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Embracing AI in Small Business: Southern Tool Supply | Sponsored by Do it Best

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Hardware store manager Bryan Scott shares how embracing AI and e-commerce analytics has transformed his small retail business into a competitive, future-ready operation. Using technical skills from his web development background, he's implementing innovative approaches to customer data analysis, store merchandising, and business operations that keep his independent store relevant in a challenging market.

• Bryan manages Southern Tool Supply after transitioning from a web development background
• Analyzes e-commerce data to track customer search patterns, viewing habits, and browsing behavior
• Uses search trend data to inform strategic merchandising decisions in the physical store
• Leverages Do it Best's resources and training programs for independent retailers
• Implements ChatGPT daily for tasks like email writing, data analysis, and sales forecasting
• Overcame initial resistance by framing AI as "just another tool" like the physical tools they sell
• Emphasizes that keeping up with technology is easier than catching up later
• Warns against becoming the "Blockbuster or Kodak" of hardware retail by refusing to evolve

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Bryan Scott:

People are automatically especially with AI and any sort of emerging technology they're going to be scared. Is it going to take my job? Is it going to make things harder? I use ChatGBT on a daily basis. At first I was kind of hesitant to even bring it up to the owner. He got compared to the Matrix. I kind of explained to him this is a tool. We need to use it like a tool. If you don't change your business and you don't modernize with the times, things will start outpacing you. It's a lot easier to keep up than it is to catch up.

Stefanie Couch:

I talk a lot about Kodak or companies like Blockbuster that really refuse to change. They put their stake in the ground and said we will not move. And they didn't move, and everyone else did, and they're dead. We have to keep up as small businesses. Welcome to the Grit Blueprint podcast, the playbook for building unmistakable brands that grow, lead and last in the built world.

Stefanie Couch:

I'm Stephanie Couch, the founder of Grit Blueprint, and I'm a lifelong building industry insider. I was raised here, built my career here and now my team and I help others win here. The truth is, you can be the best option in your space and still lose to someone else who simply shows up better and more consistently Each week. On the Grit Blueprint, I'm going to show you how to stand out, earn trust and turn your brand into a competitive advantage that lasts. If you're ready to be seen, known, chosen and become unmistakable, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Thank you for joining me on the Grit Blueprint Podcast. I am your host, stephanie Couch, and I am here today in Orlando with Brian Scott. Welcome to the show.

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, great to be here.

Stefanie Couch:

And we are here at the Independent Home Improvement Conference and we're talking. Yesterday, you were in one of my sessions and I said we have to have a conversation, so I'm excited for you to be here. Let's get started.

Bryan Scott:

Awesome yeah.

Stefanie Couch:

Tell me a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, so my name is Brian. I work for Southern Tool Supply. I am the store manager there, so I kind of run some of the day-to-day operations with pricing strategy, stuff, like that inventory store resets it's pretty much anything that encompasses the store. We're one location, so anytime you're you know, small hardware store, small retail, one person holds a lot of hats and that's for everyone in the store, not just me.

Stefanie Couch:

It is definitely one of those things where you may come in Monday and do one job and the next day you're doing something totally different.

Bryan Scott:

Exactly. Yeah, you could be doing asset protection one day and the next day you know you're doing marketing. You're trying to do social media marketing and drive customers into the store.

Stefanie Couch:

It is really interesting to have to be someone who understands so many different facets, because I think you get in bigger companies usually there's more silos like this is the marketing department, or this is sales, or this is operations.

Bryan Scott:

Exactly.

Stefanie Couch:

I know you have a background that is not hardware.

Bryan Scott:

Right.

Stefanie Couch:

So tell me a little bit about how you started in your retail career and then how did you end up at Southern Tools Supply.

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, so I initially started off working at my high school job was at Best Buy, so that's how I got into retail as a whole, really fell in love with it Just the customer interaction, stuff like that, and the technology. You know I love technology so that took me from there to going to school for web design development, which is completely away from retail and absolutely you know anything hardware related. So once I once I completed all that my dad is actually at the time was the store manager for Southern Tool and is now the owner of Southern Tool Supply. They were looking to revamp and update their website and just make it because e-comm is such a big part of you know our industry and you know it's 2025. Now if you don't have e-comm, you might as well put the going out business sign on your door.

