Showroom Planning for the Future in a 24/7 World

The increasing pace of American life in the 21st Century has resulted in a 24/7 consumer mentality. Buyers want the right merchandise at the right time in the right place. With today's computer- and product-savvy shoppers, this could mean browsing your Web site at 9:00 p.m., visiting your showroom at noon or paging through a catalog in the afternoon. Understanding this expectation for constant inspiration and immediate gratification is your ticket to growth in the future.

It's also essential to understand the different generations that shop your store to avoid leaving out any potential shoppers. Following are summary profiles of the age groups shopping for kitchen and bath products:

• Baby Boomers have entered their post-child rearing years and are reinventing their homes for this new life stage. With this transition, they are beginning to make decisions about what they want and expect from their next life stage. As the key consumer group fueling the luxury market, they are more likely to want you to "Do-It-For-Them."
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• Generation Xers are reinventing their homes to reflect their personal style, finally discarding the hand-me-downs they inherited to mix and match new products into their own statement. This group is in the midst of its "busy years," and research indicates that there is a high likelihood that at least one person in a Gen X household works from home. This is very much a "Do-It-Myself" consumer.
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• Generation Y includes the newest adults just beginning to set up their first households. They are all about constant reinvention and are known to use the Internet at any time of the day for any reason, because it's there. Raised with the newness of technology, they expect this freshness to be a part of other product categories. They also expect to be an integral part of the design process, making them the "Do-It-With-Me" generation.

To satisfy these current homeowner generations, one can employ one or more of a number of strategies, which I will discuss here, in a two-part series. The first two strategies becoming a master of reinvention and how to employ experience retail techniques are outlined in the following paragraphs.

Master of Reinvention

To meet the needs of today's 24/7 consumer, retail managers must become masters of reinvention. Just what does this mean? Consider the lasting success of the mistress of reinvention herself, pop music icon Madonna only for the kitchen and bath industry. To accomplish such a lofty goal, one is required to stay ahead of and anticipate the desires of today's homeowners, who not only like the look and feel of newness, but expect it. Reinvent your store keeping this in mind.

It's also important to remember that as a relatively affluent society, our needs are pretty well satisfied. Most consumers approach retail looking for purchase inspiration. Desires have taken over as consumption incentives that drive retail purchases. The upswing in kitchen and baths sales reflects consumers' desires.

When planning a reinvention of your showroom, create a feature display or educational area focused specifically on trends in new products. This concept can be as simple as a bulletin board displaying pictures from home magazines or as elaborate as trend boards, complete with paint chips and materials samples. The goal is to inspire, reassure and bring the shopper up to date regarding the newest colors, patterns, finishes and motifs.

One great way to get customers' attention and draw them into the decision-making process is by encouraging their experimentation. Burger Innovations, an Atlanta design and remodeling firm, does this using a dedicated "Idea Center," which features huge squares of paint on the walls. Velcro strips are affixed to these areas, allowing customers to mix and match cabinet doors and countertop materials against different colored backgrounds.

'Experience Retail'