 Grainger
operates in the United States and Puerto
Rico through a highly integrated network of 428 branches, 9
distribution centers and its Web site, ww.grainger.com.
In 2007, Grainger
plans to drive additional market share growth through its Market
Expansion program. Grainger sells primarily to industrial and
commercial maintenance departments, contractors and government
customers.
Sales in 2006 were made to approximately 1.3
million customers, with growth occurring in all customer
end-markets. Grainger offers a broad line of facilities
maintenance products, repair parts and specialized product
sourcing. In 2006, the company expanded its product line, adding
some 43,000 products, the largest increase in Grainger’s history.
In 2007, the company added an additional 25,000 products, bringing
the total catalog offering to 139,000. Competitors:
• Fastenal
• Ferguson
• Home Depot Supply
• McMaster-Carr
• MSC Industrial Direct
• Regional and local suppliers
Grainger provides
businesses and institutions with the products they need to
maintain their facilities. The company doesn’t manufacture any
of the products it carries, but it does make it easy for
customers to find and buy those products. Grainger’s success
is built around the service it provides, characterized by
these unique strengths:
• A
broad product line to handle customers’ diverse requirements
• An efficient supply chain that can get products from suppliers
to customers quickly
• A local presence, so that customers have immediate access to
the most frequently needed items
• An integrated information system that
connects customers, products and information
• Employees who have product knowledge and a
passion for customer service
Competitors may have some of these characteristics;
however, no one offers all of them to the degree that Grainger
does. Product Line Expansion The breadth and availability of its
product line is a key factor that differentiates Grainger from
most of its competition. Grainger carries more than 350,000
products in 17 different product categories to provide customers
with products the same day (if stocked in a local branch) or the
next day (if stocked in one of nine distribution centers).
Having a supplier that can provide more types of
items precisely when they’re needed allows customers to reduce the
number of suppliers they deal with, saving them time and money.
That trend is helping drive consolidation in the industry.
Grainger is finding that selectively adding products is a way of
accelerating sales growth. In 2006, the company added more than
43,000 new products – predominantly fasteners, but also
electrical, cleaning and ventilation products.
The newly added products contributed 1 to 2
percentage points to the company’s overall growth rate. The
company expects that the introduction of an additional 25,000
products will add 1 to 2 percentage points to the company’s sales
growth in 2007. These new products include:
•
8,500 material handling supplies, including conveyors, hoists
and casters
• 6,500 plumbing products, such as high-grade
pipes, valves and fittings
• 2,000 fasteners, such as nuts, bolts and
screws
• 1,000 security products, such as locks and
hinges
Product line expansion is another way
Grainger plans to grow. Over time, Grainger expects to
become the broadest facilities maintenance supplier with the best
local availability of the most requested products. |
