Buildmat has grown from a specialist kitchen sink retailer into an Australian renovation business with around 10,000 SKUs spanning the kitchen, bathroom and laundry categories. As the range has expanded, so has the business, bringing together direct-to-consumer, trade and showroom sales under one operation.
Rather than adding more systems as they grew, Buildmat kept their DTC, trade and showroom operations connected through the Shopify Plus store they were already using. B2B on Shopify gives trade customers a self-service way to manage orders, while Shopify POS puts showroom transactions on the same platform.
With Shopify Plus at the centre, Buildmat now runs one core commerce stack with a clearer view of customers, orders and inventory.
Since moving more of their commerce operations onto Shopify, Buildmat has seen:
- ~17% increase in average order value, year on year
- 3x increase in trade revenue, year on year
- 80% reduction in customer enquiries requiring direct management
The challenge: Different systems created complexity
Buildmat had already built their consumer ecommerce business on Shopify, after moving from an earlier Magento-based platform. Their trade and showroom operations, however, remained separate. Trade customers were managed through Xero invoices without an online portal, while the showroom used a separate point-of-sale terminal, with other systems feeding information into Xero.
That model became increasingly difficult as Buildmat grew. Customer and order histories were fragmented, particularly when a customer moved between retail sales and trade. A simple question about how much a customer had spent over the previous 12 months could mean running two or three reports and consolidating them in Excel before the team had a complete picture.
The same fragmentation affected day-to-day customer service. When a customer called, the team could spend several minutes working out who they were and piecing together their history. In the showroom, staff often needed to create an invoice, make notes, check where products were and then complete the transaction, rather than being able to build an order as the customer moved through the space.
As the team grew, the business also had to train people across multiple systems and spreadsheet-based reporting processes. What had been manageable for a small group was becoming a barrier to scaling efficiently.
With Shopify unifying our commerce operations, we can see every transaction. The real time saver for us is being able to find a customer straight away and see their full transaction history, rather than having to look across different systems.
The solution: Building a single commerce stack
Buildmat’s move towards unified commerce happened over time, with Shopify’s Plus tier at the centre of their commerce operation. The first major step was bringing trade onto B2B on Shopify, offering Buildmat the capabilities they needed to provide customer account-specific discounts and company-level order visibility.
B2B on Shopify, which has been live since April 2024, gives trade customers a self-service portal where they can log in, view previous orders and order status, and reorder products they purchase regularly.
Multiple employees within the same business can also place orders using their own accounts, while Buildmat can see that activity under the same customer. Buildmat uses customer-specific price discounts, and the self-service model reduces the need for the team to manage every trade interaction themselves.
The next step was Shopify POS, bringing the showroom onto the same system as online and trade sales. Previously, showroom transactions were created through a separate terminal and often required staff to step away from the customer to create an invoice or check stock. With Shopify POS, staff can build the order while walking around the showroom, see whether products are available and take payment on the spot.
That brought the showroom onto the same commerce system as the rest of Buildmat’s operation. Trade and consumer customers can be served through the same POS experience, while staff can pull up draft orders and access order information when a customer is ready to complete a purchase. Inventory information is also available on the device, supported by Buildmat’s warehouse management system through Shopify APIs.
Previously, we’d be writing notes, checking where the items were and asking customers to give us a few minutes. With Shopify POS, the showroom is finally on the same system so we can now create the order and check stock on the spot, then complete the transaction straight away.
Buildmat stood up B2B and POS without a dedicated development project. They used Shopify’s documentation and bulk CSV uploads rather than needing external development support. Trade customers were brought across from Xero through a small number of CSV uploads, while POS was set up directly on the existing store.
That lean approach continues as the business has become more complex. Buildmat now manages around 10,000 SKUs, using CSV uploads for large product launches, Shopify Flow to flag product combinations that may not be compatible, and apps from the Shopify App Store such as Boost to add capabilities without building those functions from scratch.
The results: Greater scale, less operational complexity
By bringing more of their commerce operation onto Shopify, Buildmat has grown without their operational burden increasing at the same pace. Overall, trade revenue has grown 3x, year on year. At the same time, the proportion of customer enquiries the team needs to manage directly has fallen from around 25% to 5%, equating to an 80% drop, with B2B on Shopify giving trade customers more ways to manage their own orders.
Buildmat has also maintained the value of each order as the business has scaled. Average order value increased by 17%. This growth has been supported by Buildmat’s ability to expand their range efficiently, with around 10,000 SKUs now managed through the same commerce platform.
The showroom has also become a more connected part of the business. With Shopify POS, staff can see inventory and act on customer needs in the moment rather than moving between systems. POS GMV has grown by more than 100%, year on year.
For Buildmat, the value of unified commerce is ultimately less about replacing every system and more about making the core commerce operation easier to run. Shopify provides the common platform, while specialist systems such as their warehouse management system remain connected around it.
