Your trucks are your inventory. Stock them cheaper.
Service contractors buy the same consumables and parts every week from whoever is closest. Consolidated, contracted, and competitively sourced, those categories look very different.
Procurement in Home Services
Home services businesses are procurement-intensive and procurement-invisible at the same time. Materials and parts represent a large share of job cost, yet purchasing is typically decentralised to technicians and crew leads buying at counter pricing from the nearest distributor — convenient, fast, and structurally the most expensive way to buy.
The economics reward consolidation more here than almost anywhere. These are repeat categories with predictable annual volumes: filters, fittings, wire, chemicals, blades, coatings, and PPE. Once annual volume is visible, it becomes contractable — and contracted pricing on recurring materials flows directly to gross margin on every job.
DealBox consolidates the spend, tests it across distribution and manufacturer-direct channels, puts the core categories under term pricing, and structures replenishment so crews stay stocked without emergency counter purchases.
Home Services at a glance
Category count by operating division. Longer bars carry more addressable spend lines, not necessarily more value.
What makes this sector hard to buy for
Each cost pattern is structural, not a failure of the people doing the buying. Select a row to see the detail and what we do about it.
Parts are ordered at the counter by whoever is on the job, at whatever price is posted, with no aggregate visibility.
We consolidate purchasing across crews, sites, and suppliers into a categorised annual volume — the precondition for any contracted pricing conversation.
Contractors routinely cannot state how much of a core material they bought last year — which makes contracted pricing impossible to even request.
Core categories tendered across regional and national distribution plus manufacturer-direct where volume supports it, evaluated on delivered cost and fill rate.
Running out on a job means buying at retail. Poor replenishment planning converts a margin category into a cost problem repeatedly.
Recurring materials placed under fixed-term pricing with defined adjustment mechanisms, removing quarterly price creep.
Long-standing distributor relationships are valuable, but unbenchmarked ones drift. Most contractors have never tested their primary supplier against the market.
Stocking levels, reorder triggers, and delivery cadence set so trucks and shops stay stocked without emergency counter purchases.
Machines and vehicle fit-out are purchased when something fails, at whatever is available, rather than planned and competitively sourced.
Fleet, tools, and machines moved onto a replacement schedule and sourced as planned capital rather than reactive purchases.
Safety supply is bought in small quantities across many sources, with inconsistent standards and no volume leverage.
PPE and safety categories standardised to a defined specification and awarded competitively as a single programme.
Divisions and categories we source
Representative, not exhaustive. Select a division to see its categories — if it is a physical product or a contracted service, tell us what it is.
Cleaning & Janitorial
7 categories- Cleaning chemicals - general, disinfectant, degreaser, specialty
- Floor care equipment - scrubbers, burnishers, extractors, vacuums
- Pressure washing and exterior cleaning equipment
- Consumables - microfiber, pads, liners, paper products
- Dispensers and dilution control systems
- PPE, gloves, and safety supply
- Carts, caddies, and transport equipment
HVAC
9 categories- Condensing units, air handlers, and packaged systems
- Mini-split and ductless systems
- Replacement parts - motors, capacitors, contactors, boards
- Filters and filtration media
- Refrigerants and recovery equipment
- Ductwork, flex, insulation, and sheet metal
- Thermostats and control systems
- Line sets, fittings, brazing, and installation materials
- Diagnostic tools and gauges
Plumbing
7 categories- Pipe - copper, PEX, PVC, CPVC, cast iron
- Fittings, valves, and manifolds
- Fixtures - sinks, toilets, faucets, tubs, showers
- Water heaters - tank, tankless, and commercial
- Pumps, backflow devices, and water treatment
- Drain cleaning and inspection equipment
- Sealants, solder, adhesives, and installation consumables
Electrical Services
8 categories- Wire, cable, and conduit
- Panels, breakers, and load centers
- Devices, boxes, plates, and connectors
- Lighting - fixtures, lamps, drivers, and controls
- Generators and transfer switches
- EV charging equipment
- Test instruments and hand tools
- Arc-flash PPE and safety equipment
Landscaping & Grounds
8 categories- Mowers, trimmers, blowers, and handheld power equipment
- Compact equipment and attachments
- Irrigation - controllers, valves, heads, pipe, and fittings
- Fertilizer, soil amendments, and control products
- Hardscape materials - pavers, stone, edging, aggregate
- Nursery stock and plant material sourcing
- Trailers, racks, and transport equipment
- Blades, filters, oil, and maintenance consumables
Painting & Coatings
8 categories- Interior and exterior architectural coatings
- Industrial and specialty coatings
- Primers, sealers, and surface preparation products
- Spray equipment - airless, HVLP, and accessories
- Brushes, rollers, and application tools
- Masking, sheeting, and protection products
- Ladders, scaffolding, and access equipment
- Respirators and safety equipment
Every engagement runs the same ten steps
Depth scales with category risk and value — the sequence does not. Each step produces a written artifact you keep.
Send us one category from this list.
The fastest way to test a procurement partner is a live requirement in a category you already buy.