When we talk about ecommerce, it’s often with the everyday consumer in mind: Those who are renovating, new homeowners, people who were inspired by Instagram or Pinterest to restyle a room.
That everyday consumer might take on a project or two a year. They typically aren’t a serial purchaser, but they can be swayed with a great promotion. It’s an important customer segment that retailers build their marketing strategies around.
But there’s another shopper that retailers are eager to court: the trade professional. This is your designer or decorator who works primarily on residential projects (the hospitality and contract are yet another segment), so they’re working on multiple jobs and making purchases multiple times a year. That means they have a greater likelihood of consistent, repeat purchases that rely on project timing—not promotions.
Retailers are continuing to ramp up their reach to the trade customer, from adding perks and benefits to members-only programs to partnering with designers on content or even products. More than ever, there’s an opportunity to sell to the trade through ecommerce, and manufacturers should consider their online strategy with the trade role in mind.
Retailers Are Emphasizing the Trade Customer
Trade programs are nothing new for retail. Most of the top retailers BrandJump works with will have a trade program that requires professionals to register and provide credentials to gain access to a gated shopping portal.
As trade programs have evolved and become more lucrative, they’ve also come to include not just trade-only discounts, but also:
- High-touch sales, service and product expertise
- Trade-exclusive brands and products
- Loyalty programs and perks
For retailers, trade programs let them better track sales between segments. Some are tailoring their marketing to be more relevant to the trade, via a separate product catalog, distinct website messaging or exclusive emails.
While some retailers are hesitant to share the split between consumer and trade in their customer base, it’s clear that across the board, there is a growing interest in catering to this group.
“The trade business for home furnishings is moving into the 21st century,” said Julia Horvitz, BrandJump Senior Brand Manager. “As consumers, we know how easy it is to place an order online and get it in a few days. Naturally, that convenience is going to extend to the professional experience.”
A Business of Home study in 2021 reported that designers shopped retail for their projects 30% of the time—up from 11% just three years earlier. Shopping retail stores for lighting, décor and finishing-touch accessories is a part of many designers’ playbooks.
"The trade business for home furnishings is moving into the 21st century."
Jennifer McLean, an interior designer in Toronto, shops retail for the whole gamut of interior pieces: lighting, furniture, accessories and tableware especially. “Consumer-centric stores tend to have more items in stock and ready to ship,” McLean said. “Price and turnaround usually lead me to shop a consumer brand versus a trade-only brand.”
It’s worth it for manufacturers to understand a retailer’s sales split between consumer and trade shoppers and how that compares to your own overall business with them. This will help you establish some benchmarks. If the retailer is investing in trade and you are under-indexing on that growth, that’s somewhere you’ll want to consider investing in as well so you don’t lose out on share.
How Brands Can Better Resonate with the Trade Shopper
Considering the role of trade in your retail partnerships can uncover opportunities to increase incremental sales. There are a few steps manufacturers can take to start working with their retail partners to reach the trade customer:
1. Offer a trade discount.
Pricing is huge. “It’s simple. If you don’t offer pricing, no professional is going to choose it,” said Julia. The trade customer expects and typically receives an additional discount, so manufacturers should figure out how to offer something meaningful.
2. Check those lead times.
“Speed is the thing that may trump pricing,” Julia said. “If you can fill an order quicker than a competitor, that can go a long way with a B2B customer.” While it’s important to both consumer and trade shoppers, the speed of that service—from being in stock to shipping on time to quick delivery—keeps a trade person’s projects on schedule and makes their clients happy, which is their ultimate goal.
3. Educate retailers’ sales teams on your brand and products.
Ask retailers for opportunities to train their sales and service teams on the key selling points of your brand and products. This can be in person if possible, or through recorded webinars or documented presentation materials like a one-pager.
Consider pairing these trainings with an incentive or sales contest one or two times a year to keep your brand top of mind. Get creative with ways to put your products in front of sales teams—so they can help get it in front of customers.
"The things you need to do for the online everyday shopper become even more important to the B2B customer."
4. Ask retailers about trade marketing opportunities.
For retailers who have a unique trade marketing experience (a gated website, trade email program, social media, events, etc.), ask how you can participate. Express your interest in helping them drive sales to this segment, and be ready to offer ways your brand can be a part of it.
5. Zero in on ecommerce fundamentals.
Going back to basics on the foundational elements of ecommerce is essential for driving success with the trade.
“The things you need to do for the online everyday shopper become even more important to the B2B customer,” Julia said. “Especially if you want them to become a return customer—you have to provide a positive, smooth and memorable experience.”
For manufacturers, that means paying extra attention to the fundamentals, like:
- Really great imagery. Designers think about how a piece looks from every point in the room, so ensure every angle of a product is captured. Lifestyle imagery should be inspiring and aspirational to show the capabilities of the product.
- Accurate lead times: Sticking to dates and deadlines is critical to designers’ success with their clients, so being able to deliver on promises is incredibly important.
- Thorough product details: Trade professionals often need even more details than the average consumer, including ratings, technical dimensions, and compatible parts. To ensure they’re choosing the right product, they also need to know of any customization options, see or obtain available swatches or ensure that finishes are represented accurately and in detail on the website.
- A good brand story: Designers are selling a story featuring your product. The better they can understand what makes your brand special, the better they can tell it—and sell it.
Selling to the trade isn’t that different than selling to a consumer. But because you have a higher chance of creating a serial customer for your brand, the results can be tenfold.
Having a strategy to target the retail trade customer will build a reputation for your brand and can set you up for sustainable success with this ever-important customer segment.
