Delivering on buyer preferences for one-stop shopping.
Whether it’s a homeowner planning a bathroom remodel or a contractor sourcing materials for a backyard renovation, a simplified purchasing journey and streamlined logistics can significantly enhance project outcomes. That’s why in the DIY and home improvement market, both consumers and contractors increasingly prefer buying from a single vendor (or at the very least, a primary supplier).
For retailers, meeting this preference is more than a nice-to-have— it can drive sales, improve customer loyalty, and reduce returns and cancellations. However, creating a single-vendor experience for complex, project-based shopping presents unique challenges.
The impacts of this customer preference merit exploration, including the obstacles brands face and strategies for creating a streamlined, reliable shopping experience that fulfills customer expectations in both B2C and B2B markets.
For homeowners, using a single vendor for a home improvement project reduces the burden of coordinating multiple orders, tracking deliveries, and managing compatibility among products. According to a study by the Home Improvement Research Institute, ~60% of consumers prefer a one-stop-shop for all their home improvement needs, especially for larger or more complex projects. This preference is not just about convenience but also about consistency in style, quality, and functionality across all components.
Contractors, on the other hand, rely on primary vendors to maintain efficiency and reduce risk. Relying on a primary vendor can mean fewer delays and disruptions, improving project timelines and client satisfaction. This primary-vendor model also helps contractors maintain quality standards, which is critical for repeat business and reputation.
For retailers, these preferences offer clear opportunities— brands that can provide a cohesive, reliable shopping experience can tap into this demand, increasing sales and brand loyalty. But brands that fail to deliver on this preference not only miss out on new opportunities, they run the risk of losing their current sales to vendors that can meet customer expectations better. There are three primary risks facing retailers in this scenario:
Failing to deliver on the one-stop-shop expectations of both homeowners and contractors can lead to customer frustration, lost revenue, and higher return rates, impacting both short-term sales and long-term customer loyalty.
While the benefits of meeting single-vendor demand are clear, providing a seamless, project-based shopping experience comes with its own set of challenges.
Complex inventory and supply chain management is often the biggest challenge facing retailers in this space. Ensuring that all necessary items for a project are consistently in stock and available for delivery can be difficult, especially for brands offering a wide range of products across multiple categories. Managing SKUs for bundled solutions or project-specific needs, such as “Outdoor Decking Kits” or “Complete Bathroom Remodel Bundles,” requires advanced inventory planning and efficient supply chain coordination, especially since customers tend to mix and match products to create a bespoke solution.
Another challenge facing vendors is ensuring product compatibility and quality. For brands serving B2C homeowners, it’s essential to curate products that work well together in terms of style, size, and functionality. Meanwhile, for B2B contractors, brands need to focus on the technical compatibility and regulatory compliance of products. These aspects can be challenging to coordinate, particularly when integrating products across different suppliers or product lines.
Finally, customers expect tailored recommendations and support, especially for larger projects, which makes personalizing the experience at scale a crucial aspect of meeting consumer needs. However, providing a personalized experience at scale—one that effectively serves both DIY homeowners and professional contractors—requires sophisticated technology, such as AI-driven recommendation engines, to automate and personalize guidance while maintaining consistency across touchpoints. Recommending the right faucet for a one-, two-, or three-hole sink installation, or the right thin set mortar for a tiling job, requires precise product relationships.
To tackle each of these challenges and deliver the unified shopping experiences consumers rely on, vendors need to be deliberate in how they manage the buying journey— and that starts with a thought-through strategy for how to ensure a seamless experience for the end customer.
To capitalize on the preference for single or primary vendors, brands can implement targeted strategies to streamline the shopping experience, build customer loyalty, and maximize revenue. All that’s needed is to behave like a CEO: Curate, Enhance, and Optimize.
Curate Project-Specific Product Bundles
Offering product bundles curated for specific project types helps simplify purchasing and ensures customers get everything they need in one go.
Enhance Personalization and Project Guidance with Intelligent Recommendations
DIY home repair and contracting may not be the first places your mind goes when you think of AI, but it can have a significant impact on your business objectives when implemented correctly. AI-driven recommendation engines can provide project guidance, helping both consumers and contractors find relevant products for their specific needs.
Optimize Supply Chain and Fulfillment for Reliable Project Delivery
No one wants to wait on a purchase, but in renovation, construction, and remodeling, a delay on one supply can set the entire project back indefinitely. Efficient, transparent fulfillment is essential for project-based shopping. Brands that can streamline the logistics behind multi-item, project-based orders will stand out to customers— homeowners and contractors alike.
For DIY and home improvement brands, meeting the demand for single or primary vendor solutions isn’t just a way to simplify purchasing— it’s a powerful driver of customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue. By offering curated project bundles, enhancing personalized recommendations, and optimizing the fulfillment process, brands can better meet the needs of both B2C and B2B customers. These strategies enable brands to become trusted partners in their customers’ home improvement journeys, leading to repeat business, higher average order values, and fewer returns.
By taking a customer-centric approach to project-based shopping, brands can not only differentiate themselves in a competitive market but also build lasting relationships that drive long-term growth and profitability.
Everett Zufelt
VP, Strategic Partnerships & Emerging Technology, Orium
As VP Strategic Partnerships & Emerging Technology at Orium, Everett leverages his extensive technical background and over a decade of experience in headless and composable commerce to lead the development of Orium’s offerings. He guides the go-to-market strategy and supports his teams in crafting solutions that enhance the digital capabilities and operational efficiency of scaling commerce brands.