly about what makes that

(09:29):
industry tick, but why it ticksthat way.
Yeah.
Those are the two biggest ones.

Well, and I would say with you coming in
from an outsider's perspective,it actually challenges a lot of
those norms.
So I think a lot about myhistory.
So my granddad had a lumberyardin the 60s.
My dad had a lumberyard.
He opened in 1994 in NorthGeorgia.
We started with an ERP.
We never never had e-commerce,but we did start in the early

(09:53):
90s with the ERP, which waspretty cutting edge at the time.
He was tired of manually doingstatements.
But there's a lot of ideationhere that's been like this for
50 years, 30 years, 20 years.
It is hard for people to wantto change.
And I think some of thesetechnology things are really
scary to people.
But you have made it easy forpeople to plug and play with

(10:15):
this, which I love.
How have you seen firstprinciples thinking of kind of
asking, what if we didn't alwaysdo it the way we've always done
it?
Yeah.
How have you seen that work andmaybe had some success with
dealers or members that havedone that and really seen like,
oh, this was worth the change?

I think the the most common thing that I've
seen is some of our members umhad never really wanted to
participate in e-commercebecause it wasn't their
customers.
And um, you know, they theytook the leap, they put their
product up online.
And the first time that theyhad that huge sale of a $5,000
riding lawnmower online, itreally showed them that, hey,

(10:54):
even if it's not your existingcustomers that are buying
online, there is a wholeuniverse out there that is.
And so being willing to takethe leap is really the most
important step.

Absolutely.
And one of the statistics thatalways wows me is I think it's
80, 80% of people do researchbeforehand online before they
purchase in store.
Yeah.
So even if they don't actuallyplug in their credit card and
buy it online, they want to beable to see what you have.
They want to be able to seewhat the pricing is sometimes,

(11:25):
what the products are, compareand do their research.
And I know, like my husband isa super researcher.
Okay.
So he is gonna do a milliontimes more research than I
would, where I'm just gonna goprobably buy, you know, the
first two or three things I'lllook.
But those people want the timeto go research.
So I think that that's a bigthing you need to think about is
even if the end sale doesn'thappen online, the start of the

(11:48):
sale is usually happening online80% of the time.

Yeah.
And what's interesting, so weactually did, of course, Me
Loving Data, we did some testingaround this at Do At Best, and
we found that the in-store salesthat come from an e-commerce
platform are five to nine timesthe amount of sales that are
actually done online.
So there is a huge in-storebenefit to just like you said,

(12:13):
um, having that site wherepeople can research the product,
learn a little bit about you,see what's in stock.
That's crucial.

Wow.
Five to nine times.
That is huge.
There are some statistics thatyou hear and you're like, that
can't be real.
Yeah.
But it is real.
It is real.
And if you think about theinvestment, yes, it may take a
little time to get this set upand it may, you know, cost a
little, but what if you couldincrease your in-store sales and
your e-commerce sales?

(12:40):
That pays it back very quickly.
It does.
So if someone's interested inthis, they're, you know, not
sure how to get started.
How do they get started with doit best with actually setting
up their e-commerce store?

Yeah.
So one of the great thingsabout do it best is we are very
hands-on and helping.
So we're here to support ourmembers, here to support our
retailers.
And so really getting with umtheir consumer marketing
specialist, every member has aconsumer marketing specialist,
they will hold their handthrough the whole process and
we'll get you set up.
Um, we'll set you up with goodstore practices, um, help you

(13:13):
with what type of creative youneed, but we'll really help you
out with every step.

Yeah, I love that because I I talk to a lot
of people in the market and Ithink a lot about my dad's store
and what we could have done ifwe had implemented just some
small marketing, even somethingthat's not digital, even
something like a mailer orthings like that.
We just didn't do that.
Yeah.
And I think a lot about youdon't have to really figure out
the nuance there because thereare a lot of things to figure
out in the marketing world, andthese people don't really have

(13:58):
time to do that usually, andmaybe they don't have the money
to afford a whole marketingteam.
They don't have to because doit best in true value, have one
with your team that you'resetting up for them.
So I I really like that, and Ithink it's a competitive edge
that can't be understated that aco-op brings.
So it's awesome.
And I've been able to work withsome of your team, and they're
all amazing.
And it's fun to watch themembers thrive because of this

(14:21):
stuff.
Yeah, it's great.
This episode of the GritBlueprint Podcast was sponsored
by Do It Best Group.
Do It Best Group is the largestco-op in the world, and they
help independent hardware andlumberyards all over North
America win.
Do It Best offers services,products, and people that can
help you win long term.

