By Teresa O’Dea Hein
Investments in research on how consumers shop is inspiring innovations in product design, manufacturing and marketing approaches from leading flooring manufacturers.
“We work closely with our sales team to gather qualitative data from the field,” explained Ebeth Pitman, director, brand marketing at Armstrong Flooring. “We also conduct proprietary primary research designed specifically for Armstrong Flooring to help us better understand the consumer purchase journey.”
Shaw Floors has also conducted an extensive amount of proprietary consumer research over the last 12 months, according to Nicki Rayburn, Shaw’s director of marketing.
“We’re listening to consumers, and learning their motivators and drivers more than we ever have before,” Rayburn reported. “Our research has enabled us to identify and define various consumer groups, or personas, with the purpose of better understanding their journey — from researching to shopping and, ultimately, purchasing new floors.”
The company also asked consumers for candid feedback about pain points they might experience throughout the process “so we can develop strategies around eliminating their headaches,” noted Rayburn.
Research is also powering an array of innovations in products and technology at Mohawk Flooring North America. Seth Arnold, Mohawk’s vice president of residential marketing, said they’ve leveraged consumer insights to launch products like Omnify digital omni-channel tools and Air.o Unified Soft Flooring.
Consumer Decision-Making
“We know purchasing a new floor can be equally exciting and stressful,” Shaw’s Rayburn said. “By acknowledging any potential issues head on, we hope to assist our valued retail partners with combatting abandonment and other common concerns that could lead to the loss of a sale.”
Armstrong’s Pitman noted, “One of the key learnings from research is that flooring is an immensely emotional journey for many. For the homeowner, it’s a high-risk, high-reward decision on a public stage — they will live with their flooring choice for years. Given the myriad of touchpoints, we looked at the shopping continuum as a holistic and nonlinear purchase journey, paying particular attention to supporting the retailer and the role of digital as influencer on the path to purchase.”
These research efforts prompted Armstrong’s “The Floor Is Yours” campaign. It features, she states, “powerful storytelling that strikes a chord with consumers and provides retailers with a clear selling story to share with their customers: Focus on the most important aspect of any flooring purchase — the seamless blending of beauty, outstanding performance and the consumer’s individuality.
With “so much clutter in the marketplace and competition for mindshare,” Pitman explained that “a strong online experience, coupled with a trusted name, helps people make decisions and feel confident that they have made the right purchase. There is so much information overload, coming at the consumer from all sides, that we felt we needed to change the dialogue in our own marketing and on the retail floor.”
Making it work on the retail floor
A key component of Armstrong’s research effort, Pitman added, is its newly designed website “which helps deliver well-informed consumers to retailers. We’re helping to drive consumers primed to purchase Armstrong Flooring products to aligned retailers.
“We provide specialty flooring retailers the tools and training — and products — to boost in-store sales that reflect the messaging important to consumers,” she pointed out. “Our merchandising materials — from in-store displays and marketing materials — help tell the story to shoppers on the retail floor. Our consumer marketing initiatives help guide consumers through their purchase journey to select the right product for their application and style.
“Great brands are tremendous assets to retailers — they help bring people into the store and provide a sense of trust and assurance,” Pitman concludes. “All these efforts lead to increased store traffic for our aligned retail partners, qualified leads and higher close rates, helping them to increase their reach and grow their business in tangible ways on the retail floor.”
Rich Data
Rayburn observed: “We’re becoming more sophisticated about how we design and market the next coveted flooring styles. Never before has there been this much synergy between manufacturers, retailers and consumers.
“By keeping our finger on the pulse of the consumer,” she said that Shaw is arming itself with rich data that will positively impact virtually every part of its business, from product development, manufacturing, marketing and beyond. She explained that they're in the midst of developing a strategy on how to roll this out to retailers in a meaningful way.
“This is really a ‘knowledge is power’ situation,” Rayburn noted. “Our retail partners know how to sell and they know their stuff when it comes to product. We’re now able to supply them with the information needed to target the right consumers with the right products.
