How hard can it be to develop a better LBM drive-through for a store’s back end? It has been a common enough aspect of many dealers’ offerings for decades. But there are ways to improve drive-throughs.
Hardlines’ Michael McLarney recently spent a few days in Lisbon, Portugal, at the Global DIY-Summit. Delegates took a tour of the city’s DIY and pro yards, to see how Europeans are employing new merchandising techniques, racking, end caps, and customer service.
And they learned a lot about how to do drive-throughs better.
The store tours event attracted five busloads of the planet’s most influential vendors and retailers. A visit to Leroy Merlin, a French-headquartered home improvement retailer, was the second stop—and the third.
The first Leroy Merlin store we visited was very DIY-oriented, with clean lines and a bright layout that reflected the best of Home Depot, RONA+, and IKEA. But another Leroy Merlin was located directly across the highway from the first store. And it focused on professional contractors.
“Our mission, our vision, is to make home a positive place to live,” Gil Deas, director of both stores, told the delegates. The pro location generated 21 million euros (C$33 million) in sales in 2024 and expects to reach 25 million euros ($39.3 million) this year. It has 52 full-time staff, said Deas, and more than half of them are women. The store works closely with its counterpart across the street to fulfill orders using cross-docking and cross-selling to provide customers with whatever they need in one stop.
But the drive-through was the area that had delegates snapping pictures and taking notes. The winding track allows a car to wind its way through the LBM area, pull over and load materials as needed from the various bays. These include plywood and lumber, drywall, and concrete blocks. When the products are loaded, the customer’s car licence number is fed into the store’s system. When the customer reaches the exit, the system uploads the order and they can use self-checkout to pay and exit. It’s a fast and effective system that keeps labour costs to a minimum.
