Underlay is a crucial part of carpet installations, representing both a value add for retailers and a massive boon for homeowners looking to make their carpets last longer and feel better. Despite its obvious importance though, underlay can be a tricky selling proposition for some retailers. After all, it’s never actually seen after installation, and with most carpets marketed on the basis of their comfort and underfoot feel, it’s easy to think of underlay as an optional or even superfluous extra.
Of course, the truth is very different: underlay not only provides comfort and a luxurious feeling under a carpet, but depending on the product, also offers a number of supplemental benefits, from sound reduction, to installation, to the durability and longevity of the carpet itself. Naturally, for a retailer, adding underlay to a customer’s purchase represents the dual benefits of added value on the sale and more than likely higher customer satisfaction. In a market as tough as this, making sure each customer is as happy as possible and therefore likely to recommend your shop is incredibly important.
So how do we communicate the importance of underlay? Two companies, Wilsons Underlays and Carpenter, have their two different approaches through their Flooring Innovation Award winning marketing.
Wilsons’ campaign takes place at trade shows, most notably The Flooring Show in Harrogate. The company has developed several demo units for its stand, each of which helps visitors to physically feel the benefits offered by its underlay products. For example, the company showcases its flagship Plushwalk product with tester pods, as well as what it calls a “compression recovery unit,” which shows how the underlay performs under repeated compression.
For its ThermalStream underlay for underfloor heating, Wilsons has created an innovative demo unit that allows visitors to feel the incredible rate of heat transfer through their hands. As with the compression recovery display, this demonstration is invaluable for highlighting this otherwise unseen benefit of underlay.
Another example of how to promote underlay comes from Carpenter and its innovative customisable POS boards. Designed to help encourage conversations with consumers around the right underlay for their desired flooring experience, the boards feature three distinct sections – standard, comfort and performance – and are designed to simplify the decision-making process, catering to various customer needs. Retailers can order these boards tailored to their preference to select the underlay product for each section which suits their customer demographic.
Both of these companies demonstrate that for those products whose appeal is not as immediately or visually apparent, effective marketing to consumers is still more than possible with a touch of creativity.