April 15/22, 2019: Volume 34, Issue 23
By Lindsay Baillie
Properly merchandising product can assist flooring dealers and RSAs in selling their best products while also instilling confidence in the consumer. For example, flooring displayed at the front of a store is guaranteed to catch the consumer’s eyes while a product in the back corner may never get any attention.
Following are several merchandising tips from top flooring retailers across the United States.
Keep your showroom up to date.
Savvy retailers say a good-looking showroom with various styles can help build a customer’s trust and push her to see the store as both fashionable and knowledgeable.
“Having a uniform showroom is often a challenge in our industry,” said Missy Montgomery, showroom manager, Montgomery’s CarpetsPlus Color Tile, Venice, Fla. “We can carry many different products, but the key is to not saturate the showroom. We have our showroom laid out in sections such as wood, carpet, tile, LVP, area rugs, commercial, etc.”
Display the right products.
As new flooring continues to enter the market, determining which products to display can be taxing. “Every square inch is money,” Montgomeryexplained. “Go through your showroom on a minimum of a semi-annual basis and allocate the dollars to the racks. Not moving the product? It is time to switch it up.”
Nick Freadreacea, president, The Flooring Gallery, Louisville, Ky., urges dealers to remember that in most cases less is more. “The first thing most stores need to do is eliminate all the displays and sampling that are not producing sales for them. Each year, we measure every product and display for their return per square foot. If something is not performing, we move it out. Larger aisles and a comfortable shopping environment are more important than having non-producing displays.”
How these products are displayed are also important. For example, Carlton Billingsley, owner, Floors & More, Benton, Ark., suggested higher-end products should reflect and demand a higher price in merchandising. “FCA Network has cherry wood displays for our higher end products, black metal frames for the mid-level products and stacker/white boards for the builder business,” he explained. “Showcase the product you want to sell in larger samples, room scenes, photos of finished projects, etc., so the consumer knows this product is important to you and maybe it should be to them, too.”
Once a dealer has selected a product and the ideal display vehicle, now it’s time to consider showroom placement. Most dealers suggest focusing on the most important items by featuring them more prominently. “Give those items the largest sample possible and place them in the most visible areas,” Freadreacea said. “Picture your showroom as a store in a mall, and they always put the items they want to feature on endcaps or in the best lighting.”
At Carpet Gallery of Akron and Quality Carpet & Flooring, higher-end products are the stars of the retail floor—and it shows. “Place some of your best products right by the front door so [customers] can see them when they first enter,” said Robert Gaither, owner. “We then like to mix in some better products with the mid-range and economy products after that. I don’t like to lead people to the far corner of the showroom to show them the economy material. Doing that might embarrass them if that is all they can afford