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, so at the time we were using a different partner. We currently now use Do it Best for the e-comm side, which makes it a lot easier for us. That's really how I got back into working at Southern Tool Supply and then from there it's just been one step after the next to now I'm the store manager.

Stefanie Couch:

So that's amazing. You were talking a little bit yesterday when we were speaking about some of the tracking you do on your e-commerce, which you know. I don't know if most store owners do that or not. I feel like you probably have a lot more insight because of your background in coding and all those things. Tell me a little bit about what someone in that position with an e-commerce store, what they should, in your opinion, be looking for. What kind of trends are you tracking, because there's so many metrics?

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, so through the Do it Best e-commerce system they use the Adobe platform. So it's got a very intuitive user interface Once you understand it. It's got a little bit of barrier imagery If you're someone that doesn't really understand e-comm or this, that side of it, but once you understand it it's really easy to see. So what I'm looking for kind of on a weekly basis is I'm looking for what people are looking at. If your recent searches and I can see what they're searching for, how many people are searching for it, I can see how many times that it's popping up in a search, how many times they're clicking on a page where that's categorized and I'm looking at how many times they're viewing it on a cart Can also see how many users. So with the users that's a big thing, especially with the way the economy is now and everything people are are kind of unsure on their purchasing, so they're doing more research. So you can see that, based off of, say, milwaukee packout, which is always at the top of the list, you'll see we might have 52 page views. But you'll see how those 52 page views that you only have 30 users, yeah, which means that 20 of those users are coming back and re-looking at products on multiple views, multiple sessions, yep. So which is showing that they're needing to be more educated on their purchases. Which is helping us in store knowing that, hey, first off, people are looking at packout.

Bryan Scott:

Let's get packout to the front of the store, which we have packout when you walk in. It's right there on the right-hand side. We have a place throughout the store in other areas too, but we know that's a big area. And then you know, same thing with seasonal time. So when it just passed we actually had a winter this year I was able to see that people were looking at heaters and salt and stuff like that. I could see how much people were looking at that. So usually, whenever we start getting especially salt, that means the big boxes might be running out. So that allowed us to know, hey, we need to make sure people are looking at this. Let's get it going especially, you know, with with a seasonal uh trends and stuff like that that's amazing.

Stefanie Couch:

I you mentioned milwaukee pack out, so let's just talk about it because, I mean, I I really like their stuff and I think everyone does. How do you think about from a perspective of who your customer is? You guys have a lot of contractors coming in how do you about? You're looking at the e-commerce data. You're probably thinking about layout on the store. You're talking to people in person. How do you mix all those different data points coming in from true in-person experiences to e-com?

Bryan Scott:

A lot of that comes down to at least the way I look at it is that's the habits of the people buying. So your contractors are very much you know. They want to get in and get out as fast as they can. You know they're on the clock. They get this. They don't get paid until they get the job done, so they're not there to dilly-dally. Now, some of them do, you know, especially when it's hot outside. You know we don't charge for AC. You have to kind of understand their habits, which you can see on the e-commerce side. You can kind of see what they're looking for. You can see, you know. Hey, you know they're looking at. You have people looking at, you know, ratchets and wrenches and looking at sockets. So you know that you probably the same people looking at the, the ratchets are the same ones looking at the sockets. So it's, you know, similar. Put that stuff together is how you kind of want to put the store together. So, um, we recently have gone through a reset yeah, first time in time in 25 years, right.

