E-Commerce 101

As lumberyards are adjusting to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are pivoting to online retail as a means of continuing to serve their local markets while practicing all of the safety guidelines established for essential service businesses.

When I meet other lumberyard operators who know that I do a significant amount of my retail business over the internet, one of the first things they ask is how they can best hire the staff to get themselves set up for a similar operation.

Many of us in the LBM industry are either former builders or are familiar enough with the building trades to know that you can’t build anything worthwhile without the proper tools.

While I have been writing a column for LBM Journal on decking for the past several years, this month’s column begins a new focus.