Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Epicor executives outlined plans to help hardware retailers, home centers and lumberyards protect margins, improve productivity and modernize their business systems during Epicor Insights for Building Supply and Retail 2026, Nov. 9-11 at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.
Rising costs, unpredictable pricing, demanding customers and employees stretched thin are familiar challenges for hardware retailers, home centers and lumberyards. At Epicor Insights for Building Supply and Retail 2026, technology executives and retailers examined how better business systems can help address those pressures.
The conference brought together several hundred attendees within the independent home improvement channel, including Epicor leadership, product specialists and customers. The event also offered educational sessions, product demonstrations, networking and discussions about the future of retail and building supply technology. Sponsors included Do it Best Group, Orgill, and Phocas Software.
Vaibhav Vohra, who became Epicor CEO on Oct. 1, used his keynote address to acknowledge customer frustrations with billing accuracy, technical support and communication about the company’s product direction, while outlining investments in artificial intelligence, cloud technology and connected systems.
“Epicor can and will do better,” Vohra told attendees. He said the company has eliminated 94% of the root causes of billing problems, is improving support procedures and will begin providing quarterly product roadmap updates.
Vohra also emphasized Epicor’s commitment to helping customers modernize their business systems, including supporting transitions to newer platforms as the company continues developing its Propello retail management solution.
As part of Vohra’s keynote address, he said Epicor aims to help retailers respond to fluctuating lumber prices, tariffs and competitive pressures while managing heavier workloads and growing customer expectations for immediate answers about pricing, product availability and delivery.
Vohra highlighted Epicor’s pricing-planning tools, accounts payable automation, mobile point-of-sale capabilities and cloud-based systems as ways to improve efficiency and help employees spend more time serving customers.
Epicor Focuses on Faster Orders, Stronger Margins
Rachel Barger, Epicor’s chief revenue officer, emphasized the importance of translating software capabilities into measurable operational improvements.
She identified four priorities: keeping orders moving, increasing employee productivity, responding faster to customers and supporting growth without unnecessary complexity.
For lumberyards and home centers, those priorities include using pricing matrices and contractual pricing controls to protect margins, inventory-planning tools to balance product availability against carrying costs and systems that account for tariffs and fuel surcharges.
Barger also emphasized the importance of customer feedback, product education and the relationships retailers develop with Epicor employees and one another.
During the event’s opening session, Mike Duncan, director of product management, discussed the continuing evolution of Epicor Eagle and Propello. He emphasized that Propello is a complete retail management platform rather than simply a replacement checkout system, while acknowledging the importance of helping Eagle customers evaluate their options.
Steve Garcia, Epicor’s chief information and digital officer, discussed the company’s investment in cloud technology, particularly the security capabilities and operational flexibility available to retailers moving away from on-premises systems.
Artificial intelligence was another prominent topic, with discussions exploring how retailers can connect information across systems, automate routine processes and make better use of business data.
Retailers Share Tech Lessons
For attendees, the conference offered opportunities to examine new technology and learn ways to make the most of technology to support their businesses.
Porter Clark of Hiwasse Builders Supply in Athens, Tennessee, attended to learn more about artificial intelligence and connections between Epicor BisTrack and other business applications.
He emphasized the value of integrating specialized systems rather than expecting one platform to perform every function.
Ken Arends, COO of OK Lumber in San Carlos, California, concentrated on AI sessions and ways to incorporate the technology into daily operations. His company is testing an AI-assisted reference station at a point-of-sale terminal for straightforward customer questions.
Arends also uses the conference’s solution tables to discuss software problems and explore possible resolutions.
Carolyn Epstein, CFO of Dr. Ike’s Home Center in Laredo, Texas, attended to learn more about Propello, AI capabilities and opportunities to improve back-office efficiency across the company’s three locations.
For Jesse Isaacs of PC Home Stores in Sellersburg, Indiana, some of the best ideas come from fellow attendees.
“I can’t get that from an online forum. I can’t get that just from listening to an online lecture,” Isaacs says of the spontaneous exchanges during conference sessions.
Steve and Sue Fusek of Fusek’s Hardware in Indianapolis also emphasized the value of personal connections with Epicor employees.
After 22 years using Eagle, the Fuseks continue discovering capabilities within the system. Conference sessions prompted them to revisit credit card processing audits, investigate potential fee savings and examine fraud-prevention procedures. They are also evaluating a possible transition to Propello in 2027.
Epicor Recognizes Customer Achievements
Epicor presented three customer awards recognizing businesses that have used technology to improve operations, including:
- Fusek’s Hardware received the Retail Champion Award. Epicor credited the Indianapolis retailer with reducing price-update time by 90%, helping protect margins and improve responsiveness to customer demand.
- Lumbermen Associates, along with subsidiary Colonial Forest Products, was recognized for its use of Epicor LumberTrack to connect sales, production and shipping. Epicor reported that barcode-based inventory processes reduced tracking time by more than 50% and that the businesses have grown more than 275% since adopting the system.
- Decks & Docks, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, was honored for using Epicor BisTrack to support rapid expansion, integrate acquisitions and connect e-commerce with core operations.
Inspirational Keynote Put Purpose in Perspective
On the final day of Epicor Insights, speaker Ben Nemtin brought a different perspective to the conference, encouraging attendees to reconnect with their personal goals and recognize the impact their businesses have on others.
Nemtin, known for The Buried Life, recounted how he and three friends began pursuing a list of 100 ambitious dreams while helping strangers accomplish their own goals.
His message centered on purpose, resilience and the ripple effect created by helping other people.
He connected that message directly to hardware retailers and building supply businesses, whose work helps customers build and repair homes, maintain properties and improve their communities.
Nemtin encouraged business leaders to recognize employees’ personal ambitions, help them pursue meaningful goals and remind their teams of the value their work creates. His presentation offered a human counterpoint to the conference’s technology discussions: The systems that support a business matter, but so do the people using them and the customers they serve.
“Remember every micro interaction that you have with your team, with those in your store creates reaction,” Nemtin told attendees. “Impact happens even if you don’t see it.”
