Hardware Store Dashboard: Trade vs Retail, Hire Use and Overdue Accounts

A hardware store dashboard should answer three questions every Monday: how trade and retail compare, which trade accounts are overdue, and whether the hire fleet is earning. Mythex builds one from your description, reading your own app's data or till and ledger exports, and publishes it to a private page.

Who it's for

Owners and managers of independent hardware stores and builders' merchants who see the till total every night but not the split between trade and walk-in, the age of trade debt or which hire tools pay their way.

What you can build

Trade versus retail sales by week, with last year beside it
Overdue trade balances in 30, 60 and 90+ day bands
Tool hire days and revenue per unit
Seasonal category sales: decorating, garden, heating
Top lines out of stock in the last month
Key cutting and paint mixing counts per day

Numbers that run a hardware store

Trade and retail behave differently: trade is steady and on credit, retail is weekend and weather-led. See them separately and against last year. Age trade debt in bands, since a balance at ninety days is a different conversation from one at thirty. Show hire utilisation per unit to decide what to buy or sell. And list everyday lines that ran out, because an empty fixings bin sends a tradesperson elsewhere.

Trade vs retail, year on year
Debt by age band
Hire use per unit
Stock-outs on core lines

Where the data comes from

If trade accounts, hire and stock already run in a Mythex app, the dashboard reads them directly. Otherwise upload till exports and a ledger or accounts export as CSV each week. The data is stored in your project's own database, so comparisons build up over time.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not compare spring months against winter; compare with the same weeks last year. Do not treat all overdue accounts the same; a good customer who is two weeks late needs a call, not a stop. And do not judge hire tools on one month.

What to build first

Start with trade versus retail by week and the aged debt bands. Add hire utilisation once a few months of hire bookings exist, and stock-outs after inventory minimums are set.

A prompt to start from

Build a dashboard for my hardware store. I upload weekly till exports and a trade ledger export as CSV. Show trade versus retail sales by week compared with the same week last year, overdue trade balances by account in 0–30, 31–60, 61–90 and 90+ day bands, tool hire days and revenue per unit, and sales by seasonal category.

Questions

Can it read my till data?

Yes, through CSV exports you upload. A live connection depends on whether your till system has an API.

Can it show overdue trade accounts?

Yes. With balances and invoice dates, the dashboard groups debt by age and lists the accounts in each band.

Who can see the dashboard?

Only people you give a login. The data sits in your project's own database.

Can I get it emailed each week?

Yes, by connecting an email service. A weekly summary can be sent every Monday.

What does it cost?

You can build it on Free without a card. Upgrading to Pro ($25 a month) brings the store's own domain and a larger credit allowance.

Templates to start from

Analytics Dashboard Template — KPI cards, charts, and activity table
Ecommerce Store Template — Product grid, cart drawer, and checkout
Homeware Store Template — Product cards with wishlist
Metrics Dashboard Template — Governed metrics and self-serve charts
Budget Dashboard Template — CSV import with variance analytics
Customer Health Dashboard Template — Churn scoring with explainable charts
Account Health Dashboard Template — Renewal view with risk scores
Sales Attribution Dashboard Template — Multi-model revenue attribution