What is the Rock Hard Trade Hub?

Trade Hub is the ordering and account system for hardware stores buying Rock Hard cement. One screen shows the price per bag ex GCT, the freight to your parish, offloading, GCT and the landed cost per bag before you commit — then the same record tracks the load to your door and holds your statements and credit position.

Do I have to use the portal, or can I still order by phone or WhatsApp?

You can order however you like. WhatsApp is the primary channel: a short numbered menu lets you place an order, repeat your last one, check stock and price, or track a load. Phone orders are entered by our staff onto the same record, so the price, the tracking and the statement are identical whichever route you take.

How does Trade Hub show me my landed cost?

Landed cost is cement ex GCT, plus GCT, plus freight for the quantity and destination, plus offloading where it applies, divided by the number of bags. Because freight for a part load still pays for the whole trip, the hub shows what a full load would cost per bag alongside your current quantity so you can see the difference before you order.

Can I choose which trucker collects my order?

Yes. You can nominate your preferred trucker, open the job to vetted haulers on your corridor, join a scheduled parish run at the shared rate, or collect with your own truck. The store places the order and approves the driver — a driver can never assign himself to your account.

How do credit terms work on Trade Hub?

Credit is a published ladder tied to payment behaviour, not a favour. Registered stores start prepaid, move to 14 days after three orders paid without a late payment, and to 30 days after six on-time payments at Preferred Partner tier. Your available headroom, outstanding balance and next due date are on the account screen.

Can I manage more than one branch from one account?

Yes. One business account holds every branch, each with its own delivery address, manager and reorder rhythm. Branch managers see only their own orders; head office sees consolidated volume, spend and statements.

What does it cost to use Trade Hub?

Nothing. Trade Hub is how Rock Hard trades with hardware stores — there is no subscription, no licence and no per-order platform charge. You pay for cement and, where you do not collect yourself, for freight.

Trade Hub

Every number a hardware store needs, before the order goes in.

Price, stock, freight, landed cost, driver and credit on one screen — and the same record follows the load to your door.

Open a trade account See freight savings

Store, trucker, yard: 1 record
Landed cost shown: Per bag
Credit ladder: Up to 30 days
Primary channel: WhatsApp

Overview

Trade Hub explained

Trade Hub is the ordering and account system for hardware stores that buy Rock Hard cement. It answers the only question that matters to a store owner before he commits — what will this cost me landed, and when will it reach me — then keeps one record shared by the store, the trucker, the yard and finance so nothing has to be reconciled later.

Capabilities

What a store gets on Trade Hub

Order in a minute

Numbered WhatsApp menu or the portal. Both write to the same order record.

Repeat last order

One tap re-orders your usual quantity to your usual branch on your usual terms.

Landed cost and margin

Cement, GCT, freight and offloading itemised, with your margin against shelf price.

You choose the driver

Nominate your trucker, use a vetted hauler, or join a scheduled parish run.

Credit as a product

A published ladder tied to payment behaviour, with your headroom always visible.

Stock and reorder tools

Days of cover at your current rate, with a prompt before you run dry.

Step by step

The order journey, end to end

Seven stages. You see the full cost at stage four and never after the fact.

1Check stock and priceLive availability and your tier price per bag, ex GCT, before anything is committed.
2Set your quantityThe hub shows freight per bag at your quantity and at a full load, so a top-up decision is a number, not a guess.
3Choose how it movesYour own truck, your preferred trucker, a vetted marketplace hauler, or a scheduled parish run at the shared rate.
4See the landed costCement, GCT, freight and offloading itemised, with the landed cost per bag and the margin against your shelf price.
5Confirm and lock the rateThe quoted rate is held for a fixed window so a price move between quote and payment is not your problem.
6Pay or draw on accountBank transfer with an auto-matched reference, or draw on your credit line if you have headroom.
7Track to your doorDriver assigned, collection booked, loading started, departed with ETA, delivered with signed proof — pushed to WhatsApp at each step.

Policy

How we keep it straight

The store places the order. A driver can never self-assign to your account.
The quoted rate is locked for a fixed window so you are not exposed to a price move.
Freight is quoted per bag at your quantity and at a full load, so the trade-off is visible.
Any Bag Bank credit earned by the trucker on your load is disclosed above your total.
Phone orders are entered by our staff onto the same record — no separate paperwork.
Statements are monthly, itemised and reconciliation-friendly.

Deep dive

The detail behind it

Why we show you the whole cost, including the parts that are not ours

Rock Hard cannot offer free delivery, and pretending otherwise would waste your time. What we can do is show the entire cost of getting cement onto your shelf — cement ex GCT, GCT, freight to your parish, offloading — and then give you real levers to lower it: a full-load nudge, a shared parish run, a backhaul discount, credit that funds the stock, and offloading included so you are not hiring three men for the morning. Transparency is the product.

One record instead of three systems

The store, the trucker, the yard, finance and sales all read and write the same order. When the yard marks loading complete, your tracking updates and the trucker's job closes at the same moment. Nothing is keyed twice, so nothing disagrees — and when there is a dispute, there is one timeline to look at rather than three versions of the morning.

Built for a store that has ordered by phone for twenty years

The portal is optional. WhatsApp is the primary channel because that is where this trade already lives: short numbered options, no long free text, recognition of your store and branch from your registered number. Anyone who prefers to call still calls, and our staff key the order onto the same record. Digital is how we run it, not a hurdle we put in front of you.

Questions

Trade Hub questions

Next step

Start on whichever channel suits you

Open a trade account and we will set up your branches, your tier price and your rate card. Prefer to start on WhatsApp? Message us and we will key the first order for you.

Open a trade account Order on WhatsApp