Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Combining AI chat, task management and operations analytics—tied directly to a retailers POS inventory—FastQuery is an AI copilot built for independent home improvement retailers. FastQuery helps store associates quickly find product information like aisle numbers, price and comparable items using voice commands and manages and routes tasks automatically, reducing the time employees spend searching for information, enabling them to assist more customers and improve efficiency. Hardware Retailing sat down with Adam Gunnett, vice president of business intelligence and strategy for Busy Beaver Building Centers to learn more how FastQuery has benefitted his operations.Join NHPA and FastQuery for a free, one-hour webinar featuring Gunnett and Eric Hassett from Hassett Hardware and hear more on how they use FastQuery to improve staff training, inventory management and customer experience. All registered attendees qualify for a free 30-day in-store FastQuery Pilot Program.
Hardware Retailing (HR): What made you want to pilot with FastQuery? What features were most interesting to you?
Adam Gunnett (AG): At Busy Beaver, we pride ourselves on being a technology‑forward company. What immediately stood out was FastQuery’s ability to help level up our newest associates, or even non‑expert employees like me, so they can confidently answer customer questions like a seasoned pro. That capability alone made it an easy decision for us to pilot the platform.
HR: How many stores are currently using FastQuery? Do you plan on adding the program to the remaining stores?
AG: FastQuery is currently being used in all of our stores. Beyond that, I’m hopeful we can encourage other independent retailers to come on board. The more retailers that participate, the more opportunities FastQuery has to grow and expand its feature set, which benefits everyone involved.
HR: What was the process to onboard employees to FastQuery like? What has employee feedback been so far?
AG: The onboarding process has been extremely easy. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from associates of all ages, which has been especially encouraging to see. One unexpected but encouraging takeaway is that our older associates are actually using FastQuery more than our youngest employees, which really surprised me.
HR: What features of FastQuery are most impactful for Busy Beaver? Have you been tracking any analytics to see how FastQuery is impacting operations?
AG: Product information is by far the most frequently used feature. From a technology standpoint, I’m particularly excited about the integrations we’ve already built and those still to come. Having FastQuery work with Tracula has been a great experience so far, and we’re really looking forward to integrating it with our inventory scanning robots and electronic shelf labels.
