With UK online retailing growing at the apparent expense of high street retailing, our appetites for DIY diminishing, and our perception that having an online shop is the norm, specialist retailers compete by offering better service and incentives.
Hardware products are generally made available through 2 main sources, either through specialist retailers or general retailers. The distribution / availability however can now mean that the shop is online, offline, or both.
For the high street retailer it’s often the case that they can provide the speed, advice and personal service for many basic household, hardware and DIY items and these elements often outweigh perceived negative aspects such as higher prices, particularly for ‘low involvement’ products.
It’s also true to say that knowledge of how to carry out many home maintenance and DIY tasks has diminished steadily over the last few decades although access to information about these tasks is now more easily and widely available than ever before thanks to the Internet.
It is now also the perceived norm that any retailer should have an online shop. This means that there is stiff competition even among highly specialised retailers to make sure that they are offering just that little bit more than their competitors in terms of service, guarantees and other help and assurances.
Simply Door Handles is an example of a specialist retailer that gained its experience over many years offline, has an offline showroom, but also has a popular online shop. James Gumersell explains more about the service aspects and extras that Simply Door Handles offer their customers.
“Obviously we want our customers to keep coming back to us and to keep recommending us for all things to do with door handles, door knobs, door furniture and accessories. Besides the competitive prices, high quality products and fast delivery we offer customers a number of incentives and re-assuring factors that we hope will make them want to choose us.
3 month returns, 10 year guarantees on products, free delivery on all orders over £75 to UK mainland areas, and a 5% Discount on orders over £100 GBP are all things that we’ve found that customers value and give them extra reasons why they should choose us. We can also give them technical advice over the phone which can be very re-assuring to some customers.”
Kaynak : 