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PROFILE

Simon Pink, Noreen Moore, Noel Lyons and Jay Connors.

Lots happening since our last visit to Stakelums!

Since our last visit there have been continued upgrades and enhancements in the physical store at Stakelums.

Included here are the addition of the Plant Hire and Husqvarna Centre, a Henley Stoves display with a great range of free-standing and built-in stoves, Farrow & Ball which has been added to the paint counter offering along with Farrow & Ball tinting – new in Ireland and meaning they can tint all the colours in Farrow & Ball.

There are additions to the Bathroom Showrooms and more besides as well. And of course, all of the other departments – from Homewares to Gardening and everything in between continue to put their best foot forward making the store a vibrant ‘destination’ outlet for many loyal customers!

PROFILE

Stakelums are no strangers to us here at Hardware & Homestyle magazine. Just a couple of short years ago they were our gia-nominated store and accompanied us to Chicago for the gala annual awards show in conjunction with The Inspired Home Show.

We spoke recently with marketing manager Robert Harris, for a catch-up – and to find out how things had been going in these strange times!

H&H: What do you put the success in the awards down to?

Our brand is built on 4 pillars (Service, Range, Value & People) which have always guided us like a lighthouse, no matter how choppy the waters.

These values have translated online, allowing us to build trust, offer a huge breadth of range that’s value for money with clear communication throughout the ordering process.

Do you see any particular trends now in terms of what people are looking for / how they are shopping?

With so many people housebound, there’s been huge growth in lifestyle sales; garden furniture, BBQs, electrical, computers,

Jay Connors.

Challenges over the past eighteen months

Says Robert Harris: While we were never fully closed, being classed as an essential goods provider, we still had to navigate our way through ever-changing Covid-19 protocols.

Supply Chain

The supply chain remains very fractured with rationing of many essential start-up items (Steel, Timber, Insulation) and a massive spiralling of prices which is very worrying particularly for younger couples who have borrowed to build but now find that they may not have sufficient funds to complete.

This is a worry for merchant trade who may be left holding the baby at the end.

PROFILE

Our research leads us to believe that people are spending their disposable income on improving their homes and outdoor living spaces. Our analysis leads us to believe that this will continue into next year. ❜

appliances, paint, bed linen etc with more customers purchasing online for the first time.

We’re seeing people doing a lot more research online now before they either purchase online or in store.

So, giving the customer as much information as possible is key when setting up products.

We’ve recently added Trustpilot to our site which helps us to build trust by showing customer reviews/testimonials and has been shown to increase conversion rates dramatically.

Any predictions of sectors that you think will do well or continue to do well?

Shopping online will continue to grow and we are constantly adding to our catalogue with over 14,000 products now live on www.stakelums.ie.

Our research leads us to believe that people are spending their disposable income on improving their homes and outdoor living spaces.

Our analysis leads us to believe that this will continue into next year.

We are very much aware of the massive increases in shipping costs which have gone from 2k per container to currently 16k.

We are still committed to making these products available to our customers. If this means we have to cut our margins under these extreme circumstances to continue to develop this sector then we must be flexible and practical because we believe our customers will thank us in the long run.

Any new developments at the store/ any developments planned?

We’re in the process of building an extra 15,000 sq. ft warehouse to store seasonal products and already have placed orders for next year’s garden season despite uncertainty around shipping.

After over sixty years in business and seeing off 5 recessions we are very upbeat about the future! Brian Sheehy in the Plant Hire and Husqvarna Centre

Many positives include ‘best-in-class’ eCommerce website!

On a very positive note: Stakelums Home & Hardware have committed a lot of time and resources into building a best-in-class eCommerce website and qualified for government funding with the Enterprise Ireland Online Retail Scheme.

‘The focus was to develop a mobile first experience, that offered customers the ability to purchase more products than ever before, from all our departments, with nationwide delivery or Click & Collect options available when checking out,’ we are told.

‘Our web team worked in conjunction with Magico/AB Commerce to design the site and catalogue products before we launched in mid-October 2020.

‘Since then, it’s been a revelation in terms of generating revenue, growing our brand awareness, and building trust with customers.’