The Explore row and the five material aspects

What the Materials home shows

Materials is a benchmark-first section: what you pay per unit for the materials you buy, set against what operators like you pay, ranked by the yearly dollars at stake. It is not a lifecycle tracker and it does not manage your purchase orders. It reads the supplier invoices you already send in, and it lays the pricing picture out the way a fractional COO would if they sat down with your AP file.

Verinode does not decide which supplier you use or when to switch. It surfaces where your price sits against the market and against peers, and you decide what to do with that.

Where to find it

Open Materials from the sidebar at iq.verinode.ai/materials. The page is a stack of rows: a hero panel at top, a Take Action row, an Explore row, a Market context row (when it has anything to show), and a Most recent row at the bottom. This article covers the Explore row and the aspect deck it opens. For the hero numbers and Take Action tiles, this same page is where you land first, and the sections below explain what feeds them too.

The hero panel

Before the rows below it, the top of the page carries a headline panel that changes shape depending on how much data you have:

• No purchases yet. If Verinode has not identified any material purchases from you, the panel leads with Market Reference and a count of published reference prices for common restoration materials (drywall, paint, lumber, and similar). The subtext reads either "Market reference prices for N common restoration materials. Your own prices appear here as supplier invoices arrive." or, if no reference prices apply yet, "Add Data. Your material prices appear here as supplier invoices come in." Two secondary figures sit below it: Reference Prices (the count of common materials with a published price) and Your Materials and Your Spend, both blank until your invoices start flowing in.
• Peer pricing unlocked, with a real opportunity. Once peer comparisons are available for you and at least one material shows you paying above the cohort, the panel leads with Material Prices, a count of your own tracked materials, and a pill naming the Top opportunity (the material family with the largest dollar gap). The subtext reads "You pay above operators like you on [N] of [total] material groups. Closing the gaps is worth about [$X] a year." Three secondary figures: Tracked Spend (trailing 12 months), Above Cohort (how many of your material groups price above the peer median, out of your total groups), and Biggest Opportunity (that top family's dollar figure).
• Your own data, no peer opportunity surfaced (or peers still gated). The panel still leads with Material Prices and your tracked-material count, no pill, and a subtext like "N materials tracked from your invoices across N suppliers. Peer pricing appears as more operators contribute." Secondary figures: Tracked Spend, Suppliers (how many appear on your invoices), and Market References (how many of your materials have a published reference price).

In every version, "peer pricing appears as more operators contribute" is describing a real gating mechanic: Verinode only shows a peer comparison once enough other operators have contributed pricing for that specific material. Until then, your own price is always tracked and shown; the peer band next to it is what is missing.

Take Action

Below the hero, the Take Action row always opens with two tiles: Activate Materials (turns on deeper agent work for this section) and Unlock Materials (the upgrade path when peer data is gated). After those, up to three tiles list your biggest priced opportunities, worst first. Each one reads like: "You pay [$X] per [unit] for [material name]. Operators like you pay [$Y]," with a line underneath giving the yearly dollar stake ("Worth about [$Z] a year at your volume") and, when a cohort label is available, a small meta line combining the confidence label (Early signal, Indicative, Observed, or Verified) with how many operators are behind that specific reading. Clicking any of these three tiles opens the aspect deck directly on Biggest Gaps, the same place the Biggest Gaps Explore tile lands you.

The Explore row: five aspects, one deck

The Explore row is five tiles, always shown left to right in this order, each one a different analytical lens on the same underlying material data:

| Tile label | What it opens | |---|---| | Price vs Peers | Your unit price for every material, set against the peer band | | Your Suppliers | Who you buy each material from and what each one charges | | Spend Mix | Where your tracked spend went, by material category | | Market Context | Published reference prices, shown for context only | | Biggest Gaps | The materials where you pay the most above peers, ranked by yearly dollars |

Clicking any Explore tile does not navigate you away from /materials. It opens an overlay deck in place, on the aspect you clicked, with the Materials home still mounted underneath it. Inside the deck, a row of tabs across the top matches the same five labels, so you can flip between aspects (Price vs Peers, Your Suppliers, Spend Mix, Market Context, Biggest Gaps) without closing the deck and reopening it from a different tile. Closing the deck returns you to exactly the home screen you left.

