What products can help you differentiate your DIY centre?
To begin with, let’s make it clear that a DIY centre is a living system and needs to be treated as such.
It does not move in a literal sense, but it is dynamic and flexible, it allows for change because the actors that move within it are changing.
Customers change, demand changes, trends change, purchasing managers are open to these changes and sales managers must know how to interpret them in order to make that different products match their customer needs.
It is almost a closed circle. And in that circle the different actors move, and to obtain synergy between them will make the difference.
To distinguish your DIY centre from the rest, it is necessary to highlight, basically, three points: the first one is always reserved for that delicate, intense but necessary and productive relationship that happens in the area of customer service; in the second one we find the depth and breadth of the range of products and, in the third place we find sustainability, integrating the two previous ones at the same time. And we know the order of the factors does not alter the product. Play with the three points taking in consideration the demand and you will become a benchmark for DIY shops.
Let’s look at the rules of the game:
1- Impeccable customer service, either in the physical shop or online. Zero margin of error. Demand is on the rise and information has grown to support it. Customers seek advice but the final decision is theirs. This is something that seems self-evident but is sometimes forgotten.
Customers are not what they used to be and that demands an increase in quality. Getting to know them, understanding their motivations for buying a specific product, creating an optimal environment to accompany them in their purchases or being empathetic with their projects, are all points in your favour to make your DIY centre stand out from the rest.
2.- And after this comes the star question: What do you offer them in order to forge that distinction that makes your DIY centre the preferred one?
What products can help you differentiate your DIY centre?
The temptation to answer “”all of them”” is enormous, we understand, but at the same time something tells you that this is not the right answer. That commercial conscience, that experience, that Jiminy Cricket who accompanies you, are the internal voices that you have to listen to carefully before the insecurity of not being able to reach everything puts your DIY centre at risk. Listen to Jiminy Cricket, if only to take notes.
You have to select and select well, judiciously, remembering that your DIY centre is a living system, that rotation is an excellent resource and that a well-managed selection of suppliers, together with a professional sales team, will do the rest.
In its product selection, your DIY centre needs to be agile with new products, strict with quality, conservative with the right stock and uncompromising on any sustainability issues or nuances. And we mean both, direct sustainability, for example in the packaging, or indirect sustainability, such as the sourcing of raw materials from your supplier of decorative furniture fittings.
We insist, it should be uncompromising.
Sustainability will probably be the only common trait among 99.99 percent of your customers.
Now is the time, make it your own, make it one of your hallmarks, one of the most powerful features of your brand image: only sustainable products. And now that you know the first commandment, let’s move on to the second: give them what they are looking for, at least to almost everyone. And what are they looking for? The best, of course, and to each his own.
They are looking for trends, like DIY at home and they are looking for novelties from their favourite brand or others that surprise them in design, materials and applications.
They are looking for the usual products, those products that are expected to be purchased and have a high turnover, those that should never, ever be missing from your shelves because they always, always end up in the shopping basket. It is not that they are needed at that moment, but as they will need it sooner or later, it is better to have it at home and at hand.
They are looking for products from extensive ranges and they are looking, of course, to be surprised by products that they did not expect to find and that generate a deep sense of empathy with your DIY centre, something that we could define with phrases such as: “”they understand me here””, “”they think like me here”” or, simply: “”what I can’t find here, I won’t find anywhere else””.
3- The third rule of the game is the one that shapes the game: you know what they are looking for,give it to them and do it in the most satisfactory way for both parties because what you offer is as important as how you offer it
Ladies and gentlemen, the shelves are here again, with their ability to turn a discreet product into a star. Visibility is decisive and rotation is the perfect ally. And that’s all there is to it.
Differentiate your DIY centre with sustainable products focused on a wide and demanding clientele, high turnover products, medium turnover products and surprising novelties and you will make a difference that will become the key to the success of your DIY centre.