(14:42):
They are the champion ofindependence.
So let's go to a little morepersonal note.
You actually came and spoke ona panel that I had in Las Vegas
in February, and you mentionedto me that you are a mother of
twins.
Yes.
And we talked a little bitabout the challenges and the
blessings of having children andworking and doing all the

(15:04):
things.
You also run marathons.
So you also have a challenge uhmentality in your work life and
your home life.
Tell me a little bit about whatmarathon running and tell me
how you even got into that andhaving twins.
What has that taught you aboutresilience and going through
things in life that maybe arechallenging?

Well, I think the first thing that both of
those things taught me is I'vealways thought that I needed
nine hours of sleep every nightto function.
That is definitely not the caseanymore.
So getting along without sleepis one of those things.
Yeah.
Um, you know, really everythingthat I do, um, I want to make
sure that I'm a great rolemodel.

(15:45):
My twins are both girls, so Iwant them to see that working
hard pays off, being kind paysoff, and really going after
something that you think thatyou may never be able to do,
which was a marathon for me.
Yeah.
Um, that pays off as well.
I love that.
How old are the girls?
They just turned 16.
Oh, wow.

(16:06):
Two cars at one time.
Two cars at one time.
Two drivers.
That's why you're not sleeping,thinking about that.
Exactly.
Exactly.

What are tell me a little bit about what they're
like?
I mean, I'm curious.
Are they are they out there?
Because I know we talked beforea little bit.
I remember you telling me thatthey they believe that you can
do anything because they'vewatched you be able to do that,
which I think just resonates sodeeply with me.
So, what what do the girls liketo do that they challenge
themselves with?

They are huge athletes.
Okay.
So while I may run, if you puta racket in my hand or a ball in
my hand, I can do nothing.
Um, but for them, they justlove that challenge.
Um, I remember them saying tome, I want to play volleyball
someday, but I don't know if I'dbe good enough, whatever.
And, you know, try it, see howyou do.

(16:54):
And they're doing great.
They're both on volleyballteams, they're both really
athletic, and that's taught themsome of the grit, yes, um, some
of the persistence that youneed to succeed in life.

Yeah, I played softball growing up, and um, I
think team sports or even liketeam activities.
I was also in a supercompetitive choir.
There's a certain amount ofthat that translates so much.
And I love hiring athletesbecause they have that
competitive spirit, which is thehunger.

Yes.

And also, I do think the curiosity a lot of
times comes with that thatquestion of can I do this, can I
fail, or can I win at this?
You don't know.
Yeah, but you're gonna go outand try either way.
Tell me about the marathon.
So, have you how many of thesehave you run?
And what's that you justdecided I want to see if I can
prove myself that I can run 26.2miles?
Is that right?

(17:40):
26 foot two?
Okay.

Yes.
I think um, you know, I hadalways been a runner.
So even, you know, in fifthgrade, I like to just run
around.
Um, but for me, I never thoughtof myself as an athlete or the
the idea of running as far assomebody would drive, um, was
like, there's no way that I willever do that.
And so just the more that I gotinto it, I started thinking,

(18:05):
why not?
Um, I really enjoyed runninglonger.
I really enjoyed the challengeof, you know, can I make it this
far?
Yeah.
And it was kind of littlesuccess built on little success.
So as soon as I hit, I think 16miles, I was like, well, 10
miles more isn't that muchharder.
So why not do a marathon?
So it was definitely trying tobuild up my confidence um and my

(18:29):
endurance.
Um, than running a marathon.
Yeah.

I've read a lot of people that do that, read a
lot of books and things aboutthat.
And they say, you know, if youcan just think about one more
step or one more mile.
And I do think there's a lot oflessons that come into like for
me in entrepreneurship.
It's kind of like that.
If I can just get to next week,get to next month, and you do
turn around.
Like, I mean, I was thinkingabout as you said that, that

(18:54):
you've been here three and ahalf years and we met almost
three years ago.
And it feels like so so muchhas happened in that time, but
it's been three years.
Yeah.
What happens in three years canjust be so exponential if you
just think about it one littlegoal at a time.
Exactly.
If you start to think about itas a three-year period, it gets

(19:16):
overwhelming.
So I think that endurance issomething that you mentally have
to have, but having itphysically, kudos to you,
because it's a long time to run.

Well, what's funny is um it does really
parallel a digitaltransformation because even
though you build a greate-commerce site, yeah, there's
so much more that goes into youknow thinking digital first,
into behaving that way, intogetting all of your systems
aligned so that they can besuccessful on digital.
So, and there have beensetbacks along the way, just

(19:47):
when I was running and you know,had a terrible run, but you got
to keep going with the end insight.

