How Lenehans Hardware Made AI Their Highest-Converting Channel
Lenehans Hardware is a 150+ year old family business in Dublin with 40 employees. Like most independent hardware retailers, they do the majority of their business online now — around 80% of revenue comes through e-commerce.
The Problem
Lenehans had built a strong online presence, but they kept losing customers at the same point: when someone had a question their product page couldn't answer.
"Will this paint cover a dark wall?" "Which drill bits work on concrete blocks?" "What fixings do I need to hang shelves safely?"
Product pages show the price and basic specs. They don't answer real questions. Customers don't call. They don't email. They leave.
“We used to have a guy who worked here years ago called Liam, who knew everything about everything. But this knows even more.”
The Solution
In August 2025, Lenehans embedded the AI Shop Assistant on their website. It sits on every page, answers questions in plain language, and searches their entire catalogue in real time using live stock data.
A customer asks "I'm painting over a dark navy wall, how many coats of this white will I need?" and gets an actual answer — not a product listing, not a vague description, but guidance based on the specific product and their situation.
The assistant handles:
Every conversation is automatically analysed — Lenehans can see what customers are asking, where they're getting stuck, and which products are confusing people.
The Results (August 2025 – February 2026)
3.5x
+50%
larger baskets
10,000+
3.5x higher conversion rate than any other channel — making it Lenehans' best-performing sales channel by a significant margin
50% larger average basket compared to the overall site average — customers who chat with the assistant spend meaningfully more per order
10,000+ customer conversations handled over 6 months
These aren't small improvements. The assistant is now Lenehans' highest-converting channel, outperforming organic search, paid ads, email, and every other acquisition source.
What the Managing Director Says
“I can see the money flowing in that's fully attributable to the AI.”
“We've seen thousands of customer chats with the AI, with some pinch points in our checkout system identified as a direct result of those AI chats. We've tweaked purchase funnels in the checkout as a result of people flagging issues.”
The Unexpected Benefit: Staff Adoption
Within weeks of going live, something unexpected happened. Lenehans' staff started using the assistant themselves — on the shop floor, during in-store customer conversations.
A customer asks about a product the staff member isn't familiar with. Instead of walking to the stockroom or guessing, they pull up the assistant on their phone, get the answer instantly, and help the customer make a confident decision.
It's become an onboarding tool for new hires and a knowledge base for the entire team. For a hardware store with thousands of SKUs across power tools, plumbing, paint, and building materials, it's like having an expert on every product category available 24/7.
Industry Recognition
Lenehans' early adoption of AI in retail has attracted significant attention from both national and industry media:
Featured in:
The initiative has also received strong attention on LinkedIn from technology leaders and retail professionals, positioning Lenehans as an innovation leader in Irish retail.
What This Means for Other Retailers
Lenehans' results demonstrate that AI shop assistants aren't experimental technology — they're a proven, scalable solution for independent retailers facing the same challenge: customers leaving when they can't find answers.
The assistant doesn't replace staff. It makes them more effective. It doesn't just improve conversion — it provides business intelligence that helps retailers understand their customers better and fix problems they didn't know existed.
For retailers operating in competitive categories with complex product ranges, it's become clear that conversational AI is no longer optional. It's the difference between watching customers leave and closing the sale.