Merchandising: Create a destination, not a point of purchase

By Andy Wells

When a customer walks through the door of a flooring retailer, they are looking to the retailer for a solution. They need more than products; they also need context. They seek confidence, hopefully enough confidence to upgrade, and they also desire satisfaction with the overall experience, the kind that makes them want to refer the retailer. Referral, after all, is a very powerful marketing tool.

So much research has told us that the consumer is not satisfied with the retail merchandising experience, whether shopping for flooring or cabinets or drapes. We all have a lot of work to do to up our game.

It’s time to rethink, change up your presentation. Do you offer something beyond samples? Take a good hard look at your retail space. When was it last really changed? Be honest with yourself.

Is your showroom bursting with an unruly sea of sample books, boards and color posters? Have you allowed manufacturing representatives to add more clutter with their latest displays? It’s time to rethink and recast how we present our products to the customer.

So how do we rethink it? The steps can be quite simple. Empathy is the key. Imagine yourself in the consumer’s shoes for a moment: not experts at all, consumers have a huge unmet need, and it’s not necessarily just about flooring. Most people walk in, see hundreds of square feet of samples, and they are overwhelmed, with no clue where to start.

Merchandising is about clarity, not clutter, and it’s vital to present product in context. Put away all of those confusing sample boards and books in a separate room, carefully stored in relevant groups, by type and style. Then the real work begins.

Design your space like a museum with exhibits—a modern exhibit, a traditional exhibit, coastal, industrial, tropical and so on. Prepare storyboards in many different styles, so customers can easily identify their preferences. They should be able to look and say, “Yes, this is my style. I’m American traditional.” This is what our consumer is looking for.

We need to be the experts, and not just about flooring. Our client knows that the experience of remodeling or building a new home is about fashion. We are not just selling flooring. It’s a packaged solution that we must provide. Like a good window dressing at Macy’s that combines the jewelry, scarf, purse and shoes with the dress, we need to show the customer how the flooring fits with the other elements in a room. This might well mean that the personal storyboard includes all adjacencies in the project. Pair flooring with samples of paint, blinds, drapes, cabinets and hardware. Your exhibits may even expand to include an adjoining space. These are all important elements in confidence building.

Our consumer is looking for a personalized experience, so it is critical to get to know each customer’s needs far beyond price point. No one knows better than you the kind of customers who walk through your door—where they live, their type of homes, where they might work—but do you apply it to a personal solution? Is that solution visible in your showroom?

Defining style, addressing adjacencies, all of this comes way before discussing budget. By the time that question arises, they will be far more comfortable (given a rethink in how we approach their needs). This is where we can shine. It’s a very personal thing.

MAXIMIZE YOUR MERCHANDISING

Reduce clutter.
Customers can be easily overwhelmed, so keep the showroom streamlined. Say no to manufacturers’ temporary displays. Minimize samples and displays on the floor. Keep them tucked away, but organized, so sales associates can easily pull what they need when helping customers.

Merchandise by customer, not by product.
Consumers come in asking for tan bedroom carpet, not for your nylon carpet selection, so why waste valuable space on the sales floor with manufacturers’ nylon and polyester displays?

Formulate a good, better, best strategy.
If your typical customer comes with a six-figure income, it makes sense to use your prime space for more expensive products, but if value customers are your bread and butter, don’t hide the value products in a back corner. Balance your displays and strategically locate items according to your demographics. Put your products in context.

Put your products in context.
Consumers can’t visualize. Place a piece of furniture and drapes with a painted or wallpapered backdrop on top of a few square feet of your best selling broadloom. Create a living room oasis, complete with furniture, on the sales floor, highlighting your finest hardwood. Assemble storyboards with room photos, paint chips, fabric swatches and hardware along with popular flooring samples to help consumers visualize the whole look.

Avoid placing your best items near the doors.
Shoppers walk several feet into the store before they adjust to the surroundings and slow down to focus on the merchandise, according to Paco Underhill in Why We Buy. Anything presented in the transition zone at the front of the store will rarely be noticed.

Utilize your restrooms.
Why waste the square footage? Put your most expensive tile on the bathroom floors and decorate each room like a high-end showplace. Customers will be sure to ask where they can find that tile.

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