Two challenges facing cabinet manufacturers in 2018
Online retailers have taken away a good portion of the market share of brick-and-mortar retailers and will continue to grow and to be a preferred buying channel for millennials in particular. With instant access to available information, catalogs and price lists, customers have a clearer idea of what they want.
Online stores are becoming the fastest-growing channel and cabinet manufacturers need to be abreast of emerging trends that are shaping the new cabinet industry landscape.
Let’s look at the two challenges facing cabinet manufacturers in 2018, focusing mainly on the fundamental shifts in B2B buying preferences.
- Challenge #1: Attract more dealers
Dealers’ behaviour and the transformation of lead generation
“The abundance of information readily available online has led to the rise of the “self-directed buyer”.
In the age of the self-directed buyer, marketers need to find new ways to reach their potential customers and get heard through the noise. Instead of finding customers through mass advertising, marketers must now focus on being found.”
Buyers do most of their research, evaluation and finally selecting a vendor very differently today than in the past. A chart from Marketo explains the differences between then and now.
The opportunity: Content Marketing and Resource Centers
Content marketing – Read our previous articles about Why visual communication is changing marketing and about the Successful marketing tactic for 2018, in order to “be found” and inspire engagement.
Keep an updated Resource Center – Lack of support is one of the biggest complaints most dealers have about their manufacturing partners. Whether there is a lack of promotional and sales materials to support dealers’ sales efforts, lack of training, or even lack of communication, manufacturers and dealers need to communicate and work together to to ensure that each partner has what they need to be successful.
Manufacturers need to remember that the real customer is further down the supply chain and the dealer’s role is to bring your products to the hands of as many customers as possible. This leads to the second challenge, of helping your network of dealers to sell more cabinets.
- Challenge #2: Help your dealers sell more
Are your products easy for dealers to sell?
One way to maintain a good relationship with your dealers is to make sure your products are as easy as possible for your dealers to sell. Being the easiest to do business with goes a long way toward ensuring that you are their preferred manufacturer.
The opportunity: Providing high quality 3D images to your network of dealers will sell more of your cabinets, especially online.
Giving your dealers the ability to visually present your products is something every cabinet manufacturer will benefit from.
No product can be sold, especially online, without the visual and detailed description of the product through high quality images. 67% of customers believe reviews and descriptions are less important than product images when it comes to deciding whether to buy or not.
High quality 3D images are not All you need, but are a necessary ingredient for your success.
We can show you how we are helping our clients maximise results in creating 3D cabinetry images, in order to meet their needs for putting into practice all these successful tactics. Let us know if we can help. For all the details you need to decide, email us at office@addo-visualization.com
References
Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Assn. KCMA
