POS & MERCHANDISING


FORGET THE


FRILLS B


Bunnings its


opened first-ever UK


Warehouse store in February of this year, setting up shop in a former


Homebase outlet in St Albans. It is the first of five new concept stores that


months the rest of the


Homebase portfolio is completely transformed and falls under the Australian DIY giant’s banner as Bunnings warehouses. A complete departure from the journey the Homebase estate was on under previous ownership, Bunnings’


vision for the store


portfolio and its UK proposition is very much back to basics, with DIY at the heart and no room for frills or unnecessary superfluities. Wesfarmer-owned Bunnings has a


strong identity and a very clear idea of who it is and what it wants to offer the British public, so it’s been a case of out with the home accessories and


will open over the coming before


from


Fiona Garcia visited the new Bunnings Warehouse in St Albans to find out more about its stripped- back approach to merchandising


softer side of home improvement and in with the iconic red racking and a tool offer that would make a grown tradesperson weep. Bunnings has also moved away developing Homebase’s


own-label offer and proudly displays banners around the store announcing


“leading warehouse prices”.


The tool department is impressive and is the first thing you see as you start your journey around the store. It is operated almost as a standalone shop, with its own counter and till manned by two members of staff, or team members, as Bunnings likes to call them. The offer boasts big brands, including Makita,


AEG,


Ryobi, Bosch and Dewalt. One of Bunnings’ three strategic pillars is ‘widest range’ and that is evident the minute you step into the power tool section of the store’s ‘tool shop’, with shelves and display units lined with everything from hammer drills and belt sanders to table saws –


brands at


even petrol generators and a Dremel 3D printer! That’s not even touching on the walls and walls of hand tools and accessories on show.


The location of the department means you don’t have to walk the rest of the shop – you can buy your tool from the separate checkout and go. When I was there, a woman came in to buy a frame nailer, walked straight into the tool department, spent five minutes at the fixture before picking up a Paslode kit, taking it to the counter and asking the knowledgeable sales assistant for her thoughts and walking out the door with her purchase. A total of maybe 20 minutes was spent in the store and she left happy. Of course, there then isn’t the benefit of these customers walking the rest of the shop and being encouraged to up their basket spend but, if Bunnings


is hoping to target


professional users as well as DIYers, then the tool shop is positioned perfectly to do just that.


Back to basics The merchandising journey starts outside the front door of the store, with trolleys full of spring bedding and


potted plants on display,


alongside hanging baskets and piles of soils and other growing media out on the forecourt, all bearing large and prominent handwritten price labels – a Bunnings trademark. In the entrance to the store, a few sets of garden furniture and a kettle barbecue are on display, complete with the boxed goods piled up behind, ready to take away and simply priced up by hand again using a black marker pen and an A3 sheet of paper (in Bunnings red, of course) taped to the relevant boxed goods. Basic, yes, and would it work in a high-end furniture retailer, no but Bunnings doesn’t shy away from its no-frills approach and, ultimately, it does the job. This simplistic and time-saving method is carried through the rest of the store, with cartons of products


Gondola ends highlighted keenly-priced products 14 DIY WEEK 14 APRIL 2017


Plants were displayed in low-level units close to feed and plant care products www.diyweek.net


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