Kitchen &bath sales ideas

AMODEL kitchen or bath Fl should attract attention. compelling home improvement customers to move in for a closer look.

Creative presentations of kitchen cabinets, appliances, vanities and related high ticket items can help maximize sales potential and set your store apart from others with a look of individuality.

Department stores, when merchandising furniture, entice customers to browse through innovative and eye-catching room settings. Should a kitchen or bath be any different? Making these areas as inviting as possible will help draw traffic and spur ideas. Customers in turn will find it easier to visualize these products in their own homes.

Color makes a bold statement and can add real dash and excitement to a model kitchen or bath. Wall and floor coverings are one place to start. A designer's recommendations may pay off here. Smaller accessories and props will help make the area come alive. Add a bright dish drainer and tray, a color-coordinated wastebasket or live plants to help wake up the scene. Line shelves with your bestselling shelf liner to brighten cabinet interiors.

Whenever possible choose products directly from your store so you can reler customers to other departments. Cross merchandising should be designed to stimulate tiein sales. Mock windows in a model kitchen can help sell shutters or window shades. Vanities, bath and shower stalls make perfect settings for related bath products. Kitchen cabinets and drawers serve double duty when demonstrating kitchen organlzers.

Upkeep, of course, is a consideration. Some props require more housekeeping than others. Organizers installed inside kitchen cabinets will stay practically dustfree and one installation can be a permanent addition.

Surprise customers who love to peek into cabinets by "propping the props" for added realism. Stock Rubbermaid's wrap and bag organizer. for instance. with foils and wax paper. Slip a few shopping bags into the grocery bag holder for a lived-in look. Supply the kitchen and bath areas with a clean-up caddy inside cabinet doors, outfitted with a few cleaning cloths and sponges. Spacemaker Drawers installed beneath upper kitchen cabinets will clearly show curious customers how they can make use of what is often wasted space in their own kitchens.

Cross merchandising can be a silent salesperson but make it easy on the customer. Signing should clearly show where to find items. Even a countertop sign reading "Organizers Available in Housewares" may augment sales or tack a note listing "Found in Aisle No. -"on each prop. Generate on-thespot sales with a display of shelf liner near the model kitchen where the liner is in use.

You might consider monitoring sales of tie-in products before and after their addition to kitchen and bath areas. This will help shed light on which items benefit most from cross merchandising.

Sfory at a Glance

How to put sales producing spark into kitchen and bath displays. use cross merchandising to stimulate tie-in sales. ."prop the props" for the realism d-i-yers appreciate.

CONTINENTAL FOREST PRODUCTS, INC.

P. O. Box 159

Lake Oswego, Or.97034

(503) 635-3681

TOLL FREE:

(800) 547-8465

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