trade customers would consider switching merchant over the digital experience alone.
The Gap 2026
BUILT FOR BUILDERS’ MERCHANTS
The digital trade counter.
On every channel.
Let trade customers ask, order and sort their account in a simple conversation with your business.
WebsiteAppWhatsAppVoice
THE GAP, IN PLAIN ENGLISH
Customers have moved on.
Most merchant experiences haven’t.
is the average score for logged-in trade account capability.
22 merchants assessedof the available branch and fulfilment capability is delivered by the market on average.
43 measures assessedThat gap is where Merchant Intelligence works.
It gives customers the help they expect without losing the service that makes a merchant different.
Source: The Gap 2026 and UK Builders Merchant Digital Maturity Assessment — 22 merchants, 43 measures.
IMAGINE THIS
Put your trade counter
inside WhatsApp.
Account prices. Local stock. Whole-job orders. Delivery. Order tracking.
The everyday jobs customers bring to a branch—completed in a conversation they already know how to use.YM
Your Merchantonline
ORDER READY TO REVIEW
Plasterboard + everything needed
Account price appliedFriday delivery
ONE CONVERSATION COMPLETED
Six branch jobs.
No call. No queue.
No call. No queue.
- 01Customer recognisedTrade account found
- 02Account price checkedTheir price—not a list price
- 03Local stock confirmedAt the branch they need
- 04The whole job builtIncluding the easy-to-forget bits
- 05Delivery arrangedAgainst a real slot
- 06Customer asked to confirmNothing placed without approval
SEE IT IN A REAL MERCHANT MOMENT
Pick the customer problem.
CUSTOMER ASKS
“What’s my price on 50 sheets—and have you got them?”Sent on WhatsApp · 06:12
Rings the branch. Waits. Someone checks two systems.
Your counter deals with another routine query.
Gets their account price and local stock in seconds.
The customer can keep the job moving. Your team keeps serving the counter.
WHAT IT DOES
Sell. Serve. Learn.
Win more of the job
Find products. Check account price and stock. Build the basket. Add the bits people forget.
“Add everything I need for the garage roof.”
Take pressure off the branch
Repeat orders. Arrange collection or delivery. Track an order. Answer routine account questions.
“Where’s my delivery to Riverside?”
Hear what customers want
See missed demand, competitor mentions, job context and what customers may buy next.
“You don’t stock the board I need.”
HOW IT ALL COMES TOGETHER
One conversation.
The whole merchant behind it.
The customer asks in the channel that suits them. Merchant Intelligence understands the request, uses your live information and gets the job moving.
→
Knows the customer.
⇄
MI
MERCHANT INTELLIGENCEYour digital trade counter
LIVEKnows the customer.
Understands the job.
Follows your rules.
UNDERSTANDSACTSLEARNS
WHAT COMES BACK
01 Answer given02 Order built03 Fulfilment arranged04 Demand captured
THE PART OTHER CHANNELS MISS
Every conversation tells you something.
Now you can hear it.
At the counter, the order gets recorded and the conversation disappears. Online, you see clicks rather than words. Merchant Intelligence turns what customers actually ask into something your branches, buyers and account teams can act on.
Lost demand
What customers requested but you couldn’t supply.
Jobs and stage
What each account is working on and what may come next.
Competitor mentions
Where price, range or service is being challenged.
Basket leakage
What customers decline and may be buying elsewhere.
BUILT LIKE A MERCHANT
It can act.
You stay in control.
Merchant Intelligence works with your identity, your rules and your people. Every request passes through clear safeguards before anything happens.
CUSTOMER ASKS
“Can you put that on my account and deliver it Friday?”WhatsApp · 18:42
Your brand
It looks, sounds and responds like your business—not ours.
Your rules
It checks the account, agreed price, stock and fulfilment permissions.
Customer confirms
It reads the action back. Nothing is placed without approval.
THE FINAL CHECKIs it clear and allowed?
Complete the taskOrder placed · Customer updated
Bring in a personFull conversation and context passed across
NO GUESSING
If it doesn’t know, it stops and says so.
HOW IT STARTS
Start with one job customers ask for every day.
Prove it with real customers, then build from there.
- 01
Pick it
Choose one high-volume customer job.
- 02
Teach it
Add your products, rules and branch know-how.
- 03
Connect it
Bring in the data needed to complete the job.
- 04
Prove it
Measure service, sales and demand with real customers.