Home Appliances FLOORCARE
Mix it up 32
offer a variety of fl oorcare technology to benefi t from consumer spend. Here, he chats to Jack Cheeseman
“There has been continued growth in cordless products; that’s what it’s all about in floorcare at the moment,” begins Mr Gordon. “Consumers just love lightweight vacuum cleaners and have been crying out for this for years, and now you can move from one room to another and take them up the stairs easily. “It really has made a big impact. There is a large number of entrants in the market with all sorts of different brands. I think there is also still room for uprights; if the consumer’s house is reasonably big with lots of carpet, then a cordless vac will find it difficult. They need something that is more robust. However, the task for manufacturers is to produce lighter-weight powerful uprights as corded provides more power than cordless. “Perhaps one could be critical and say that some companies are simply following the crowd and coming out with versions of what’s already out there in the marketplace, not necessarily striking new ground. But they’re offering good features and good ranges at good prices.”
got manufacturers selling direct
Between cordless sticks, corded uprights and autonomous robots, What Vacuum’s Charles Gordon says retailers need to
Blurred lines Mr Gordon believes that the floorcare sector is developing in such a way that leading brands are cutting out the retailer and going direct to the consumer – which is concerning for the independent channel as this is blurring the manufacturer-retailer relationship, he says. “We’ve
to
consumers and wholesalers developing their own brands and also selling direct. It’s become a bit of a mix as to who does what.” So what is the outcome? “It is important for
indie retailers to embrace new technology,” Mr Gordon says, adding that some retailers tend to wait for brands to become more well known in the market before dealing with them. But he explains that there are some new products on the horizon that will be worth having a look at… “Otherwise you’re going to miss out on new product development.” Mr Gordon maintains that for retailers there’s the key opportunity to demonstrate products, which is crucial to be different to other competitor channels and “to get it right is relatively simple,” he says. “You can’t do this online so if you’re doing it live
in a retail environment, with local knowledge and customer rapport, that must be the way forward. Floorcare products are ideal in that they don’t take up much space, and some products will produce high margins.”
How can retailers take advantage of this? “Giving new things a go” is Mr Gordon’s advice. He encourages retailers to look at the brands that are coming out with bigger power, longer-life batteries and even multiple batteries for their products. He also adds that there are many ineffective brush heads on the market, so retailers need to do their research. “And don’t ignore uprights and quality cylinders; they are probably more robust and
effective with heavy cleaning tasks. You need a bit of a mix in your portfolio.” Talking of new products, Mr Gordon says: “One
up and coming brand is called Lupe – they’re coming out with a brand new product towards the end of this year. Two ex-Dyson engineers have designed a completely brand new product that’s built to last longer and perform better. It’s versatile – a mix between an upright and a cordless stick vac. Definitely one to look out for.”
A nation of automation?
Although Mr Gordon doesn’t believe that robotic vacuum cleaners are currently a big threat in the UK floorcare market, they are still a viable option for retailers… dependent on a few adjustments being made. “Manufacturers need to address the size of the bins – they’re too small – and ways of making the product bigger so they clean bigger areas in a shorter time. They’re a bit ‘toyish’ at the moment and need to be more robust.”
Just a lot of hot air Focussing on another area of floorcare, steam cleaners
don’t rank highly in Mr Gordon’s
opinion. “The beauty of the steam mop is that it’s lightweight and easy to use, but the ones that sold in volume didn’t often perform as steam cleaners – more like a hot nappy being shoved around the floor,” he exclaims. “Houses are still difficult to clean and you need the best tools you can get. It’s not always necessarily one product for everything, sometimes the consumer needs more than one. Maybe a cordless for whizzing around, but a bigger, heavier product for a deeper clean. “There’s room for everything in the market. And that’s good news for retailers because they can sell more than one product for various household tasks!”
March 2019
ertonline.co.uk
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