Replacing or upgrading your builders merchant software is one of the biggest operational decisions a merchant makes. Get it right and the whole branch runs more smoothly. Get it wrong and you live with the friction for a decade.
In the UK the shortlist usually comes down to a few established ERP platforms. This is an honest comparison of the main options, and where a newer category, the AI agent layer, fits alongside them. It also answers the question almost nobody asks until later: what does the software actually do when your team is not driving it.
The three main ERP options
| System | Best known for | Typical fit |
|---|---|---|
| Kerridge K8 | The best known ERP for builders, timber and plumbers merchants in the UK. A full system of record for stock, pricing, the trade counter, accounts and ecommerce, built for the sector. | Merchants who want the sector default for their transactional core. |
| Ibcos Gold | Long established in dealer and distribution software, with deep roots in agricultural and equipment dealers. A mature, dependable record of stock, sales and accounts. | Businesses that fit its proven model and value stability. |
| Intact iQ | A flexible, configurable ERP for wholesale, distribution and merchant businesses. Its strength is adaptability, shaped around less standard workflows. | Merchants who have outgrown a rigid system and need it to fit their own processes. |
All three are credible platforms, and the right choice depends on your size, your processes and your appetite for change. But there is one limitation none of them fully solves, and it is not their fault, because it is not what an ERP is for.
The gap every ERP shares
An ERP records. It does not act. It waits for a member of staff to query it, raise the quote, chase the invoice or answer the customer. That leaves three gaps open in every merchant, whichever system you run.
Sales when no one is there
Out of hours website enquiries go unanswered and the order goes to whoever replies first.
Admin that never ends
Disputed invoices, proof of delivery requests and pricing questions consume experienced staff hours.
Knowledge in people’s heads
When a key colleague is off or leaves, the answers about stock, accounts and process go with them.
No ERP upgrade closes these gaps, because acting on data in real time is not what a system of record is designed to do.
Optiflow: the AI layer, not another ERP
This is where Optiflow Merchant is different. It is not an ERP and not a rip and replace of Kerridge, Ibcos or Intact. It is an AI layer that sits on top of the system of record you already run and does the work an ERP cannot. An agent called Otis answers and converts out of hours enquiries, billing and credit control agents clear routine queries automatically, and an internal knowledge assistant puts institutional knowledge in front of every member of staff in seconds. For the full picture, see our guide to AI builders merchant software.
Do you need a new ERP, or the layer on top
If your current system genuinely cannot handle your stock, pricing or accounts, a new ERP may be the right move, and Kerridge, Ibcos and Intact are all worth evaluating. But if your core system works and your real losses are unanswered enquiries, slow billing and knowledge walking out the door, replacing the ERP will not fix that. Adding an AI layer will, faster, cheaper and without the disruption of a full migration.
See what an AI layer would capture
On top of the exact system you run today, on your own catalogue.
The bottom line
Choosing builders merchant software is not only about which ERP records your data best. It is about what your software does when no one is watching. Whichever system of record you run, the merchants pulling ahead in 2026 are the ones adding an AI layer that actually does the work.
Weighing up a specific switch
If you have narrowed it down and you are actively considering moving off one of these systems, we have written a straight, no hard sell guide for each, covering the real like for like options and when a switch is and is not worth it: a Kerridge K8 alternative, an Intact iQ alternative, and an Ibcos Gold alternative. Each one lands on the same point this comparison does. For most merchants, the fastest fix is not replacing the ERP, it is adding an intelligent layer on top of it.
See Otis on your own systems
Otis answers trade enquiries, prices quotes and checks stock around the clock, on top of the ERP you already run.