What Dealers Want

What Dealers Want

High-quality products, hassle-free delivery and strong supplier support services continue to drive kitchen and bath dealers' product specification choices, while brand names become increasingly important as well, a new survey reports.

By Janice Anne Costa

Such were the findings of a recent survey by Kitchen & Bath Design News, which polled more than 150 kitchen and bath dealers nationwide with regard to how they specify new products, what factors impact their decision to add, change or drop a particular product line, what types of products they're most likely to add or drop from their offerings, and what role brand names play in their decisions.

Interestingly, while quality (both of product and services) and exclusivity were cited as key factors in the decision to carry or not carry certain product lines, price was much further down the list, suggesting that dealers are less concerned with what a product costs if they believe it has inherent value, and is delivered in such a manner as to deliver value to the customer by ensuring the project flows smoothly, seamlessly and without errors from ordering to installation to post-installation follow up.

Additionally, the survey revealed that dealers are seeing consumers increasingly requesting specific brand names when they come into the showroom, and this increasingly brand-aware consumer is having a greater impact on dealers' decisions regarding which products they specify.

Brand requests are most common in the product categories of countertops, plumbing fixtures and appliances, dealers say.

Key factors
When it comes to dealers' top reasons for adding or changing a product line, quality was the most-frequently-cited factor, with some 76.7% of dealers naming this as critical (see Graph 1). Strong supplier service and support garnered 58.7% of respondents' votes, while another 52% cited the product not being offered by competitors as key. Some 45.3% of dealers listed "accurate and timely delivers" as a top reason, 43.3% noted "uniqueness of product" as a top factor, and 42% pointed to high profit margins.

Likewise, poor quality was cited as the number one reason dealers would drop a product line, with an overwhelming 93.3% of dealer respondents listing it as key (see Graph 2). Problems, errors or delays with delivery was noted by 85.3% of respondents as a top reason for dropping a product line, while negative client feedback was noted by 77.3% of respondents, and not enough or poor rep support was cited by 48.7% of dealers. Surprisingly, low profit margins scored only fifth on the list, with less than half (44.7%) of survey respondents citing this as a top reason to drop a product line.

However, as one Midwest dealer sees it, "You can't just go by the numbers. High profit margins don't mean much if you lose time and customer goodwill due to mistakes."

When dealers do add new products, they're most likely to do so in the categories of kitchen accessories (44.8%), cabinetry (40%), countertops (38.6%) and hardware (35.9%), according to the survey results (see Graph 6).

Conversely, dealers say they're least likely to add new products in the areas of toilets/bidets, ventilation and tubs, whirlpools and shower systems (see Graph 7).

Of those who saw an increased incidence of consumers requesting specific brands, nearly half (49.5%) said it was having a "notable impact" on what product lines they carry.

Still, manufacturers' brand awareness campaigns have a long ways to go before dealers' showrooms are overrun with consumers clamoring for specific brands: More than a quarter of all dealer respondents (29.1%) said that less than 10% of their clients request specific brands, and another 31.8% say between 10 and 24% of their clients come in looking for specific brands (see Graph 3).

As one dealer on the West Coast sees it, "Consumers are more familiar with brand names than in the past, but they also are coming to a designer for a reason: They trust me to steer them in the right direction, pick the right products for their project and make sure they get what they need."