SHOPFLOOR ANALYSIS | Choosing the right supplier
We have long-lasting relationships with our suppliers – we’ve worked with many of them for decades. Knowing they will work with you and collaborate to find
a way to make things work is important Kelly Abel, director, Laings, Inverurie
Nottingham, says: “I can’t get a combi- microwave for love nor money right now.” And this
type of product
shortage can hold up whole projects, resulting in customer complaints and delayed balance payments. Interestingly, Rowland also makes the point that “increasing technicality of many appliances now means that manufacturers are competing for scarce resources and parts, which are key to functions that are often not even important for consumers”. Although supply disruption is seemingly starting to ease in many cases, actually getting hold of the products has never been a bigger issue in the minds of retailers. The remaining considerations are pretty self-explanatory, but are never- theless important, depending on the retailers’ circumstances.
Knowing your business, your target market, and customer expectations, as retailers you are curating the choices for your customers, with a heavy emphasis on price point, and so
50
the product range and quality available from a supplier is vital. Jamie Chater, director and installer at Modrofit in Kent, cites a number of quality issues, including “faulty products, missing parts, products damaged on delivery, accessories with products for installation that are of such poor quality you’re better off throwing them away, and instructions so poor they may as well be non-existent”.
So not only must products look
good, and perform well, they should be installer-friendly and of, at least, a reasonable quality.
Hot on the heels of, but intrinsically
linked, is brand awareness, image and ethics. This links into the retailer’s own brand and principles, and can make a sale easier or harder, depending on the strength and focus of the brand’s own marketing. Increasingly, some retailers are looking at the ethical and sustainable credentials of their suppliers, as this helps with marketing
and future-proofing their own offering. Kelly Abel, director Laings in Inverurie, agrees with this, saying: “As a long- established company, the future is as important as our history. We want to be around for another 160 years, so we are looking for suppliers who will bring the industry into the future in a sustainable way.”
Cash flow
Depending on your own situation, credit limits and terms can be vital, particularly if cash flow is tight. Current lead time issues are having a knock-on effect here, with the limits set by some suppliers being vacuumed up, then far exceeded by orders that won’t be delivered for many months, leaving good retailers finding themselves effectively paying pro-forma. Display terms are also a big factor when it comes to changing or extending a showroom, with heavy discounts – and even sometimes free display products – offered as suppliers
look to tie in retailers to their brand. Despite focusing on product suppliers so far, it is important also to highlight those that offer essential services to retailers. Front
and centre are
the CAD
suppliers and, in particular, their product catalogues. We all know that creating bespoke catalogues costs money, and suppliers’ interaction and collaboration with brands can result in accurate renders for clients, and hugely increase their professional image, resulting in higher sales conversions. When it comes to what retailers want from a CAD supplier, Tobias Waltham, head of supplier partnerships at ArtiCAD, says: “They look for three key factors: reputation (history, stability, reliability, industry expertise); quality and innovation
(latest tech options,
ease of use, speed, render quality, VR, quoting/ordering options, project and business management tools and relevant supplier catalogues), and
· June 2022
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
