"Because the consumer doesn’t think about soft surface or hard surface but rather how to achieve a desired look.”
This statement should make all of us start to change our mindset in the flooring industry. The above was said by Carrie Edwards-Isaac, Shaw Floors’ new vice president of marketing and consumer strategy in an FCW interview titled: “Consumer Connections.”
For us old timers in the flooring industry, we have a tendency to group flooring products by hard and soft surfaces. As Edwards-Isaac stated in her FCW interview, consumers don’t have that mindset.
She goes on to mention our goal should be to educate, simplify the experience and inspire the consumers. Unfortunately, as I look online, the vast majority of flooring websites seem to be pushing products in the old-fashioned way — hard/soft surface categories. Where is the inspiration in that?
Since consumers seldom buy floor coverings, they lack the confidence when exploring their options and have difficulty imagining how the various flooring surfaces can be used together to create a desired visual effect. We need to help simplify product discovery for consumers by also offering flooring based on different lifestyles, needs, tastes, etc. rather than forcing shoppers to discover it on their own.
This concept is not just for floor coverings. I recently received an email from SiriusXM, satellite radio, where it showed how easy it is to find channels by the style of music you prefer, or to create your own custom channel guide. SiriusXM was smart not to send out a listing of channels where most people would have no clue what genre each channel represented.
Think about this: The ASPCA website states that approximately 37 percent to 47 percent of all households in the United States have a dog, and 30 percent to 37 percent have a cat. Wow! It is no wonder companies like Shaw, Mohawk and others are pushing their pet-proof floors. So why don’t I see retailers showing off their pet-friendly offerings on their websites? It would make a great story. Maybe throw in a coupon for dog or cat food to entice them even more.
Years ago I had the pleasure to work with the amazing designer Sonna Calandrino. At that time, she was cutting out different styles of flooring in various colors and textures and pasting them onto hard boards to show retailers and consumers how these different surfaces flowed together.
One way to achieve this type of visual experience on a website is to gather digital room scenes from suppliers and group them by style, similar to what Houzz.com does. This would help inspire shoppers. Be sure to include a call to action such as making an in-store appointment. Also, allowing consumers to leave comments underneath each room setting would make the experience more engaging and help build your credibility.
Consumers are only a click away from competitors online. Those retailers (and manufacturers) who begin to change their mindset and discover new ways to engage and appeal to their targeted online buyers will have a better chance of gaining market share.
John Simonson of Webstream Dynamics & Flooring Web Solutions has been producing website design, SEO and e-commerce for the flooring industry for more than 19 years. He cam be reached at john@webstreamdynamics.com.