Every inch of the sales floor is precious when it comes to grabbing the customers’ attention and really servicing their needs. PBM reports on Bradfords’ decision to roll out Scruffs’ new flexible merchandising solution — the Scruffs Conversion Kit — across 38 of its 43 branches.
Bradfords marks an incredible 250 years of supplying the trade in 2020 and now commands 43 branches throughout the South West, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, stocking over 16,000 products and employing over 700 people. The independent merchant is partnering with the Scruffs performance workwear brand with the relationship said to be “all about offering the customer the easiest and most consistent shopping experience” when it comes to purchasing “trusted workwear items”.
According to Scruffs’ research, the average tradesperson spends £630 a year on workwear and it is essential that they can find what they are after within seconds of stepping into a branch. Six months ago, Bradfords approached Scruffs to put a range together for its branches with the key requirement being a concise range of value-for-money best sellers with high throughput which could be scaled up or down depending on the space available.
Tom Pettit, the supplier’s National Sales Manager for Bradfords, said: “The request was for a core range of our best sellers to be positioned so that it would be easy for the customer to make an informed selection and be pleased with their purchase — each product is supported with an information panel detailing relevant style, size, colour, price and performance information. Likewise, it had to be easy to manage for the branch teams.”
James Wilson, Category Manager at Bradfords, added: “The new Scruffs merchandising solution has brought an eye-catching display across branches that draws customers to the range. Our branches think the new merchandising is fantastic and we see Scruffs as complementary to the rest of our range of products.
“We are delighted to report our customers are telling us that this is the premium product they want to wear! Our focus going forward is working with Scruffs to ensure we have seasonal offers through the winter season to support our customers.
Optimising the available space is crucial, as Chris Mellor-Dolman, Head of Marketing & Merchandising at Scruffs, explains: “The Scruffs Conversion Kit uses a modular Back Bar so that all components from boot shelves to euro hooks can be positioned anywhere vertically and horizontally. In turn this delivers full flexibility when it comes to space planning.
“What’s more, our eye catching and signature orange branding instantly draws attention to our products no matter how big or small the unit is. As most of our products are darker in colour, the simple fact that our branding stands out means that the customer’s eye is immediately drawn to our range when they walk through the door. Products are also positioned face-on, which means they find what they’re looking for quickly.”
Chris continued: “We used our own professional installers to fit the Kit for Bradfords which takes the workload away from each branch and ensures consistency throughout the network. Bradfords has categorised its sales space into three clear product groups — a convenience range for smaller branches, a moderate range for medium-sized branches and an authoritative, full range of our products for its largest branches.
Reflecting the point, Scruffs’ research shows that shopping for workwear falls into three clearly defined categories: destination, convenience and impulse. Most common to Bradfords is the convenience shopper who goes to the branch regularly and knows that they’ll always get the core products that they need often, plus seasonal extras.
Chris added: “We’re really pleased to start this new relationship with Bradfords. It was vital that we listened carefully to the needs of its business before we started planning our rollout approach, and — thanks to lots of creative discussion between our two teams — we’ve come up with a fantastically versatile merchandising solution tailored specifically to Bradfords.
“Our latest product range has been developed with our customers, using real life wear trials to guide the design process, with genuine tradespeople testing both function and performance so that we can provideever higher levels of comfort, durability, protection and styling at the best possible price. It’s great to see our products being sold through Bradfords and we look forward to growing our relationship with them over the coming years.”
Scruffs latest offering includes an extended line-up of innovative work trousers which takes its range from four to seven products, with each item offering increasing levels of performance and functionality as you move upwards through the range. Existing products have been completely re-engineered and the extended range now offers a broader range of pricepoints to cater “for all budgets and trades”.
For more information on Scruffs’ products and merchandising solutions, visit https://www.birchwoodpricetools.com/dealer-opportunity
