Dealers & Designers Embrace Technology

Kitchen and bath videos have surpassed Webinars among kitchen and bath dealers and designers, who are nearly twice as likely to watch online industry-related videos on a monthly basis as they are to attend Webinars. And, while nearly 20% never attend online Webinars, only 7% never watch kitchen and bath related videos online.

The future of video also looks strong: In the next 12 months, 57% of kitchen and bath dealers and designers polled expect to be viewing online kitchen and bath videos more frequently than they do now, and 18% expect to be posting more videos themselves.

GROWTH AREAS

While technology seems to be evolving on all fronts, the tablet or iPad was cited as the one area with the greatest growth potential over the next 12 months. In fact, while only a quarter of the kitchen and bath dealers and designers polled say they currently use a tablet or iPad, a whopping 41% expect to start using one in the coming year (see Graph 4), with significantly more independent designers favoring these over dealers and designers working out of showrooms.

Kitchen and bath apps were seen as the second highest growth area, with 35% of those polled saying they expect to start using these over the next 12 months.

Other high-growth technology areas cited by the survey include video, Web-based presentations and Skyping or video conferencing.

Kitchen and bath dealers and designers are also getting more savvy about their social media use. For instance, while only 45% currently promote their businesses on social media, 59% plan to increase their social media promotional efforts in the coming 12 months (see Graph 5). Some 57% say they will increase their viewing of online videos and photos, while 54% will be reading more posts, 46% will be posting more of their own photos, 37% plan to increase their posting activity and 18% plan to post more videos.

OTHER KEY FINDINGS

Other key findings of the survey include the following:

The top five technologies currently used by kitchen and bath dealers and designers are desktop computers, smart phones, laptop computers, CAD software and product ordering software.

The technology products that respondents feel need the most improvement to be more useful to kitchen and bath dealers and designers include kitchen and bath apps (46%), CAD software (36%), smart phones (32%) and tablets/iPads (32%).

One in five designers and dealers are looking for apps that help in laying out and calculating measurements for their designs, while one in 10 indicate that they need apps that provide quick access to product specs and samples, assistance in preparing project quotes and product pricing, and a way to link all of their technologies in a cloud.

While two-thirds of those polled visit kitchen and bath Web sites at least daily, independent designers and those with 20+ years of experience were less likely to visit kitchen and bath Web sites as frequently.

Significantly more k/b dealers and designers in large businesses (those with 10 people or more) expect their usage of kitchen and bath Web sites to increase in the coming year.