Custom Web Development

One of the major problems in the building materials industry is the lack of sophistication amount manufacturers with their websites. Architects, distributors and customers are expecting a certain level of technological support to achieve their objectives. In many cases, the fix to your technical problems is not as difficult as it seems.

What are some common problems that your end users face?

Architects

Architects are typically broken into two groups at any particular architectural firm. You have the visionary, who oversees the design aesthetics of their projects. At a high level, your website may never even be visited by this person, and if it is, it'll be a very specific type of visit, i.e., to see a particular product and gain information about it. The visionary is usually not bogged down in details.

But, you do have the engineer at the architectural firm. This is the individual that has needs which can be met with custom web development. Among their various responsibilities is the sourcing of products for use in their designs and finalized blueprints. These types of website visitors benefit from a comprehensive product catalog with searching capabiltiies.

This type of feature can best be accomplished via custom web development. The reason is because almost every building supply manufacturer relies on internal systems for product management, such as ERP systems. These systems have become complex and as such, integrating to them isn't something a standard web designer can do easily. But, with custom web development experience, you can tie into these systems via a variety of means such as data dumps or API connections. This data, when integrated to your website can then be easily searchable and filterable, enabling visitors such as engineers to easily find the proper products for their projects.

Distributors, Dealers

Distributors are very likely to cite technology problems as a reason to carry or not carry a manufacturers product. We hear this story all the time. Distributors need access to two pieces of information, and usually ASAP. First, what is a product's availability. This means a system that allows for not just browsing, filtering and viewing products, but also gives an idea of availability. Secondly, distributors need to know WHEN they can get the product.

We recently met with a building supply distributor during the IBS show. We asked them about why they chose one manufacturer over another for a particular set of products. The cited that despite pricing being competitive if not better, they chose the company that gave them better insight into the two variables we pointed out above: availability and timing.

Luckily, this is a problem that almost any manufacturer can correct quickly with the right development team in place. As mentioned above, almost every internal management system can export data such as inventory on a timed interval. And that data can easily be imported and presented for use on a website portal, such as behind a login wall.

Designers

Designers utilize websites in a different way, which tends to be more visual. So their needs oftentimes include advanced solutions such as room planners or other interactive tools that can give a preview of how a product may look or feel upon final installation. These types of technologies are becoming more and more prevalent, and having them working on your website instills a level of credibility and provides utility that is needed to help designers perform their day to day duties.

These types of systems do rely on underlying technology. You will again need to integrate inventory systems to keep them up to date. Also, you'll most likely be utilizing some third party software to perform this task, rather than reinvent the wheel. But this feature will go a long way in making you a go-to resource for this persona - all made possible via a little bit of custom web development.

Contractors

The name of the game with contractors is support. To that end, how can you develop features that can make the lives of contractors easier? A comprehensive help desk and informational portal can go a long way. And, most importantly, have it be mobile compatible. This persona of user is mobile most of the time. So to have a way for them to access guides, instructions, and help either via community or via company representatives from a mobile device is important. 

There are many software packages that can accomplish this task. However, we find that they may be too complex or convoluted and as such get in the way of being a helpful resource. A custom developed solution can be integrated directly into your website and make it easy to help contractors when they need it the most - on a job site or when on the road.