HARDI Distributors Gain Insight into Market Activity with Help from BETTER DATA

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International has launched the first Unitary Market Share Report of 2013.  Participating HARDI members received the new report Wednesday, May 15.  The report details unitary sales by U.S. region, efficiency levels, furnaces and boilers, as well as refrigerant type for both ducted and ductless cooling equipment.

The data is compiled by BETTER DATA, a service of D&R International, Ltd.  “We tried to design an efficient system to collect and process the information,” said Toby Swope, manager of Data Analysis, D&R International, Ltd.  “We had a lot of data to capture these past couple months because the participation level was so high.  Our systems handled the load, and the process was smooth and efficient for the HARDI members.”

With BETTER DATA, HARDI distributors only needed to report total unitary sales by model number and location to the data aggregator, while D&R performed all cross-referencing to produce quarterly regional unitary sales reports.

“With this report we are seeking to make a smarter HVAC supply channel and empower distributors with the ability to benchmark their equipment sales with their competitors,” said Talbot Gee, executive vice president and chief operating officer, HARDI.   “Now our members have detailed market share insight to help them plan and manage their sales, marketing and operations more effectively.”

HARDI members who contribute their data receive a report dissecting activity in the various regional markets, and a detailed analysis of their own performance in those regions.  Manufacturer and affiliate members of HARDI can subscribe to the new reports.

“Our members are pulling together to create powerful market insights with the help of D&R International,” said Gee.  “We’ve developed an incredibly easy process for distributors to report vast amounts of data that now produces tremendous visibility into the unitary market.”

Swope indicates that D&R is continuing to on-board new members for participation, which HARDI and D&R hope will enable the reporting to eventually become even more frequent and localized.

HARDI members who contributed their performance data from the first quarter received their report this week.  They do not receive financial compensation in exchange for their data, and can discontinue their participation without prior notice or penalty.  Participation is voluntary and the level varies from region to region. The initial data reflects results from more than 2,000 branches from across the country. The confidentiality of distributors’ data and identities is fully guaranteed.

For more information on this new project, please visit www.hardinet.org/benchmarking.