Lakes has launched an online platform to give its trade and end user customers a personalised showroom experience – without leaving the comfort and safety of their own homes.
The online showroom concept is a pioneering selling tool for Lakes’ merchant and retail stockists and their installer and homeowner customers. It allows its showering space products to be viewed and favourited so merchant sales and showroom staff can turn them into orders. Accessed through the stockist’s own website, visitors to Lakes showroom can download joint-branded brochures and ask questions directly to the stockists’ staff via chat and email.
Earlier this week, Graham became the first merchant to go live with the online showroom on both its trade and consumer websites. Ian Kenny, Marketing Director for Graham said: “In an industry where real innovation can be hard to come by, the Lakes online showroom is a genuinely different proposition, and we’re extremely proud to be the first to adopt it.
“It’s more than just a campaign or a gimmick for us, it’s a whole new way of working. We haven’t done anything like this before with a supply partner, but it has proved to be a fantastic opportunity not only to work closer with Lakes and to reciprocate their commitment and loyalty to us but also to help deliver something really dynamic and interesting – an industry first!”
As well as driving product awareness and engagement, Lakes’ virtual showroom collects data which can be shared with merchants and stockists to help them close more sales and upsell complementary products such as taps, showers, grab rails and shower seats.
Mike Tattam, Lakes Sales and Marketing Director adds: “We’re always looking for new and innovative ways to support our customers and help them grow their businesses. The online showroom is an original sales tool developed by MRA Marketing, which has landed at a time when online shopping has surged and access to physical showrooms has been restricted. Our partners are eager to capitalise on the opportunity by offering an enriched virtual shop window so they can engage with potential buyers for sales and showroom staff to turn into orders. The online showroom really delivers that, and we are excited to help our customers sell.”
MRA Marketing MD Lucia Di Stazio says: “After two years of development our online showroom product has come at just the right time for Lakes’ customers. More people than ever are using the internet for product research to help them make purchasing decisions, and fewer people are willing to travel to merchant showrooms to see products in person. The online shop window attracts visitors and turns browsers into hot leads. It’s a new and exciting era in online selling and Lakes has raised the bar on what manufacturers can do to help their trade partners sell.”
