Retail Relations Aid Imperial's New P-O-P

The value of P-O-P give-and-take in marketer/retailer relations can be seen in Imperial Home Decor Group's new category-management program. Initially geared to specialty paint and wallcovering stores, "Imperial Gallery" includes 11 display components that adapt to any specialty store's needs. "We're breaking some of the paradigms of how products are displayed and organized in wallcoverings," says Debbie Yurgen, director of trade marketing for the Cleveland-based company. Typically, she explains, chains reduce their inventory needs by buying different wallcovering sample books for each store in a market, offering unstocked designs on a quick special-order from the other stores' inventories. "It's not consumer-friendly, but it solves the problem of stocking a large inventory."The company worked with each retailer's marketing, merchandising and purchasing departments to arrive at the best combination of products and displays for each retail account, with the agreement that the company stock all designs displayed. "It was a paradigm they really didn't like," Yurgen admits. "But we insisted, and the stores have been thrilled with the sales increases, as well as the improved store traffic and word of mouth."Imperial reports that stores that have installed the program have seen their product sales increase by 37 percent and their special-order programs rise by 32 percent. In part, those results are measured by specific sales data, often received by Imperial via electronic data interchange (EDI), which helps the company work more closely with each retailer to fine-tune the mix.The final display format was developed with retailer input at every level, from initial design to testing, where it was again tweaked. "We worked with each retail department to learn their requirements," she says, "because there absolutely are different, and sometimes conflicting, needs to be met for any retailer."We have a strategic partnership with our P-O-P company, AGI, because they understand retail and merchandising," Yurgen says. AGI, in turn, works closely with Imperial's marketing agency. "The P-O-P came before the marketing agency's elements, because the fixturing had to accomplish specific goals. Then we created the message to explain those objectives within the framework we developed."With retail sales success stories rolling in, Imperial is setting its site on a tougher target -- home center stores. "Working with home centers is much more complicated," Yurgen says. "They have a leading role in the category, so it's a struggle to see who's going to be in the driver's seat. Many times they have a need -- or at least a want -- to customize their displays. But sometimes a category-management program needs to be brand-driven. So it's definitely a collaborative process."Don't even approach them unless you know their available space and the framework you have to work in for that chain. Then you present the concept. You've definitely got to have your own house in order."

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Hall of Fame Profile: Pamela Velarde

Hall of Fame Profile: Stephen Bettencourt