Gopher Industrial

As a premiere industrial distributor in Southeast Texas, Gopher Industrial provides its customers with supplies and services that help them reduce costs, save time and improve efficiency. To diversify and expand, Gopher’s leadership team required an ERP solution that could grow along with them. After extensive research, they selected DDI System’s Inform ERP to help optimize business processes, turning those savings over to their customers.

Unlike most distribution businesses that begin as a brick-and-mortar store and expand into eCommerce, Gopher Industrial began selling online first. Selling primarily to large, petrochemical, refinery, aerospace, and industrial facilities, they built a robust platform to support their web-based approach. The forwardthinking strategy enabled them to serve all 50 states and an international market.

“We diversified to provide services that Amazon won’t provide like hose assembly. Meanwhile, other companies our size are still trying to figure out how to sell online.”

“Having built our business on an eCommerce/technology platform-really gives us an edge now,” says David Jones, Co-Owner of Gopher Industrial. “We’ve since diversified to provide services that Amazon won’t provide, like hose assembly. Meanwhile, other companies our size are still trying to figure out how to sell online.”

As their business evolved, Gopher began stocking inventory to avoid delays and other issues inherent with online distribution. The focus shifted from online sales to local sales, which led to the development of a storefront that sold industrial products to a mix of businesses and consumers. In 2011, they added a 350,000 cubic foot distribution center to support their local presence.

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