While digital has become essential, in-store product promotion remains indispensable. In recent years, the codes have changed to enrich the customer experience.
Builders' merchants must evolve, in some cases still, from “point-of-sale depots” into places of experience, drawing on the strength of manufacturers.
Négoce Magazine interview - October 2020
Interview by Franck Guidicelli
Communicating about products through heavy advertising and price announcements appears well and truly over. Today, merchandising is taking another form and, among manufacturers and distributors alike, perceptions of the subject have evolved considerably. For Paul Ricateau, managing partner of communication agency Convergence (which specialises in the construction and housing markets), several factors help explain this evolution: “The first point concerns the context of profound market change, with serious questions about the role of builders' merchants and their added value, as they face competition from DIY superstores on one side and, on the other, manufacturers communicating directly with installers. All without forgetting digital and the rise of the pure players, who are changing the rules of the game!”
It is therefore fair to ask what role builders' merchants should play in 2020, again according to Paul Ricateau: “Builders' merchants are realising that their role is evolving and that they can no longer be mere distributors: they will have to become places of life, sharing and expertise at the service of professionals. Points of sale will have to reinvent themselves as places of experience for customers. They must enable tradespeople to build their skills by offering, for example, key events or dedicated corners devoted to training, regulatory updates or services.”
Putting services front and centre
Service is becoming the cornerstone of communication and merchandising, because builders' merchants need to devise strategies to compete on something other than price (with a view to giving value back to the product - see our previous interview). Among manufacturers, for example, the trend is clearly towards the benefit that using a product or system will bring tradespeople in terms of ease of installation, time savings, productivity... Pierre Boumard, head of Brands at Work, even sees it as an imperative: “Today, offerings look very much alike, so you always have to provide more services and make it known in order to stand out. This offers a genuine source of exclusivity, and exclusivity very often creates preference.” Merchandising must therefore be approached far more holistically and not be confined to the building site. It should be more broadly geared towards ways of working better — turning, why not, to service-provider partners to share their experience.
Becoming places of experience
“A point of sale needs experience spaces”, believes Paul Ricateau. “They can be developed under the merchant's own name or by drawing on manufacturer partners, with conceptual point-of-sale displays or shop-in-shop approaches showcasing a specific world or service (understanding energy-saving certificates, protection advice, business management tips…). Manufacturers must support builders' merchants by providing them with tools to advise better, support better and sell better. They must also be a source of ideas for animating points of sale, for example by organising themed days (product testing, training…).”
This manufacturer–merchant partnership must necessarily benefit customers, according to Pierre Boumard: “Tradespeople have no time to spare; they need to be quickly relieved of tedious tasks so they can get quality information during the time spent in store. So we need to put in place wayfinding aids and educational in-store signage and displays to help them make their choice. Tradespeople always find it a little hard to ask and, at the same time, points of sale are the only places where, as customers, they can allow themselves to. Points of sale are in a way a refuge for professionals; they expect to feel at ease there and to be guided.” (Beyond that, in the digital age where everything is a few clicks away, the point of sale represents a source of reliable information and personalised support).
Digital is indispensable
“Merchandising brings together many subjects, and builders' merchants must evolve — in some cases still — from 'point-of-sale depots' into places of experience, drawing on the strength of manufacturers”, advises Paul Ricateau. New digital levers should enable them to take this step, with virtual/augmented reality tools or 3D configurators. These are genuine arguments for tradespeople to bring their clients into the point of sale, offering them an experience close to what they might find in consumer retail chains.
“Today, you have to invest in digital by breaking down the borders between the digital world and the point of sale. It is the continuity of the customer journey, resolutely omnichannel and phygital, that will be able to deliver the smoothest experience,” according to Paul Ricateau. Pierre Boumard nonetheless insists on a few limits to keep in mind: “It is essential to integrate digitalisation into points of sale to achieve what might be called a 'phygital' approach, but it will only be effective if the service provided represents a genuine plus — you have to avoid falling into gimmickry. Preference should go to digital add-ons with real interactions between the physical and the digital, in the same spirit: clarifying the offering, helping with wayfinding and choice.”
Likewise, social media are increasingly used to communicate, but above all to build bonds and strengthen closeness with customers. But beware: “the human aspect is obviously very important, because it is often the personal contact that determines the quality of the exchange,” warns Pierre Boumard. “Because the effectiveness of merchandising remains a matter of proximity: properly identifying your audience and the local context makes it possible to bring the right answers to customers' questions and to reassure them.”