Mickey Launches Direct Building Contractor Ordering

Mickey, with technology for e-commerce marketplaces and platforms for commodities and other wholesale products, announced its Contractor Direct division “which will be focused on assisting contractors with building project order fulfillment – from product procurement to shipping updates and online payment functionality,” the company said. Products will include lumber and framing, but also other building components like doors, windows, and more.

The company’s software system, Mickey OS, automates arrangement of logistics, payment processing and real-time fulfillment. “This new division will further expand Mickey’s construction and building material reach by helping more contractors source the supplies they need in one platform,” the firm said.

“Contractors and builders will be able to track their quotes and contracts, and buyers will get a real-time view into the status of their orders, shipments, and invoices” through portals powered by Mickey OS, the company said. Regularly updated information will provide insight into the ongoing status of an order.

It’s an attempt at both disintermediation — the elimination of intermediaries from transactions — and centralization of transactions, which could potentially undercut some of the business that passed through traditional building centers and other retailers.

Not to equate the scale of operations, but this new division is like a specialty Amazon, Target, or Walmart, looking to take business with an emphasis on client convenience, transaction efficiency, and presumably cost as well.

Heading the new division is Vice President of Trading Jeffrey Crouse, who previously served as a contractor-direct lumber trader at IdaPac, where he supplied wood products to customers nationwide.

The division is working on automating a request for quote process “from bid creation to acceptance and fulfillment.” Project managers will be able to view entire materials lists, management payments and invoices, and track orders in real time.

The company has been pushing on development and expansion. Last year it debuted an automatic lumber marketplace for direct purchase of hardwood lumber. “The Mickey Marketplace offers a variety of hardwood lumber sourced directly from NHLA-certified producers harvesting logs from, sustainable and renewable forest resources around the United States – giving more small and medium sized suppliers, as well as large forest product firms, access to sell their inventory directly online to purchasers,” the announcement said at the time. Producers could upload real-time inventories to the marketplace so that potential customers can see what is available. The company partnered with a number of freight and logistics firms, including J.B. Hunt, Coyote Logistics, and Uber Freight, to provide shipping services. Buyers could purchase full truckloads of product.

Last September, Mickey merged with digital lumber and panel marketplace MaterialsXchange. In February 2023, MaterialsXchange announced its new e-commerce site. “The updated marketplace, available at materialsxchange.com, offers a streamlined ordering process where suppliers can list products either as an ‘ask’ or a ‘bid’ and buyers can receive alerts or order products directly,” a company press release said. “The technology, powered by Mickey, is designed to make the process for buying or selling wholesale and large-order LBM [lumber and building materials] easier and more efficient – with live, real-time order tracking and pricing transparency.”