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, to the point where we were moving shelving around and there's bare spots there. There was a spot on the floor where a desk was where, when they re-epoxied the floor, they painted around the legs on the floor, so they had no intentions to ever move things around. So, yeah, we're resetting things. You know went through Do it Best Core program and that really lit a fire underneath of us to be able to use some of the advantages that we've learned from them, as well as other facets of the industry, to be able to capitalize on our customers coming into the store as well as online. You know you want to, especially nowadays where we're fighting with not just, you know, other brick and mortars but online retailers. We need to do what we can as a small business to be able to capture our audience and engage with them, both in person and, you know, with the way our stuff's displayed on the shelves throughout the store, online, and be able to capture as much as we can from them.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah, and Do it Best is your partner, which leverages an independent hardware store as a big person, because Do it Best is so big. Exactly, how does you talked a little bit about the programs that they talked about. What kind of support do you get from those as far as marketing and all of the merchandising? Talk to me about that.

Bryan Scott:

Do it Best is great. When it comes to that, I think they definitely stand out on that end of the business. You know they've got a good selection of products for us you know to sell to the customers of the business. Um, you know they've got a good selection of products for us you know to sell to the customers, but they've got a good selection of uh services for us as uh independent store owners and stuff like that as well. Yeah, um, such, as you know, I talked about the core program that's their college of retail excellence.

Bryan Scott:

Um, so you go there and you kind of that's just a quick rundown of here's all the services we offer. You know it's a four-day class. You know it's here's everything that we offer as do it best to help you, which, at the end of day, is to help your customer, because if they're not able to help us, then that means that we're not able to help our customers, which, at the end of the day, means that they're having issues too. So I think they they do a really good job of servicing us as their customers, so we can service our customers through their marketing channels, through their education channels and stuff like that.

Stefanie Couch:

And I think it's cool that people like you are coming into the industry. You're young, you're obviously very hungry, you are really smart, you're using tools that they offer and also you're out there finding your own tools. So let's talk about AI a little bit. We both love AI. We had a little nerd session yesterday after our session with you and another owner talking about how you're using it in your day to day. So chat GPT is your medium of choice. They say mine to talk to me about what you're using chat GPT for and how long have you been using in your store or your daily life. What's it like for you as a store manager?

Bryan Scott:

Yeah, so I use ChatGPT on a daily basis. I've got it, you know, shortcuts on all my computers, on my phones and everything like that, so I can use that all the time. I started off using it kind of just as an advanced Google because, you know, I felt like I could get more direct answers quicker through ChatGPT than through Google. You know, I felt like I could get more direct answers quicker through ChatGPT than through Google. I have kind of trained my ChatGPT to automatically give me sources, so I don't want to just give me, you know, I don't want to ask you know, what size drill bit do I need to use for this tap? I want it to be able to give that to me but then also give me the sources so I can double check it. That way I know what's giving me. Because it's still an emerging technology, so I can double check it. That way I know what's giving me. Because it's still an emerging technology, it's still going to make mistakes.

Stefanie Couch:

It hallucinates a little too Exactly.

Bryan Scott:

But it allows me to be able to be confident in what I'm seeing and be confident in passing that information along to customers, to the store owner, to, you know, the employees in the store and stuff like that. Yeah, so I started off using it as an advanced Google search pretty much, and then I started messing around with the capabilities of it to do, you know, almost use it as like a thinking partner, running, you know, bouncing ideas off. You know, hey, we need to increase sales and in this specific category, right, how can we do that? Yeah, and you know it would help. And as you talk to it more which sounds kind of weird that you're talking to something that's not real, yeah, as you talk to it more, it kind of understands you more and understands your store more. So now I can, I can ask ChachiBT hey, who do I work for? And I'll be oh, you work for Southern Tool Supply. Here's what you do, here's. Here's your area of the strong points, here's areas that you're trying to work on with the company.

Bryan Scott:

And at first I was kind of hesitant to even bring it up to the owner because he's very much, was very much a you know kind of you know, when he first found out about it and decided we should probably start using it. Uh, he got compared to the matrix and so it's kind of scary in that sense it's like it is. But that brought to my you know, I kind of explained to him this is a tool. We need to use it like a tool. You know, we we sell tools. So seeing a tool out there that isn't a tool that we normally sell is, you know, I kind of start bouncing around. How can I use this? How can I make this, make my day easier and make everyone else's day easier.