Well, and I think something about setbacks
that's really interesting, and alot of the really big
entrepreneurs in the world, likeBezos and people like Tim Tim
Cook and Apple, they talk aboutsome of the biggest things that
happened that were positivesactually came from some epic
failure that was unexpected andreally was not good when it
happened.
Yeah.
And it started to make themthink about something

(20:14):
differently that maybe theydidn't see or a blind spot.
You know, you hope the rocketdoesn't explode to build a
better rocket, but sometimes itdoes get dinged up.
And I think that's a greatlesson.
Allison, you have seencompanies that have grown fast,
and you've probably seen somethat have stalled out or maybe
gone out of existence.
I know there's a lot of those.
What is a story of one that youhave seen like nail it and

(20:37):
really hit it out of the parklong term versus somebody that
didn't and what makes thedifference in those two things?

Yeah, so usually when you read stories in
the news or you work for acompany that might not
necessarily make it, when youget to the bottom of it, a lot
of it is there's a lack ofcustomer focus.
So you forget who you'reserving.
Um, you kind of veer off thepath of what really matters to
your customers.
I think the converse is truefor those who do make it.

(21:06):
And a little plug for do itbest.
We're celebrating our 80thbirthday this year, which is
amazing.
And really the secret to ourlongevity, um, I've only been
here for three years of it, butbut this was evident to me, is
how much we really focus onserving our members the way that
they want to be served.
And really we're here tosupport them and help them grow

(21:28):
their business.
Yeah.
And that's that's been justgreat for the company.

Yeah, absolutely.
I I think you have to beobsessed with your customer.
And like you said, what do theywant and need to be successful
themselves?
And that shifts over time.
I mean, I'm certain that 80years ago, I I'm not a math whiz
like you, but 80 years ago,whatever that was, um, there
were people that wantedsomething totally different than
what they need now.
And I'm sure there were a lotmore newspaper ads.

(21:53):
Yeah.
Uh, but you know, it's funnyhow things come back around
because print is actually doingreally well right now as well.
Yeah.
So it's really cool how lifehappens like that.
But 80th anniversary, we'rehaving a big celebration here at
Market Um 80s attire, hopefullyincluded.
Of course.
I'm hoping to see some goodmullets.
Well, I want to end on one lastquestion for you.

(22:14):
If you could leave our audiencewith one story and talk a
little bit about where thehardware and building industry
is going, because I do see ashift happening pretty quickly,
especially with a lot of thecompetitive environment and the
acquisitions that are happening.
Where is it heading and how canpeople independence win in this
environment in the future?

So, what's funny is um, you mentioned that
I worked for Bath and BodyWorks.
And in the world of lotions andmall stores, that was actually
a pretty big retailer.
And one of the things that wealways drooled over is smaller
businesses because they havethat emotional connection with
their customers.
Yeah.
They knew their customers, andthat was something that we just

(22:58):
could not replicate.
And immediately in moving intothe hardware industry, I saw how
those relationships were reallywhat the driver of the industry
is, and they're so important.
So I do see, of course, I'm intechnology, I do see our
industry getting more techfocused, but not at the expense
of that personal connection.

(23:18):
So I think the the retailersthat can balance those two
things are the ones that gonnathat are gonna win in the
hardware industry in the future.
Yeah, you nailed it on that.

I think we have to create customer experiences
and raving fans.
And like you said, it's hard todo that with a mall store.
Abercrombie and Fitch did apretty good job in the 1990s and
the early 2000s.
They're back too.
They are, but I do think it'shard to do that with a bigger
chain.
It's easier when you walk inand you know someone's face.
When I have places, and I thinka lot of people do that I went

(23:49):
when I was a kid that I havethis like emotional nostalgia
to, and even places now that Ijust love going.
And it's almost always a smalllocal business.
And you know that smiling facewhen you walk in the door.
So there's nothing, I don'tthink they can replace that.
No.
And if people will lean intothat and I think niche down and
really own a category or two intheir store, like maybe they're

(24:11):
awesome at grills, maybe theycrush it at Lawn and Garden,
maybe they're really great atpaint, whatever it is that your
category needs in your market, Ithink that's how they dominate.
Yeah.
So I love it.
Yeah.
Well, that's a great answer.
That fires me up.
All right.
Well, thank you so much forjoining me on the show and have
a great market.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to theGrit Blueprint Podcast.

(24:32):
If this episode helped youthink a little differently about
how to show up, share it withsomeone in your building world
who needs it.
If you're ready to turnvisibility into growth, then
head to gritblueprint.com tolearn more and book a call to
talk to us about your growthstrategy.
Until next time, stayunmistakable.

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