“From a manufacturing standpoint, we’re designing and producing flooring based on our consumer insights research,” said Rayburn. “Gone are the days of making products and then convincing consumers they need or want them. Consumers are telling us what they need and want — we’re listening, and then delivering exceptional products and services to meet or exceed those expectations.”
Don’t Discount Digital
In order to win in the future of retail, an effective digital strategy is essential.
“For every 25 people who walk through the door of a physical showroom, a thousand enter the digital front door of a website,” Seth Arnold, Mohawk’s vice president of residential marketing, reported.
“The key is to convert window shoppers and create a seamless experience between in-store and online,” he said. “Our retail partners have learned the complexity of trying to do this on their own, so Omnify from Mohawk can help them. It’s a simple, easy, sophisticated solution to stay relevant in their market and capture that younger consumer.
“I would tell every retailer in America that the most important elements in their digital strategy have to be their website and their Google presence — Google is not an optional piece of the business,” he explained. “The gap between Google and the Yellow Pages is like crossing an ocean.” Following in third place, he sums up, would be Facebook.
Field Reports
Retailers chart consumer experience
A lot of times, shoppers come into flooring showrooms with their minds made up, according to the retailers we spoke with across the country.
People, they told
FCW, tend to want a certain type of flooring but it might not always be best suited for the room they’re planning to have it installed in, which the salesperson then has to diplomatically explain. Moisture-prone areas like kitchens and bathrooms offer the most challenges.
“People think they’re a lot more educated and know it all but often they have a lot of misconceptions,” says LeRoy Clayton, co-owner of All Floors of Orlando, Fla.
When asked if digital resources are having an impact on how people shop for flooring, he replied, “Of course they are. But challenges come up when they don’t understand how or where a product should be best used.
“In the past, customers depended entirely on us,” Clayton remembers. “But now they see a lot more products and brands online.” However, he adds, they don’t normally say where they saw certain products unless they mention a Mohawk or Shaw site.
“Sales is about listening to the customer, and learning their wants and needs,” Clayton points out. “And then I tell them how we can help them. Usually, they say, ‘Oh, I never thought of that.’ ”
Oscar Ortiz, a salesman at Carpets Galore in Las Vegas, explained that this store conducts a short survey to determine how customers found out about them. He reported that the number of people who say they found the retailer on the Internet has been “rising a lot, especially from Google and Yelp.”
At the same time, a lot of their showroom traffic also comes from referrals and, Ortiz noted, “surprisingly, at least once a week, someone — usually an older person — says they found us through the Yellow Pages.”
Ortiz, who has been in the flooring industry for the past 30 years, explained, “I try to offer people what I think is best for their project. I’m 50 and I’m still learning every day, gaining more product knowledge and understanding of materials so we have the right answers. “I like to help and do my best to present the products,” he continued, “but you have to let people make their own decisions. Sometimes they have laminate on the brain.”
Shany Zapata, assistant manager of Rivera’s Floor Covering in Los Angeles, said she’s noticed that customers mostly do their research on Yelp, to read reviews of stores, but don’t know that much about the different types of flooring products.
The retailer also has a Facebook page and posts on Instagram. “We try to share our expertise.” Zapata asks customers what room they’re planning to install the flooring in and how many people will be using that space. For example, she said, “People come in planning to use laminate flooring in a bathroom or kitchen, without considering what could happen if there’s a leak or other plumbing issue. Some people absolutely have their minds made up and they’ll stick with that, no matter what you try to tell them. More than half of customers we see need to be educated” on specific flooring products.
Harry Rivas, flooring consultant at Hamilton Carpet One Floor & Home in Maspeth, N.Y., agreed that it’s necessary to educate the customer. While he is seeing more of an impact of online resources, “customers are also influenced by what they see on TV and what their friends tell them.”
And when asked about his online marketing approach, one West Coast floor covering dealer replied, “I’m not into social media — it gets you into trouble.” However, his is definitely the minority opinion.
To spotlight the importance of creating an option for consumers searching for hypoallergenic soft surfaces, Mohawk Flooring researched the market and shared these actionable insights.