The Snakes and Ladders Game in E-Business: Digital Transformation at American Hardware Depot

Abstract

American Hardware Depot (AHD), a retailer of hardware and home improvement products, sells over 65,000 products through its network of 4,500 stores nationwide that are operated by ownerdealers. While rivals such as Home Depot were quick to launch their e-business efforts, AHD was late to embrace technology as well as electronic retailing. Though some of the AHD’s e-business efforts met with moderate success, others faced severe challenges. AHD invested over $5 million as a minority equity stake in Americanhome. com in return for this dot-com firm acting as an online front-end store for AHD—however, this effort failed within a year. AHD was at a critical inflexion point. AHD seeks to enhance its ebusiness efforts in at least three major areas: (1) to connect its dealers who had varied business processes and technologies, (2) to market and sell its products through the Web, and (3) to streamline its supply chain operations. A newly appointed vice president of e-business has to find solutions to the challenges facing AHD.