While at the recent Las Vegas interiors and furnishings market, I had the pleasure of attending a presentation on key consumer trends by Kelly Peterson, of Hearst Integrated Media. Hearst publishes O - Oprah magazine, Veranda, House Beautiful, and many more great shelter magazines.
Hearst conducted an in-depth study of consumer preferences across the US. While many findings will be useful for those in the furniture and home accessory realm, there was much applicable information for those of us in the new home construction world. Paying attention to consumer needs can help us better address presenting the right options and upgrades in our design centers.
The top 3
Top opportunities and areas of regret for consumers were paint, wood flooring and lighting. In these areas, the consumer is really unsure and needs design support. The more information they have, the better. Think about your design center and your selling process as you read through the results of the study.
Some KEY findings:
Paint is worth paying 10% more if it:
Is easy to cleanIs dirt/stain resistant
Won't need to be replaced for a long time
Is a trusted brand name
Consumer comments on paint:
" I think the hardest part of decorating the room was choosing the paint color."
"One of my mistakes is not having the room painted. It looks plain...it is white"
Hardwood floors are worth paying 10% more for because:
Infrequent replacement
Resist wear due to high traffic
Easy to clean
Stain / dirt resistant
Consumer comments on flooring:
"The biggest mistake was putting in manufactured wood floors instead of hard wood. We chose it because it seemed more cost efficient and easier. When you walk barefoot on it, it often leaves a footprint mark and I think you can tell it's not real.""The flooring is a dark reddish cherry color. My one regret is that we chose a manufactured wood product over real hard wood."
Lighting - Ceiling fixtures dominate preferences.
Energy efficient lighting complementary to room decor was deemed worth paying 10% more.
High energy efficiency ratingComplements other items in room
Focal point of room
Infrequent replacement
Lighting is a big regret and area of opportunity - look at these consumer quotes:
"The greatest challenge is lighting for the dark evening hours...the overhead fan is very dim.""I definitely need to add more lighting to the room."
"I would love to get a lighting designer in to tackle the lighting issues."
All of these points tell us the home buyer would love more support in making her decisions in paint, wood flooring and lighting. It also tells us there is a lot of upgrade potential in these areas.
Review the points above with your sales team, these key points make sense to include in the "Feature, Advantage, Benefit presentations" of selling upgrades and options in these categories.
By extending your support and highlighting your expertise in these areas, a consumer could choose you as her builder rather than the competition. Some ideas to support the consumer and help her make confident choices -
Paint-
- Be aware of color trends by subscribing to newsletters and e-updates - some suggestions: Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Pantone, The Color Association (see my links list for additional suggestions)Click here to see Sherwin William's color forecast for 2008
- Offer swatches (large size are preferred) for the consumer to take home (Your paint manufacturer rep should provide these)
- Have multiple fan decks that the consumer can carry with her during the design center appointment.
- Create a "color design" center within your design center, with swatches, publications and displays emphasizing color combination. Encourage your customer to come and play during office hours.
- Most paint manufacturers create beautiful palette combinations to help make combining colors an easier task and to provide inspiration. Gather these to keep in your color library.
- This is probably a no-brainer, but ensure your design center is painted in the latest colors of UPGRADE paint.
Wood-
- Be able to speak to your customer about flooring trends - have your flooring manufacturers come in to do a training (Shaw has great information).
- Have printed materials available for your customer, you can get trend information at www.flooring-trends.com/
- Show multiple varieties/colors and species through out your design center.
- Place standard / laminates in the rear of your design center.
- Place flooring selection section near a source of natural light.
- Have a selection table where the consumer can pull together all swatches and chips with the flooring.
- The consumer is really concerned about durability and being easy to care for, ensure your brochures, selling discussions and signing provided by the manufacturers emphasize these points.
- Offer care instructions.
- Highlight 'Green' choices.
Lighting-
- Use hangtags to call out energy efficiency, annual savings or Energy Star fixtures.
- Expand and update your lighting assortment, the consumer is very concerned with the aesthetics of lighting.
- Allow enough space for the consumer to view lighting - they should be able to back up and get the perspective of the piece.
- Offer fliers with photos and specifics of the lighting fixtures for the customer to add to her design file or place on the selection table to see the "whole picture".
- Review these tips on lighting design.
- Ensure lighting fixtures are current with today's trends in decor - brushed nickel, bronze, copper, verdi-gris, and matte/brushed silver or gold leaf looks were extremely popular at the latest interior market.
__________________________________
The Design Minds at Hearth and Home Blog is geared to support design center staff and the new construction industry in selling options and upgrades to the new home consumer. Subscribe for updates. Contact Krisann Parker-Brown for merchandising or marketing support of your design center. She will be happy to work with you on your assortment and presentation to ensure you are on track for the upcoming decor trends.
Krisann Parker-Brown is the merchandising manager for Hearth and Home Technologies, the leading manufacturer and retailer of fireplaces and hearth systems. Krisann supports design centers and new construction builders in presenting Heat & Glo, Heatilator and Quadra-Fire hearth systems, and consulting on design center merchandising, point of sale and the consumer experience. Contact her at brownkr@hearthnhome.com or 952-985-6537
