Gone are the days of rifling through piles of paperwork to find an outstanding invoice or calling delivery drivers for an ETA. Mitre 10's tech wizards have been hard at work, building apps and technology to help tradies do business. Here, Shannon Straubinger, Mitre 10's Digital IT Team Leader, gives us a rundown of the latest tech for tradies, designed to streamline your operations so you can spend more time on the tools and less time at the desk.

Paying accounts, reviewing purchases or checking orders has never been easier, thanks to Mitre 10's new TradeOnline. Currently utilised by 50 stores nationwide and set to expand to 120 stores by April 2021, it's designed to make doing business simpler. “It was created to allow customers to access their account balances, invoices and statements, without having to call the store,” Shannon explains. "All those important documents are stored online in one place, so they’re not sitting in your emails or you’re not having to request them from the store themselves. You can also make payments through TradeOnline and manage your business across multiple stores and accounts in one place.”

It also means your bookkeeper or accountant can easily catch up on your expenditure. “It’s really about creating efficiencies for the builder,” Shannon says. “In the future, we’ll extend it so customers can order online and connect it to your accounting software.”

Builder Gavin Leiper, from Leimac Building Company in Margaret River, WA has been using TradeOnline and says it really streamlines ordering. “Often there will be a time when my bookkeeper says, ‘What is that invoice for?’ and I can go back and check very simply and very easily,” he says. “I run my business on my own, so anything that improves the efficiency of ordering and time I have to spend on the phone is pretty good.”

If you’re working away from your ‘home’ Mitre 10 store, you can still get great rates, thanks to the Trade+ Pass app. Simply download the app and show the barcode at any Mitre 10 counter and you’re guaranteed a discount. “It’s effectively a loyalty card or a discount card that entitles Mitre 10 customers to receive a discount when they are working away from their home store,” Shannon explains. “Unlock the value of a trade focused network, deal with knowledgeable and experienced staff, and get great rates for trade mates at every Mitre 10.”

Whether you need a delivery of timber to build your client’s new deck or an extra tap and showerhead to complete a bathroom reno, you’ll know exactly when to expect your goods thanks to Mitre 10's Truck Tracker.

After placing an order, Truck Tracker sends SMS updates to alert you when it has left the yard and when you can expect it, then allows you to track the truck in real time so you can map out the day’s work.

Once your gear arrives, the app will store proof of delivery signatures and delivery drop-off photos so you know where your order was left on-site.

“It helps builders and trades better plan their day, so they have advance notice if they need to be on site to take delivery of goods,” Shannon says. “It gives confidence that the delivery will be on site when they have requested it.”

You can also use Truck Tracker to give Mitre 10 feedback about the driver and delivery experience. “I’ve been using it for a while, and it’s very good,” Gavin says. “They tell us when the order has left and when it’s on site and take photos to show it’s there.”

Builders will be pleased to know that Mitre 10’s ordering process has been simplified with the development of TradeSync, which automates the order creation process. “Customers continue sending us a purchase order and we create their sales order through TradeSync, which improves the quality of orders that are captured in our system,” Shannon explains. “We're also partnering with Xero Accounting to allow us to send invoices from TradeOnline into Xero so they won't have to re-key an invoice into Xero; it will happen automatically. We’re continually exploring opportunities with market leaders to be able to provide those efficiencies to builders.”

Talk to your Trade Account Manager at your local Mitre 10 about availability.

Only available at participating Mitre 10 stores.

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