Ace Hardware and Walmart Link With Home Reno Experts for Consolidated Experience
Long gone are the days of flipping through the yellow pages to find a handyman. And even a Google search won’t do it anymore.
Ace Hardware recently revamped its Ace Handyman Services, previously known as Handyman Matters, to provide consumers with a hub where they can research and hire a handyman, schedule a visit, receive live updates, and review their services.
Working with Dispatch, the new consumer experience is now available at over 160 Ace Hardware locations, creating a “holistic home improvement destination.”
According to Ace Hardware, the Dispatch-powered platform has increased service requests, location job volume and revenue, customer satisfaction, and service ratings.
Chris Bue, president at Ace Handyman, stated the partnership arose due to an alignment of core values and strong customer reviews.
A New Way to Shop
Avi Goldberg, Dispatch founder and chief strategy officer, said he’s noticed retailers are realizing that pairing services with their retail offering is the best way to build loyalty, drive foot traffic, and provide a complete experience to their customers.”
This latest move follows a trend toward consolidated shopping, where consumers can access all necessary goods and services from a centralized location. Could the surge in DIY home improvement seen throughout the pandemic be coming to a close as consumers take advantage of streamlined shopping?
Walmart, for example, recently announced it would be leaning on Angi’s network of professionals to give consumers access to experts who can install and assemble furniture, and complete other home projects like flooring, painting, plumbing, electrical, and more.
Angi services can be purchased online or in-store alongside eligible items — or from a dedicated landing page on Walmart.com. Once an eligible item is purchased, Angi will reach out to coordinate the booking.
The service will be available in about 4,000 Walmart stores across all 50 states and nationwide online, providing access to 250,000 home improvement professionals across 500 tasks.
“Angi brings experience and highly-rated pros to our customers to help them get jobs done around the home,” said Darryl Spinks, senior director of retail services at Walmart. “We’re thrilled to bring the convenience and ease of Angi’s services to our customers.”
[Related: The Anti-Mall: How Innovative Store Partnerships Are Changing the Face of Retail]
These trending retail partnerships come in many shapes and sizes, from mobile apps and desktop web experiences to store-in-store models that physically create a dedicated selling space for other retailers, as Target has done with Ulta, and most recently with Lowe’s and Petco.
