Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
As you work to implement AI technologies in your operation, here is a list of service providers, vendors and companies offering AI solutions covering a variety of operational areas. This is not a complete list, but gives you a head start on finding the companies that offer the AI solutions you are looking for. If you are interested in being a part of this list, please email managing editor Lindsey Thompson at lthompson@yournhpa.org.
4R Systems
The 4R Systems suite of solutions and services helps businesses manage inventory as an investment, focusing on high-value processes for optimizing supply chain and inventory management.
Mark Garland, president and CEO of 4R systems, provides insights into the emerging trends in AI retailers should be paying attention to.
Learn how Koopman Lumber has partnered with 4R Systems to improve inventory management, assortment planning and forecasting.
With Adobe Firefly, users can create images, add styles and textures to text, fill image areas with AI-generated content, create social media posts, posters and flyers and generate vector graphics—all with simple text prompts.
American Hardware & Lumber Insurance (AHLI)
AHLI is dedicated to meeting the insurance needs of independent hardware stores, lumber and building material dealers, nursery and garden centers and rental centers throughout the U.S.
A leading location data and crowd analytics provider, Ariadne offers companies a viable commercial opportunity for them to onboard. Their proprietary software not only collects surface data but digs deeper, creating an insightful plethora of patterns of movement easily translated into actionable decisions routed in people flow strategies.
Badger Technologies provides actionable data and analytics for retail operations through automation solutions to address out-of-stock, planogram compliance, price integrity and other operational inefficiencies.
Magic Design is an AI design generator that uses AI to create custom, on-brand and attention-grabbing designs in seconds.
Since 2000, CashierPRO has been a leading provider of POS and inventory management systems for small-to-mid size retailers offering an unbeatable combination of power, price and easy-to-use features.
ChatGPT is a chatbot and virtual assistant developed by OpenAI. Based on large language models, it enables users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail and language.
Copeland is a global climate technology company engineered for sustainability. Copeland continues to build on its 100-year legacy through industry-leading innovation, putting it at the forefront of positive change. It creates sustainable residential, commercial and industrial spaces through HVACR technologies. Copeland maintains the integrity of goods throughout the cold chain while bringing comfort to people globally.
For over 30 years, ECI Software Solutions has provided industry-specific, cloud-based business management software and services to help companies run more efficiently and focus on what matters most.
John Maiuri, president of the LBM and hardlines group, building and construction division for ECI Software Solutions, shares about the AI platforms the company offers and the ways AI will shape the LBM industry.
Fluent Commerce was founded to solve the problem of retailers needing to adapt quickly to changing customer service needs. The company offers a powerful and exciting inventory availability and distributed order management platform, designed to meet the business needs of the future.
Nicola Kinsella, senior vice president of global marketing for Fluent Commerce, shares the practical applications AI has for the retail industry and the importance of good data.
J3 Point of Sale Software is the premiere POS inventory management system specifically designed and ideally suited for retail hardware stores, lumberyards, small grocery stores, convenience stores with gas pumps, pet stores, liquor stores, general merchandise stores or other similar businesses.
GMG EnviroSafe works closely with businesses to help them meet environmental, health and safety regulations and reduce the spread of communicable diseases, easily and affordably.
INSURICA is a family-owned business comprising independent retail insurance agencies, program administrators and risk pool managers that specialize in core industries and business disciplines and share their expertise with the entire group.
InVid Tech is a security equipment provider offering personal service, consulting and support from start to finish. They have an extensive security and surveillance offering and many specialty products, including mobile and stationary solar surveillance. Their product management team can assist with custom products and needs, and their products can be found stocked locally throughout North America.
Live Oak Bank is ready to support you with customized loan products focused on your long-term success using strategies beyond the traditional banking experience.
Learn more about how AI is impacting the retail channel and considerations small businesses should take before implementing.
Paladin Data Corp. develops a digital retail platform that automates complex and time-consuming business operations. Our intuitive technology enables end-to-end automation including: ordering, advertising, in-store marketing, customer management, mobile, e-commerce and our proprietary Market Driven Inventory Management™.
Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Co.
Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual (PLM) Insurance Co. is a leading property and casualty insurance carrier serving the woodworking and LBM industries. PLM believes every risk is unique and requires specific attention.
Use Placer.ai’s True Trade Area to understand consumer demographics, preferences and where they are coming from. Target the right areas and audience, maximize ROI and enable offline attribution for online spend.
Profitmind is an easy-to-use AI-powered analytics platform that highlights immediate opportunities with actionable recommendations that affect the bottom line. Profitmind scans the web for competitors, allowing real-time price, promotion and assortment comparisons against your products. It analyzes prices, assortments, inventory and competitors, looking for growth and working capital opportunities. Every SKU is analyzed, every day. Profitmind automatically summarizes and prioritizes opportunities and the actions required to capture them, supported by data and reasoning.
Rundoo’s mission is to empower paint and hardware stores with the best technology. Their suite of software includes a web-based point-of-sale, mobile apps for you and your customers, accounting and payment processing, and integrations with vendors like Benjamin Moore, True Value and PPG. Hundreds of paint and hardware stores around the country operate on Rundoo to grow their businesses. Rundoo consists of a team of 20 people and five dogs based in Redwood City, California. The Rundoo team has a family in a variety of trades and professional experience in technology companies like Google, Apple and Meta.
Experience the future of customer service with an AI-powered chatbot that understands your customers, drives sales, and redefines support. With Starfish Chat AI, customers can customize their chatbot to align with their brand identity by incorporating unique logos and color schemes, ensuring a seamless and consistent user experience.
Theatro is a cutting-edge mobile platform for frontline workers, powered by GenAI. It transforms communication, collaboration and operations in fast-paced industries like retail, hospitality and manufacturing. With Theatro, employees get a hands-free, voice-activated interface through an IoT device. This smart tool lets them access information, complete tasks, communicate with their team and stay updated effortlessly.
Chris Todd, for Theatro, talks about how retailers are currently using AI and the trends they should be tracking.
Watcher Total Protection specializes in custom design and installation management of loss prevention products including digital surveillance, electronic article surveillance and access control systems.
Laura Freeman, co-owner of Watcher Total Protection, talks about some of the legal considerations retailers should be aware of when using AI.
VusionGroup is the global leader in the digitalization solutions for commerce, serving over 350 large retailer groups around the world in Europe, Asia and North America. The company develops technologies that create a positive impact on society by enabling sustainable and human-centered commerce.
Zingly.ai is the new way for businesses to meet, onboard and build lasting relationships with customers. Built by industry insiders in collaboration with Fortune 500 service providers, Zingly is a faster, cheaper, more secure and better-organized solution than today’s chatbots and 1-800 calling, eliminating friction and accelerating use cases like customer acquisition, onboarding, and support.
Zipline’s conversational AI companion, “Zippy” is designed to offer swift and dependable on-the-spot answers to questions about policies, promotions, products and more. Frontline workers can ask Zippy specific questions, and the AI chatbot will retrieve short, relevant and accurate answers directly from the Zipline Resource Library—eliminating the need to search through multiple documents or messages.
