Smart Hardware Stores: How to Control Product Margins Without Spreadsheets

The challenge of margin control in a hardware store

Running a hardware or supply store means dealing with hundreds or even thousands of SKUs—from screws and tools to paint, pipes, and adhesives.

Every supplier has its own price list, and those lists change constantly.

Checking each invoice by hand, updating spreadsheets, and recalculating margins is time-consuming—and easy to get wrong.

The problem? When those price changes go unnoticed, your profit margins shrink quietly.

How much time (and profit) gets lost

A typical small hardware store receives between 40 and 60 supplier invoices per week—that’s around 200 to 250 per month.

If each one takes just 3 to 5 minutes to review, that’s 10 to 20 hours every month spent just checking prices.

And most of that time belongs to the owner or manager—the most valuable hours in the business.

The financial impact is even greater:

Example:

A roll of tape that sells for $10 costs you $8 → 25% margin.

If the supplier increases the cost to $8.80 and you don’t update your price → margin drops to 14%.

Multiply that across hundreds of products, and you’re quietly losing money every month.

The smarter way: automation with AI

With today’s AI and OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology, you can finally control your margins and pricing without spreadsheets.

With Remargen, it’s simple:

Just forward your invoices via WhatsApp—photo, PDF, or scan—and the system automatically:

• Reads all the invoice data.
• Extracts products and unit prices.
• Compares new costs to previous ones.
• Detects increases and recalculates margins automatically.

Example:

“Remargen detected a 7% price increase on 2-inch screws, box of 100. Current margin: 17% (was 25%).”

All of this happens instantly, straight from your phone—no computer needed.

How AI classification helps

Remargen doesn’t just read invoices—it also categorizes your products automatically, for example:

• Paints and coatings
• Electrical supplies
• Hardware
• Plumbing
• Adhesives and sealants

This allows you to set different margin goals for each category—say, 25% on electrical supplies, 30% on tools, and 35% on paints.

If a supplier increase causes a product to drop below its target margin, Remargen alerts you so you can adjust prices right away.

Real benefits for your business

By automating price and margin control, your hardware store can:

✅ Save up to 20 hours per month of manual work.

✅ Avoid human errors in data entry.

✅ Detect hidden supplier increases immediately.

✅ Receive automated reports by supplier or category.

✅ Keep margins protected automatically.

Modernizing doesn’t mean complicating

Remargen isn’t about replacing your systems—it’s about making your existing process smarter.

You keep working with the same suppliers and invoices—Remargen just automates what you already do.

It works directly from WhatsApp, with no installations, no spreadsheets, and no learning curve.

If you can send a message, you can manage your margins.

The future of hardware stores is data-driven

Every invoice tells a story about your costs and profitability.

By digitizing and automating that process, you turn routine paperwork into real business intelligence.

With Remargen, your hardware store can operate with the same control and precision as a big retailer—but with the simplicity of a chat on WhatsApp.

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