Colour innovation pays off at new flagship store
A NEW way of displaying colour has paid off at a decorators’ merchant which has completely changed the way it does business.
Cane Adam, which is part of Brewers, has re-launched its Farnborough store after relocating from a traditional shop space to a nearby warehouse unit.
The new store, which has become the flagship of the 10-strong chain, features a host of fresh ideas including an innovative colour wall, which allows customers to view a multitude of tones in one area.
Paul Sandison, area manager at Cane Adam, said: “When we had the opportunity to relocate to new premises we took the business back to the drawing board and thought about how we wanted to do things.
“We looked at different ways of doing things – we wanted to use technology in the store such as touch screens and looked at everything from the way we displayed products to how we could provide information for customers.
“One thing we particularly focused on was how to display colour options for customers. We wanted to pare it back and combine the use of samples with technology, so we set our suppliers a challenge to create a new way of displaying colour on a 1.2m² board.
“Crown Paints took on the challenge with gusto, taking a ‘less-is-more’ approach to creating their display and it has proved a run-away success.
“We’re already increasing our orders for Crown Paints thanks to their creative new display and our colour wall area has been by far the outstanding success of the re-design.”
The colour wall features display boards and sample drawers along with tablet technology.
The Crown Paints team designed their display in-house using painted blocks to illustrate the spectrum on offer.
Crown Paints Marketing Manager, Debbie Orr, said: “The challenge of displaying our huge range of shades on a 1.2m² board was not an easy one.
“The team took the colour range from the hugely successful Crown Trade Colour Schemes and Inspirations Guide and used painted blocks to give a definitive example of what the paint actually looks like when applied.
“This gives customers full confidence in their colour choices and we are delighted not only that this innovative point-of-sale display has boosted sales of our products at the Cane Adam store, but that their new approach is already paying dividends for the team at Farnborough.”
Store Manager Graham Mackie led the team in embracing the new style of working while retaining their long-standing relationships with customers and undertaking additional training in colour palette and sales.
Mr Sandison added: “We have changed the way we do business, altering the physical lay-out of the store and investing in things like staff training which are not so obvious but make a very real difference.
“Our staff can now advise customers on more than 80,000 products through the use of our innovative touch screen, which enables us to cater for a huge range of painting and decorating requirements.”
The lay-out of the store itself also takes a break from the norm. Everything is categorised by product rather than brand, with colour-coded areas clearly indicating where customers can quickly and easily find the goods they need.
“We’ve re-thought everything from a painters’ and decorators’ point of view,” said Mr Sandison. “All 13 of the different brushes we sell are now displayed by type – regardless of brand – with individual information displayed about each brush and a sample which customers can handle and examine before ordering at the counter.
“Our 32 inch touch screen, which gives us such a broad offer, also allows us to create a bespoke scheme for individuals.
“With the facility to search for specific styles of wallpaper on-screen, we now bring out the exact samples customers want to look at which means they don’t have to leaf through the whole book.
“We can also use different room sets on-screen to show how the wallpaper might look in a real setting and even create mood boards tailored to each customer.”
Cane Adam are also releasing a series of mini catalogues over the coming months, detailing the huge range of products now on offer in-store, online or available to order over the phone.
