July 22/29; Volume 27/Number 7
By Steven Feldman
Invista reported consumers conduct an extensive amount of research, including finding information online, before going to a store to make a purchase.When it comes to consumer research, few companies in the flooring industry invest more dollars annually than Invista. As an example, the company recently conducted research with approximately 1,500 consumers on their path to purchase. While the information remains proprietary, utilized to give Stainmaster aligned dealers a competitive edge, Steve Griffith, chief marketing officer, shared a few nuggets with FCNews.
1. Only 20% of consumers focus on low price. “We, as manufacturers and retailers, put a large amount of emphasis on price—everything is commoditized and driven to the lowest level,” Griffith said. “But 80% of consumers are either focused on better quality, better performance or fashion. The problem is the industry doesn’t act that way. There is a lot of money being left on the table.”
Given that 80% of flooring consumers are focused on other attributes, Griffith advises dealers to not lead with price. “Consumers are shopping, and they are shopping at more than one location to satisfy their needs. But that doesn’t mean they are walking out the door and never coming back. Too often we try to keep consumers from walking out our doors by focusing on price.”
He also advises dealers to emphasize carpets that are easy to clean and product lines that offer a wide variety of styles. “Consumers want to know they are getting the right amount of value for the dollars they are spending.”
2. Of all the people who shop for carpet, only 15% purchase within one month. In fact, Invista research reveals the majority of people take six to 18 months to go through the purchase process, and they find it to be a quite complicated one at that. “Eighty-five percent of consumers will take six months to a year to make a decision, and only 20% have price as the primary driver. Retailers need to develop a relationship with that customer and give her the information she needs to make that purchase. So don’t lead with price when you know 85% will take six months to a year [to decide].”
Why does it take so long for her to make a decision? “She finds the process extremely confusing—the warranties and all the technical speak around what carpet does and how it performs. So what she is doing is trying to get comfortable with that purchase, which means she is doing online research and talking to friends and family. She visits the store multiple times, talking to the sales associate and trying to understand the signage. She doesn’t get it in one stop.”
To that end, Griffith advises retailers to simplify their messages and focus on what the consumer wants. “Industry demand is down 40% from 2006, so we need to come out with products, like TruSoft for softness and SolarMax for fade resistance, that will close the sale and create the greatest margin from each transaction.”
3. When it comes to product attributes, one that does not rank high on the food chain is warranties. In fact, they ranked No. 8 out of 10 listed product qualities impacting the purchase decision. “Everyone talks about lifetime warranties, and the consumer knows the carpet will not last a lifetime, so we lose credibility when a manufacturer puts a lifetime warranty on a piece of carpet,” Griffith explained.
4. One of the more important barriers to purchase is difficulty visualizing how the carpet will look in the consumer’s home. “We in the industry are happy with 18 x 24 wing cards,” Griffith said, “but the consumer is telling us they are not very effective in helping her envision how the product will look in her home. That’s why home shopping has become more prevalent.”