Every Explore tile always renders, even before you have any material data at all, so the five aspects are discoverable from day one. Before data lands, each tile shows an honest placeholder value and a caption explaining what will appear and from where, rather than a blank space.

Here is what each tile shows on the home row, and then what its full aspect card shows once you open it.

Price vs Peers

On the tile. A count of materials that have a peer comparison ("N priced vs operators like you"). If none are unlocked yet but you have your own tracked materials, it falls back to that count ("N your prices tracked"). If you have neither, it falls back further to a count of market references available to start with ("N market references to start"), and if there is truly nothing yet, it reads a dash with "prices appear from invoices."

Inside the deck. The card groups every material with a peer comparison into its material family (Drywall & Finishing, Paint & Coatings, Fasteners, Lumber & Sheet Goods, Insulation, Roofing & Exterior, Floor Coverings, Tile & Masonry, Site Protection, Cleaning Chemicals, Restoration Consumables, PPE, Fleet Build-out, or Other Materials for anything uncategorized). Each family group is collapsible, tap its header to open it, with the first group open by default so the list stays scannable instead of one long scroll. The intro line above the groups reads "N materials priced against operators like you. The band shows where most of them land; the dot is you."

Inside each group, every material is a single row:

• The material name, with a small meta line showing the confidence label for that cohort (Early signal, Indicative, Observed, or Verified) and how many operators are behind it.
• Your price on the right, per unit (for example "$42.00 /Sheet").
• A horizontal band underneath: a shaded bar spans roughly the 25th to 75th percentile of what peers pay, a short tick marks the peer median, and a dot marks where your own price falls. This is the same visual read used across the platform's peer bands: band, median tick, your dot.
• A trailing figure to the right of your price, showing your price's dollar difference from the peer median ("+$6.40 vs median" or "-$3.10 vs median"), colored to flag when you are paying above the median (Ember Red tone) versus at or below it (green tone).

Empty state. "Peer pricing appears here once enough operators like you contribute invoices for the materials you buy. Your own prices are always tracked."

Your Suppliers

On the tile. A count of materials with an identified supplier ("N materials by supplier"), or a dash with "suppliers appear from invoices" if none are identified yet.

Inside the deck. One block per material that has at least one identified supplier. Each block shows the material name and, when a peer figure exists, the cohort median price for context ("cohort $X/unit"). Underneath, every supplier that has sold you that material appears as its own line: the supplier's name, its median unit price to you, and, when more than one supplier carries the same material, the cheaper one is flagged cheapest in green. When switching every remaining unit of that material to the cheapest supplier would save you money over a year, that dollar figure appears next to the price ("$X/yr to switch"), in Ember Red to flag it as an available action.

The intro line reads "Who you buy each material from, and what you pay them per unit. When more than one supplier carries a material, the cheaper one is marked."

Empty state. "Your suppliers appear here as invoices identify who you buy each material from. Once two or more suppliers show up for the same material, you will see which one is cheaper."

Spend Mix

On the tile. Your total tracked spend across all materials over the trailing 12 months ("tracked spend, 12 months"), or a dash with "spend appears from invoices" if nothing has been tracked yet.

Inside the deck. A bar row per material family with spend, sorted largest to smallest. The intro line names your total ("Where your $X of tracked material spend went over the last 12 months, by category."). Each row shows the family label, its dollar total, and a filled bar sized to its share of your total spend, colored by that family's accent.

Empty state. "Your material spend by category appears here as supplier invoices come in."

