Manchester, N.H.—CCA Global Partners announced rollout plans for its new merchandising and digital marketing program, which includes more than eight million product SKUs and a completely integrated digital platform. Dubbed “Retail 2.0,” the system is expected to arrive at Carpet One Floor & Home showrooms as “Room by Room” and at Flooring America and Flooring Canada showrooms as “Room to Explore” beginning in April of 2023.
“This historic rollout is the result of extensive consumer research, industry collaboration, member pilots and comprehensive analytics, resulting in a revolutionary simplified consumer shopping experience,” said Keith Spano, president of Flooring America, Flooring Canada, The Floor Trader and International Design Guild. “It will be a game changer for consumers and our members. Once completed, this promises to be the most aggressive rollout in our industry’s history.”
Theresa Fisher, senior vice president, visual merchandising and brand development, echoed Spano’s enthusiasm. “We’ve examined the customer journey and how uneven it is for many years. The rollout will change how consumers shop for floors. It’s an integrated proprietary selling system that helps streamline the process of buying residential flooring. Our aim is to make the customer journey as easy and as efficient as possible. Between introducing eight million new SKUs and how samples will be retooled as part of this new selling system, it’s going to be a really exciting year. The new selling system is clean, it’s inviting, it’s all about the product and presenting it in a way that makes sense for the customer—paying off their online research.”
According to the company, the consumer-driven online and in-person research that went into the development of Retail 2.0 comes into play on the digital side of the rollout as well. “We know 95% of flooring customers begin their journey by researching online, but they commit to their purchase in-store,” said Frank Chiera, senior vice president, marketing and advertising. “Retail 2.0 will be a transformational retail experience for customers. The digital experience extends what we know the customer does online and threads it through the showroom, providing an end-to-end seamless way to buy new floors.”
New websites will be a part of the online retail experience. These new sites promise to be the boldest and most customer-friendly websites the industry has ever seen, according to CCA, incorporating a comprehensive suite of tools that consumers find most valuable in their floor buying journey. More importantly, they integrate with the new in-store technology, marketing automation platforms and product file management system, connecting all the dots.
In addition to the new details on the rollout of Retail 2.0, CCA announced enhanced training opportunities exclusively for retail members. Members will now have installation expertise access to industry veteran Robert Varden. He will provide insight and guidance to CCA retail members on issues involving installation training and support. CCA Global Partners Retail Group’s collaboration with Varden launches just as his long-awaited personal passion project UNITE, a non-profit dedicated to addressing the installation crisis, debuts. Varden will primarily be focused on assisting CCA members with installation solutions and guidance.
“Our partnership with Robert Varden complements what the Floor Covering Education Foundation (FCEF), World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) and International Floor Covering Training Alliance (IFCTA) are already doing so well on a national level and bringing it down to the local level in our member markets,” John Gilbert, president of Carpet One Floor & Home. “We are aiming to improve our efficiency in both the consumer and installation areas of our business.”