Interested in the experience of opening an online store of building materials?

Question

Conversion

For the past two years, I have been regularly reading Habr, and I don’t remember that someone here shared their experience in creating and developing an online store for building materials in a local region.
Namely, the questions are of interest:
- How did you arrange logistics (delivery)? All the same, these are mostly large-sized goods and often it will be necessary to deliver goods close to the city. How is it all solved? Buying your own transport and creating a driver's rate? Or conclude an agreement with a company that carries out cargo transportation or can negotiate with a “private cart”? What is the best way to do it in the first step?
— Interested in an effective way to attract visitors to the site and increase conversion? All the same, the target audience is usually older people who have some distrust of online stores. Still often, the purchase of goods is entrusted to a team of repairmen who carry out repairs, because. they know how much materials they need and what to choose, as a rule, these people choose themselves in offline stores.

Answer 1

It seems that you are looking for ready-made recipes for successful business. But I don’t think that Habré will cover such topics in detail, rather the technical side of the issue.

Answer 2

Well, look at how IKEA works or Leroy Merlin and feel free to copy.

Answer 3

Boards, wallpapers, etc. people will want to feel / see live, even if they found it via the Internet. Therefore, if there is no real trading pavilion where you can come and see, it is better not to sell it.
More or less standardized branded goods (tools, plumbing, paint) can be sold. Logistics is best organized by a transport company. At first, it is better to find a small one - because. large with small revolutions will not be interesting to mess around.
As for attracting people to the site: Yandex.Market, contextual advertising, SEO. Market and context - fast, but expensive, SEO - cheaper but longer, and riskier. Other platforms and affiliate programs give little. Unless you go through specialized repair forums, offer discounts / kickbacks to masters.
The market works well in the case of unique products / lack of competitors there; or the ability to sell products cheaper than competitors. In general, both Market and contextual advertising, even with proper settings, work at the limit of efficiency (most of the margin goes to advertising). Earnings on returned customers, additional purchases or those who came from a search. And website promotion is a long process. If the goods are purchased, and not in the supplier's warehouse, then it is better to buy when the store is already unwinding.

Answer 4

I myself recently found expanded clay blocks via the Internet - very convenient.
As for logistics, then call the men with gazelles / bulls / cranes on the newspaper and work with them. You are good and they are good. For security, sign civil. contracts or just take scans of passports (it is possible when sending the first orders).
As for advertising, firstly, the site should be well indexed, because. buyers search for materials through search engines. Secondly, for teams, print a pack of business cards and distribute them to advanced builders (preferably foremen or “owners”) who have laptops or tablets. Brigade firms can also be found in catalogs or newspapers.

Answer 5

There will be an assortment! There will be buyers! 100%!

Answer 6

https://www.roofos.ru

Answer 7

The first question was well answered by Michael Galyuk Michael Galyuk above.
No one will tell you anything about an effective way to attract you. There are a lot of "optimizers", "directologists" and others on the market now, the main goal of which is your budget.
But you have already begun to think correctly, in fact, segmenting your audience.
What do people need? Good price, whole product and timely delivery. Perhaps the recommendation of proven installers.
What do teams need? Rollbacks and objects. Therefore, you can recommend proven teams to customers and set your own price column on the site for them. We recently wrote an article on how to do this.
Also try to promote photo reports on the implementation of certain repairs, as well as the results on your website. Many repairs are done on their own, so they look for a lot of pictures. Here are a few principles from Yandex . Mandatory condition - the photo must be yours.