Ways to put more zing and profit in paneling sales

PESPONDING to rapidly multi-

!Iplying consumer promotions and customer interest, many stores are beefing up the decorator portion of their paneling inventory. A product mix of 30-500/o is becoming common with good reason, since gross margins average 300/o to 400/o* average add on sales of$25 per panel transaction.

The headache for some dealers comes with displaying designer panels. Paneling customers, usually women, expect a fashion flair and pizazz in paneling presentations. They also want displays that are well organized, neat and complete with no awkward empty gaps.

Guy Martineau at Diamond Hill Plywood recommends building vignettes. A free standing X will allow creation of four mini rooms. When each is paneled with a decorator design, accented with moulding and wainscotting, accessorized with floor covering, several small pieces of furniture, lamps, a plant or bouquet, the shopper is able to visualize what the paneling willdo for her home. A few strategically placed spotlights will give the paneling added dimension and beauty.

Using a multi wing paneling display is another solution suggested by Martineau. This type of merchandiser allows a dealer to display his most popular panels back to back on hinged panels. The customer can leaf through them like the pages of a book, getting optimum decorator impact from the full size 4x8 panels. Martineau suggests the back wall of

Do

(l) Make your paneling department more visable with signage like banners and ceiling hangers.

(2) Open up your paneling area as much as possible with plenty of space and light.

(3) Display panels against painted, not paneled, walls. Use a vibrant floor color to emphasize paneling. Avoid red, yellow and orange tones.

(4) Display related products like mouldings, nails, adhesives and paint in the paneling area.

(5) If there is space, set up a table and chairs to make customers more comfortable.

(6) Use incandescent lights to highlight panels or color corrected fluorescent bulbs. Cool white fluorescent bulbs tend to gray out panel tones.

Don't

(l) Offer too broad a product line. Order to suit the tastes of your customers.

(2) Use guesswork in ordering.

(3) Let out of date or misleading price information turn customers away.

(4) Underestimate the power of a good display.

(5) Let merchandising aids run low.

(6) Allow empty displays, messy floors, outdated signage.

(7) Underplay your paneling department - prominence is profitable.

Story at a Glance

(7) Display a good mix of patterns, colors, grades and species. Place contrasting wood tones side by side.

(8) Use truckload sales, clinics, tent sales and similar events to boost sales, supporting the promotions with advertising and point of purchase materials.

(9) Pull slow movers and add new styles and designs regularly. Put the high-end panels in prime traffic areas where they will be seen first.

(10) Solve space problems with sample caddies, modular or wing displays.

(11) Show prices clearly and attractively on each panel.

(12) Use videotapes to show customers how to install panels. Offer free tapes for weekend use with panel.

How to increase sales with effective displays...different types of merchandisers profit oriented ideas you oan use to sell panels.

the paneling department as a good location for this display. It also comes in corner and free standing models.

A panel caddy used in conjunction with a wing display can hold an additional 80 to 90 16x24 inch samples. This free standing unit allows samples to be pulled for customers to take home to match to other materials.

Free standing A-frame displays can be used on one or both sides to display several panels. Martineau points out that a Savannah, Gfl., chain, Builderama, uses as many as 20 of these in their newer stores.

Placed at the ends of aisles, they create a walkway of decorative paneling. Builderama has five slores in Georgia and five stores in South Carolina.

Tall, slender rotating units with four wings can be used to display 15 decorative panels. "Some designers are using these very effectively, particularly for lovely wallpaper designs," Martineau explains. "They are easy to handle and work with."

Another display that works well is a free standing rack or enclosure holding panels upright in a staggered arrangement to show off the pattern of each. Used as a free standing island in the middle of a wide aisle, this type of unit can display panels on both sides with the stock in the middle. Since no warehouse space is necessary, this is a good display for stores with limited space.

Many manufbcturers of decorative paneling offer merchandisers as part of their marketing programs.

These are usually adaptations of the types described. All displays can be made more effective with the addition of color photos or graphics and good signs.

With any merchandiser, it is important that the dealer dramatize the presentation with good lighting, good housekeeping, a prime location adjacent to other decorative materials and cross merchandising. "The dealer who does all this will definitely be in the paneling business."