Now in its second year Long Rake Spar’s merchant support package is helping independent builders merchants grow their range to offer exclusive, high profit landscaping products in their local market.
The company has been working closely with stockists nationwide to deliver bespoke merchandising and stocking packages to suit the individual customer requirements.
Last year, Long Rake Spar stockist, Milford Building Supplies, saw that the builders merchant market was evolving and wanted to adapt their retail space to meet the change in demand. Commercial and Operations Manager, Scott Finlayson explained, “People are able to research their products more easily online, we recognised this and wanted to make ourselves more appealing to the general public. Long gone are the days when a merchant was just for the trade, we now see the general public and DIYers as a growing proportion of our customer base.”
The change in shopper demand meant that Milford Building Supplies decided to dedicate 30% of their new Cardigan Road development to a specially designed landscaping retail yard. By doing this they were able to separate their traditional heavy goods movements from the consumer focused area, creating a ‘garden centre’ style experience with well merchandise products, clearly visible prices and a safe, traffic free, self-service area. Milford selected Long Rake as a supply partner because the company offers strong consumer-focused merchandise support.
With an unrivalled range of decorative aggregates available in their Natural Selection, Long Rake Spar enables merchants to build their reputation as a go-to local landscaping stockist. For Milford this meant that they are now able offer a product for every shopper’s needs with the option of half load supply helping to maintain continually sufficient stock levels. Long Rake’s market leading product selection is further supported the new merchandise package which includes a range of informative and eye-catching sales tools specifically designed for merchants.
Although merchandise varies according to the needs of the stockist Long Rake are able to supply an industry-leading selection of marketing support. This includes product and category specific point of sale boards with engaging in-situ, wet and dry product images alongside handy hints, tips and suitability icons. In store, shoppers can pick up a consumer-focused brochure with corresponding icons and packed with ideas and inspiration. They can also get a tangible feel for the product with the fully branded aggregate display stand that is supplied to premium stockists to display the range of exclusive products available.