Digital support

Sion Harrison, Group Director of Digital Development at Marshalls, explains how merchants can support their customers by promoting the use of digital tools and technology for the planning of residential landscaping and driveway projects.

For homeowners, the outdoor spaces of their property are often as important as the interiors in terms of projecting their personality and putting a personal stamp on their home. Gardens are also an important space for hobbies, relaxation and entertaining

As a result, many are taking special care and investing a large amount of time in ensuring the design is right and the right materials are chosen

While the internet and social media have an important role in providing inspiration and project references, the process of planning and selecting products remains largely unchanged. Typically, it will involve looking at manufacturers’ brochures, visiting merchant branches to see product displays and requesting samples.

It is essential for builders or contractors to support their clients through this process, but it can also be time consuming for them.

Decision making

The first issue is that some homeowners will approach contractors with only a basic idea of what they want to achieve and limited knowledge of what is available. Others will have researched the options but will still be undecided about the final choice of products.

In either case, the contractor will need to work closely with their customer to understand what they want, make recommendations and to narrow down the options

One of the main obstacles in the decision-making process for homeowners is envisioning what the finished space will look like, especially with regard to hard landscaping products such as paving And while they might like the look of a paving sample, they may be concerned that it will not complement their space or the rest of the design when installed.

Digital tools

This is where easy to use digital tools for mobile devices, such as Marshalls’ Outdoor Reality app, offer the best solution, making the process easier in several important ways. Apps such as this can help homeowners to measure the space accurately, see how different products will look in-situ and try different designs, as well as generate an approximate square metre figure for the material required

As such, merchants being knowledgeable about the available digital tools, so that they can pass this information on to their contractor customers, can be a small but valuable way of supporting their customers’ business.

These apps are generally intuitive and easy to use For example, with the Outdoor Reality app, the homeowner simply needs to point