Home improvement 'superstore' launched on Web

Home Channel News, Nov 9, 1998 by Monica Toriello

SEATTLE -- Superbuild.com, a year-old company founded here, last month launched www.superbuild.com, an online retailer of home improvement products. Touting itself as "the home improvement superstore," the Web site features more than 30,000 items in 10 categories including kitchen and bath, yard and lawn, paint and finishing, and general purpose and housewares.

"Superbuild.com spares [homeowners] from what they like least about traditional home improvement retailers: large crowds, confusing store layout, as well as inadequate parking and customer service," said the company's founder and CEO, John Kueber. He added that after months of searching the Internet for online retailers, he can safely conclude that Superbuild.com is the largest online retailer for home improvement products, even though that assessment might be challenged by some dealers and other online services.

Kueber has been involved with developing a number of online retail stores, but he has no experience in the building materials industry. Superbuild.com's board of directors -- which includes Ted Tanase, the former CEO of Lanoga Corp. and currently CEO of Pacific Housing Materials & Deisgn in Kent, Wash. -- more than makes up for that, said Kueber.

Each product listed on Superbuild.com has an image of the item, the name of the manufacturer, the suggested retail price and Superbuild.com's price. One of the advantages of being an online venture, Kueber said, is that Superbuild.com need not protect any existing retail pricing model, because it has no capital investment in real estate.

"That allows us to pass the savings on to our customers," said Kueber. The company also saves money on personnel: it currently operates with a staff of 12.

According to a company release, Superbuild.com can deliver products to customers' doorsteps in as little as 48 hours. Average shipping costs are less than $3 per item, and the Web site offers Thee shipping of up to 10 pounds on a user's first order. Merchandise is shipped either directly from Superbuild.com's Seattle warehouse or drop-shipped from a supplier.

Currently, the company receives product from 10 distributors, with the capability to send Superbuild.com their catalogs electronically; in addition, each distributor had to meet certain fulfillment requirements that Kueber wouldn't specify.

The site also includes a project library which provides how-to information, as well as supplies checklists and step-by-step diagrams for more than 100 home improvement projects. The company plans to expand the library as user traffic and interest increase, and Kueber hopes that these project overviews will be a key factor in the Web site's success.

"Most people can't really make educated decisions when it comes to purchasing products for their home," Kueber told NHCN. "In building our Web site, we wanted to incorporate as much how-to info and project knowledge as possible."

Marketing could be next step

Kueber said that the site was partly borne out of his own frustration with the dearth of knowledgeable sales staff in retail stores.

The Superbuild.com site gives the impression of efficient customer service, with at least seven e-mail addresses each designated for a specific purpose. For example, a user with questions about purchasing merchandise should write to orders@super-build.com; someone with technical questions about the Web site should write to webmaster@superbuild.com; and customers needing advice about certain home improvement projects would address e-mail to project_help@superbuild.com.

Users can also choose the "customize" link on the site to access their account records and sign up to receive e-mail updates on "hot deals, new projects, events and other info to make [their] homes better." In addition, a search function allows users to further specialize a search for items according to cost, function or brand name.

The online store is running promotions on a number of Web portals, and it is advertising itself on billboards and on radio stations. That's a necessary move, according to Gene Curtin, vp-information systems for Vernon Hills, Ill.-based Wickes Inc.

Wickes is one of the first major home improvement retailers to test the waters of Internet retailing with its www.toolsonline.com, which has a selection of more than 8,500 hand and power tools. More recently, Wickes' parent company The Riverside Group launched www.homebuildingresource.com, a site through which Riverside eventually hopes to sell everything from hardware to home plans.

"It's no longer possible to promote only on the Web," Curtin told NHCN. "You see commercials for Yahoo! on television now. Anyone who wants to make it on the Web needs to advertise in other media." Curtin maintained that becoming known is one of the greatest barriers to success facing Internet retailers. Success, he believes, is possible for smart marketers who maintain well-organized sites with the right selection and good merchandise descriptions.

"The Internet is a good analog to catalog retailing," said Curtin. "Success [in online retailing] is not guaranteed, but it's more than a hope. "Of Wickes' own site, Curtin said that "We're trying to offer a broader and broader array of merchandise appropriate to the Internet, as well as intellectual product."