Bryan Scott:

So I use it now for everything from, you know, trying to do the copyright for social media posts, come up with ideas for you know, laying out the store, what we should do here and there, as well as analyzing data. So I can take, you know, I can export a customer's purchase history into ChatGPT and I can be like, looking at this, trends for the last 12 months, what items are they, what items are they most likely to be purchasing in the next 30 days, so that I can know, hey, we need to order these in. We need to have our outside sales rep go talk to this guy or go talk to this contact at this company. That way, hey, we know that you're about to order. You know that in past years you've ordered 30 water coolers. Is that something you're looking to do? And you know that might jolt the customer's memory hey, we do need those and that'll allow you know the purchasing guy to be able to order those in for us so that we have them there for the customer.

Stefanie Couch:

Yeah, it's unlimited really, because it continually gets better as well. I want to go back to the matrix concept. There is a world that that happens still, but I don't think we can negate the fact that it's here. Your competitors are going to use it and, just like with the internet, just like with any tool, it could be used in a negative way, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't embrace it and then just guard against, hopefully, those negativities. Exactly, what would you say? I know there's lots of generations and there's lots of opinions in our industry and everyone has some of the different things they've taken from their personal experiences growing up in different places and different things. What would you say to people that are super hesitant? I know even some of the young people, so it's not all older generations that are against this technology or against the change. What do you think we should tell people that are hesitant?

Bryan Scott:

Well, I tell people that are hesitant currently, and kind of, my explanation to them is this is like the car. You know you were. At first cars were scary. You know this is like the car. You know it's going to revolutionize, it's going to improve, but don't be scared of it, you know, let's see what it can do first before you start judging.

Bryan Scott:

I mean, people are automatically with, especially with AI and any any sort of emerging technology. They're going to be scared. Is it going to take my job? Is it going to, you know, make things harder? Is it going to you know what's it? Is it going to? Is it going to make my competitors like, you know, the big box stores? They're going to put them light years ahead of where we are down here? And the answer is yes. If you don't utilize it and you don't change your business and this is across all industries and this is how it's always been if you don't change your business and you don't modernize with the times, and you will notice that things will start outpacing you and that's where you're going it's a lot easier to keep up.

Stefanie Couch:

That is to catch up that's such a great point, and I talk a lot about Kodak or companies like Blockbuster that really refused to change. They put their stake in the ground and said we will not move. And they didn't move and everyone else did and they're dead and we can't think that that is not going to happen to our industry. Just because it's old school and it's a little boring Sometimes, people call it or not technology advanced. There are a lot of really strong competitors in this space and the big box is the strongest. Oh for sure. Keep up as small businesses. It is scary to some people, but we need to reiterate that. If you were going to start with, if you weren't a tech guy and you weren't someone who already loved this, what one thing maybe would you try to solve in someone's business with AI? Where would you start?

Bryan Scott:

Me, as you know, especially with the web design background and everything like that. You know I'm very much a problem solving, so I would initially find a problem that you have on your day to day that can be automated or assisted in any way, whether that's writing emails, or I need to look at this price, this Excel file, and tell me what my margins are, rather than you having to go through and do the formula and everything like that. Just do something like that. But the easiest one is starting off with emails. Yeah, I've got this email here. I, I this is what I want to say. Make it sound like me, you know, and you can, you know, as as you continue to use, it'll start sounding more like you and whatnot. But just start with a simple day to day task and go from there. Even if it's something like, if you're trying to find like a restaurant or something like that nearby, be like I'm in the mood for pizza. What are some? You know we're here in Orlando. So me and my partner, we actually used it last night to find where we went to eat. You know, used it. Hey, we're looking for Italian here in Orlando. We don't some places that have good calamari, and it recommended the best place to us. Was it good? When you got there? Oh my, it was to die for. You know, unfortunately we don't have a, you know, microwave in the rooms here, so or else we would have taken it, but it was delicious, but we would have never thought about that.

