In a call to discuss the distributor’s second quarter earnings, Wolseley CEO Ian Meakins shared how market analytics has helped the company target growth. Analytics were built out for each geography, but the focus is on the larger picture of potential sales.

“It’s very important we prioritize rigorously from a U.S. perspective and invest where we can get growth and returns, rather than what the local manager might prefer to do,” Meakins said. By looking at the country as a whole rather than looking at individual markets, it becomes easy to see where the largest and fastest growing markets are.

Wolseley quantified markets down to the ZIP code to identify where the best opportunities are, looking at overall RMI and new building activity, building permits, job locations, applications to build and other local activity measures. These metrics are perfect to define fluctuations in the construction market.

Using these analytics over the past two years, Wolseley has become a local market leader in the New York metro area. “This sort of local opportunity mapping is fundamental to deliver faster growth and better returns,” Meakins said. By segmenting the higher growth areas, sales resources can be focused where they will make the most difference. Wolseley will continue to use these metrics to grow their market share in the markets with the highest opportunity.

Results based on data can be used by any business to increase their market share.MDM Analytics defines the MRO market based on U.S. Census data. To learn more about this data as a metric, email us.