A new service Masonite has launched that bypasses the door manufacturer’s usual dealer distribution network is an “incubator effort” to see if it can expand door sales to remodelers using new technology, a Masonite official says.
“This is the first time that we’ve sold directly to professional contractors,” Tony Hair, Masonite’s president of global residential business, said in a statement delivered to PROSALES on June 29. He was referring to Advisar, a Tampa, Fla.-based company that earlier this month began what a Masonite press release describes as “an exciting and revolutionary concept in online direct ordering” that now is available only in central Florida. “The unique online platform features select offerings of pre-finished and pre-hung premium door systems, complete with decorative glass and hardware, delivered to the job site when the contractor needs it in as little as five business days.”
Advisar’s business model is a sharp turn from Masonite’s usual practice of sending people to building material dealers and distributors when they want to buy the company’s product. Masonite’s website does have an online configurator, but the user then is directed to a local dealer to order and buy the product.
Hair said Advisar removes the dealer from the transaction because Masonite wants to “evaluate the use of a digital configurator for premium, prefinished door systems, a service proposition reliant upon a digitally-linked manufacturing location in Tampa, and a service proposition that involves delivery in as little as five days from the date of order. We are trying to determine if we can access and empower contractors that don’t sell door system remodels today because of the difficulties in specifying, ordering and installing a new door system. This incubator effort will help us determine if we can create new demand and then leverage the tools we find most effective throughout our distribution channels.”
In a separate statement, Hair said that “Those who work with us in this industry know we are as committed to our current distribution methods as we are to the success of our partners and customers . … We continue to invest heavily in the success of our distribution partners through new products, new marketing solutions and new digital tools. We are committed to leverage the tools and data from the Advisar effort to enhance our current distribution partners’ business.”
The first YouTube video for Advisar (see above) began running on June 5, and a follow-up video published June 15 shows remodelers touting the service and how fast it can get them a door. A Tampa Business Journal article published earlier this month says the typical wait time for a customized door is four to five weeks. And if it doesn’t come by when it’s promised, the pro gets a 25% discount. “We came up with a website that allows the contractor to design a door system … and within 17 clicks you’ve designed a door, you hit the button and you get a quote, right there on the spot,” Todd Apple, vice president and business leader for Advisar, told the Business Journal. “We won’t commit to making that door until we check that the inventory is there and won’t give you a quote unless we know we can deliver the door in five business days or whenever you want it.”
While described as an incubator, Advisar appears to be similar to Door-Stop, a British unit of Masonite that the company purchased for about $50 million in 2014. It also uses a web-based configuration and sales tool, but it offers to deliver a door in three days, or contractors get their money back.
“It’s a great model for us,” Hair told us in an interview in February. “It continues to outpace and outperform profitability for the rest of the company.”
