Summary
• A good mouldings display will encourage sales.
• Merchants and retailers should hold a good variety and quantity of stock.
• Mouldings should be presented in an easy-to-use format.
• Horizontal storing helps prevent warping and bowing.
• Lifestyle-focused point of sale can also encourage cross-selling.

The mouldings market is highly saturated, and although design is obviously important, we have found that product placement and well-marketed products really help to differentiate our range.

The maturity of the market means that mouldings are often neglected or even ignored by merchants and retailers, and their full profitability is not realised. But user-friendly displays and complementary literature help merchants and retailers to stock, display and sell products, while consumer-facing brochures and advertising help to pull sales through.

The basic premise of a good mouldings display is to encourage upsell and effectively present mouldings to customers. Whatever the size of the merchant or retail outlet, there are some simple steps that stockists can take to boost mouldings sales.

Maximising potential

To maximise potential sales, merchants and retailers need to hold a good variety and quantity of stock. Decorative mouldings in particular are usually a distress purchase, used as a quick fix to finish a job. This means that builders will need to find and purchase them immediately, so if stockists don’t have the product in store, they will go elsewhere and the sale will be lost.

By holding at least three ‘projects’ worth of stock and 10-12 pieces of fast selling mouldings, such as dowels, quadrants, glass beads and scotias, stockists can ensure they don’t miss out on such key sales. Most retailers and merchants enjoy sales success by holding about 12 months’ worth of stocks.

As well as holding the right amount and type of stock, mouldings also need to be presented in an understandable and easy-to-use format. Retail and DIY customers, especially, may not have product knowledge and can be easily put off by confusing displays, while trade customers will often call in between jobs and need quick access to the right product.

A well-organised and well-stocked mouldings box is an ideal way to present mouldings and can be highly profitable for stockists. Laid flat in the box within colour-coded pigeonholes, the user-friendly format occupies limited floor space and aids the selection process. Plus, storing the mouldings horizontally helps to prevent warping and bowing.

And they really work: we conducted research on the profitability of such a mouldings box at a stockist in Derby and, compared with an average mouldings box, found a 100% increase in stock turn and a 200% growth in annual profits.

Point of sales displays

Informative point of sale displays are another way of boosting mouldings sales, particularly in the retail sector. Finishing ideas and ‘create the look’ images can help to stimulate sales and attract consumers who may not be aware of the potential of mouldings or the options available.

Lifestyle-focused point of sale can also encourage cross-selling. Stockists can increase sales of paints and stains by highlighting their use on mouldings, and higher value purchases can also be stimulated by showing how timbers can be co-ordinated to great effect across mouldings, flooring and doors, for example.

Finally, by displaying architectural mouldings in a ‘good, better, best’ format, stockists can enjoy better profits by encouraging installers and homeowners to trade up. Upselling an end user from a pine to an oak profile, for example, can create a much higher value sale for stockists.