Market Context

On the tile. A count of your materials that have a published market reference price ("N market reference prices"), or a dash with "references appear per material" if none apply.

Inside the deck. One row per material with a published reference price. Each row shows the material name, a small label naming the region the reference applies to ("National market reference" or the specific region), the reference price per unit, and, when your own unit matches the reference's unit, a delta line showing how your price compares ("you +$4.20" in Ember Red if you pay more, or in green if you pay less). The intro line is explicit that this reference is context only: "A published market price for the materials you buy, shown for context only. It is never mixed into the peer band on Price vs Peers." That is a real behavioral guarantee, not just copy: the reference price never gets blended into the percentile band you see on Price vs Peers, the two numbers stay visually and analytically separate.

Empty state. "Published market reference prices appear here for the materials you buy, as context next to your own prices."

Biggest Gaps

On the tile. Your total possible yearly savings across every material where you pay above the peer median ("possible savings per year"), formatted as a dollar figure. If that total is not yet available but some materials show a gap, it falls back to a plain count. If neither applies, it reads a dash with "gaps appear vs peers."

Inside the deck. Every material where you pay above the peer median, sorted largest dollar gap first. The intro line totals it: "The materials where you pay above operators like you, ranked by yearly dollars at stake. Closing every gap is worth about $X a year at your volume." Each row uses the same band-and-dot layout as Price vs Peers (your price, the peer band, the median tick, your dot), with the trailing figure always showing the yearly dollar impact of that specific gap ("$X/yr"), always in the Ember Red "above peers" tone since every row here is, by definition, a gap.

Empty state. This one branches on whether peer pricing is unlocked for you: if it is, and there is genuinely nothing above peers, it reads "No material where you pay above operators like you right now. Nice." If peer pricing is not yet unlocked, it reads "Peer pricing unlocks the gap between what you pay and what operators like you pay."

Market context row (on the home page)

Separately from the Market Context aspect tab, the Materials home itself carries a Market context row when it has anything to show: up to six materials that have a published market reference but no peer cohort yet, each shown as its own tile with the reference price and "regional market reference per [unit]." This row is a cold-start bridge, it gives you a real number to compare against even before enough peers have contributed pricing for a cohort to form. Clicking any of these tiles also opens the aspect deck, landed on Market Context. If nothing qualifies (either you have no reference-only materials, or every material you buy already has a peer cohort), this row does not appear at all.

Most recent

At the bottom of the page, the Most recent row lists your latest tracked material purchases, each shown as a tile with the line-item total, a description, and the quantity and unit when known (for example "12 Sheet"). If you have no purchases tracked yet, the row reads: "Material purchases appear here as supplier invoices flow in by email, upload, or QuickBooks."

How to use it

1. 1Start on the Materials home at /materials and read the hero panel. It tells you in one line whether you are still in reference-only mode, whether peers are unlocked, or whether a specific opportunity is worth chasing first.
2. 2Scan the Take Action row. If a tile names a material and a dollar figure, that is Verinode's ranked read on where the biggest yearly gap sits; click it to jump straight into Biggest Gaps.
3. 3Use the Explore row to pick your own angle instead: Price vs Peers to see every material against the band, Your Suppliers to see who is cheapest for what you already buy, Spend Mix to see where the dollars actually went, Market Context when you have no peer data yet and want an external anchor, Biggest Gaps to see the ranked savings list.
4. 4Inside the deck, switch tabs freely, the underlying data does not change, only the lens on it does. Close the deck (or click a different Explore tile from underneath) to get back to the home view.
5. 5When Your Suppliers flags a "$X/yr to switch" figure, or Biggest Gaps shows a real dollar gap, that is the moment to act: renegotiate with your current supplier, or move volume to the cheaper one you are already invoicing through.

Data sources

Related reading

• Understanding your margin
• Benchmarks overview
• Reading a benchmark
• How benchmarks work
• The decision workspace
• Acting on decisions
• Forwarding documents
• Connecting your data