Bryan Scott:

Yeah so, but using this, as you know, something to help our day-to-day lives has made it easier. So, you know, in a store, use it with emails, use it with. You know you got the customer send you. You know we all have those people that send us 10 paragraphs. Tell it, I need this summarized in 10 bullet points, and it'll do that for you, and then you can write up well, here's what I want to say. Or, you know, talk to it. You know, like it's a person, I want to reply back. You know, yes, we can get these water coolers to you by this day. We can have them delivered out to you. You can have them come pick them up. Here's going to be your price. You know, do you want to go through with that? And then it'll type that out to them in an email and then you can send that through and it just it'll make your life so much easier.

Stefanie Couch:

I don't want to do it if they took it away from me.

Bryan Scott:

Exactly.

Stefanie Couch:

I say that a lot Like I really love my husband and my dog. Other than that, I'd probably give up just about anything because I use it so much. Right it is, and you said this earlier, but I want to go back to it. It felt a little weird at first. I guess chat GPT becoming your new best friend that's what I look at, it Mine has a name and it's it knows everything about me.

Stefanie Couch:

But the truth is that it's easy to look at a person an assistant at work, a coworker at work as that I mean, we all. If you think about when you first meet someone, they don't know anything about you and then you train them of who you are and what you're about and all those things. It's the same thing with AI and they're just really really smart smarter than any human I've ever worked with, including myself by a landslide and it're just really really smart smarter than any human I've ever worked with, including myself by a landslide and it can just help you be an expert in a lot of areas that you would never know anything about.

Stefanie Couch:

So, if you can get over the fact that it's not a real person and you can leverage it just like any other tool, it can unlock a new level in your business.

Bryan Scott:

It definitely can. It can help you see things that you didn't see before. It can help you realize things, even with whenever it's analyzing data and stuff like that. You know I'm looking for these datasets. You can put in what you're looking for. I'm looking for these. You know what you're looking for. You've already seen the trends in your Excel file. Like I said, this is a tool. It's not meant to do the job for you. It's meant to help you with the job. Yes, so if job for you, it's meant to help you with the job.

Bryan Scott:

Yes, so if you're, if you're looking at you know your month to month. If you're looking at you know here's what we did this month, here's what we, here's how we were last year this month. You can be like all right, so I've already seen that we are up. You know five percent or what it may be, and we're, we sold. You know about the same amount of. You know we're in the summer months. We've sold about the same amount of gatorade and water coolers. But then you can put that in there and it can tell you also sold this month. Now you sold more lifting slings than you sold last month. Or you sold more chain than you sold, you know they sold this time last year thinking to look exactly I was looking at because you know it's so far down I'm looking at.

Bryan Scott:

You know us, as you know humans we're going to look at the top points, we're not going to look at the bottom. It's like how often do you go to the second or third page of a google search so this right here will be able to see that, yeah, last year you may have only sold you know this much milwaukee, but this year you've sold this much milwaukee. And then these were your top top movers. And then you can start looking at that. Well, why is that? You know. Then you can look. Well, these customers were buying it. These customers weren't buying as much last year. So now you can start diving into why are these people buying more? Are they doing doing a job here? Are they just coming in more? And then you can you can really. It's, it's like a tree. You can break it down to find out the root cause of why you're selling more chain.

Stefanie Couch:

Well, I am so excited to continue this conversation I think we could talk for eight hours. But I also want to see what you're doing this in six months because, as you know, chad GPT specifically comes out with things like agents. Last week they really released that, you know. Two or three months in, you're going to have that down pat, so I can't wait to talk to you about that and I'm hoping that you know, as the more industry leaders like you talk about this openly, how it's working for you, that other people will not be so fearful and will hop in and try it. We're going to keep blazing the trail and hopefully keep getting more people to optimize their business with things like AI and partners like do it best. Oh yeah, well, thank you so much for joining me on the show today.

Stefanie Couch:

It's been so exciting and I am really pumped to see you again soon in a new show.

Bryan Scott:

Oh, yeah, most definitely, thank you.

Stefanie Couch:

Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Grit Blueprint Podcast. If this episode helped you think a little differently about how to show up, share it with someone in your building world who needs it. If you're ready to turn visibility into growth, then head to gritblueprintcom to learn more and book a call to talk to us about your growth strategy. Until next time, stay unmistakable.

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