THE KBBREVIEW INTERVIEW | Dr Miele
Miele Experience Centre Edinburgh
Miele opened its third UK Experience Centre in Edinburgh in 2021. It is its 100th worldwide. The showroom is located in the St James Quarter, and the company also has Experience Centres in London and Abingdon. The new centre is a dedicated hub for Scotland and the North as there are no Miele Experience Centres north of Oxford. The company’s own research said that this new showroom will pull in people from within a two-hour drive of Edinburgh. John Pickering (pictured below), managing
director at Miele GB, said: “We know that a new Miele appliance is a considered purchase and customers are far more likely to buy when they feel properly informed and educated on features, benefits and longevity. A new referral system will be in place to support our kitchen retail partners to provide their customers with experiential pre-purchase advice and support.” The showroom has a range of appliances on display for customers to look at, whether they are in the market for a replacement product or a full new suite of appliances. It will also host ‘Discovery Classes’ for new clients that will go into detail about the features and benefits of each individual Miele product. The classes will also include recipe demonstrations. Existing customers can also take part in ‘Masterclass’ events, where they can learn about how to get the most out of their
appliances. The new showroom
manager is Ewan Laing, who previously worked for Le Creuset. He will be supported in store by a team of eight sales consultants and home economists.
seen that once we’ve opened the Experience Centre, every Miele dealer in the region sees an uplift too. A question we’re asked a lot is ‘will it take away business from local dealers’ and we’ve seen time and again that the cake gets bigger and bigger for everyone because people get to know the Miele brand much more.
Q: What are your plans for the brand moving forward globally and in the UK? A: We are very aware that sustainability is a huge issue, and we have a big programme involving over 100 colleagues talking about that one question – how can we be more sustainable? Although we have long-lasting appliances – we test them to last 20 years – I still get letters about the kind of packaging we use, for example. So we knew we had to identify the main topics and be serious about it. We have set goals about sustainability and want to take it further. The second topic is digitalisation. From product engineering, development, production, and sales, it is a key area. We opened Miele X in 2020 (a global digital platform where marketing, sales, analytics and IT teams work together) and we are focused on driving digital sales and want to produce more digital assets there because we know that it is a highly online market in terms of research.
Q: Do you think there’s a disconnect between the push for sustainability by manufacturers
and the
Executive directors and co-owners, Dr Miele and Dr Zinkann
A question we’re asked a lot is ‘will it take away business from local dealers’ and we’ve seen time and again that the cake gets bigger and bigger for everyone
demand for them? A: When you look at the younger generation, they’re at least asking more. Sometimes it’s easy to answer as, of course, we have eco programs, but the issue is how often people use them. We did some research on how people use our washing machines, and they only used the eco program 4% of the time. So how can we make them aware of the energy and water that they can save just with that? How can we educate people to use our appliances to live a more sustainable life?
Q: If there’s also a push for digitalisation, do you see less value in physical retail over time? How important are your dealer showrooms? A: The one thing we know about our products is that experience is everything. The products need to be accessible online as that is where the research is done. But we know that the critical success factor is
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touch points and so our kitchen partners are as vital as they’ve ever been. For Miele, it’s not an either/or situation, given our market growth potential there is so much more to go for, so it’s a partnership with our retailers. They have a great connection with the customer because they know much more about what they want – they know the house,
if they have pets, if they love cooking and entertaining. They know what appliances fit them perfectly. The better the connection, the better the sale and the happier they and the customer are. Those who have that connection will have a bright future.
Q: Do you see demand continuing in the same way? When is the bubble going to burst? A: Right now, I can only see that the backlogs are still increasing, so we have a high demand and it’s all over the world. The interest in having great appliances in the kitchen will still be high, but there will be a levelling out. It’s too early to say when, though. I think it will be a good 2022, trends such as sustainability will give a boost to some kitchen appliances and consumers are enjoying cooking with the family more too. The kitchen was always the centre of life in the house, but it is even more so now.
· January 2022
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