With a track record dating back more than 30 years, Whitesales says it goes the extra mile in supporting merchants. In an article first appearing in the October edition of the magazine, PBM looks at some of the rooflight specialist’s latest product innovations and additional services for stockists.
The launch of several key new product lines, a revitalised website and an award-winning debut at the FIT Show glass and glazing industry exhibition earlier in the year are among the recent highlights for Whitesales. The Surrey-based company boasts considerable expertise in the design, manufacture and distribution of rooflights, overhead roof glazing and bespoke daylighting solutions, working closely with its merchant partners — national group and independent stockists alike — to deliver on its stated mission of helping “merchants and their customers make more money from lantern and rooflight installs.”
Making its debut at the show, for example, was the stylish new em.glaze skyvu lantern. Said to feature a host of fitter-friendly features, the competitively priced aluminium roof lantern is available via merchants on short lead times of just three to five days for standard sizes and colours.
Speaking at the time of the launch, Marketing Director Sioned Roberts said: “With skyvu alongside our existing em.glaze flat rooflights, we now have a package of products for the merchant market which matches our package of service and support. It’s got the aesthetics that buyers want, at a price point which allows for strong trade and retail margins and comes with the backing of a business with a 30+ year track record in rooflights.
“We’re confident that merchants will love skyvu and will appreciate the benefits that come from buying both their lanterns and their rooflights from a single, dedicated supplier.”
Complying with the new requirements of Part L and incorporating high integrity seals to ensure optimum weather performance tested to beyond BS6375, merchants can use the supplier’s popular RUFUS digital configurator to design and order their lanterns online — a feature which has been developed specifically for its merchant customers “to make ordering rooflights as simple as possible.”
The firm asserts that the large volumes of stock it holds means that merchants “can always rely on Whitesales for delivery on time and in full” whilst they can also opt for direct delivery to their customers’ sites “safe in the knowledge that the frame and glass will be delivered together for a hassle-free installation.”
In September, Whitesales announced the launch of em.glaze Economy — billed as an entry level, thermally broken flat glass rooflight which, at a lower price point than the existing em.glaze Premium rooflight, is designed to open up new sales opportunities for merchants.
Whilst the Premium version comes with CWCT Class 1 as standard, the new Economy variant features CWCT Class 3 glazing but, aesthetically, the only thing said to distinguish the two is fritted glass on the Premium which is only visible when viewed from above. Internally, buyers get “the same contemporary look and the same flush glazed edge-to-edge design in both” in addition to the same compatibility with Whitesales’ range of timber and PVC-U upstands.
The new model is available in 11 sizes from stock, all fully compliant with Building Regs Part L when fitted with a proprietary upstand. The standard colour is RAL7016 anthracite grey, but it is available to order in any RAL colour and in any bespoke size up to 2100mm x 2100mm.
Initially, em.glaze Economy is being launched as a fixed rooflight only, but the company says that manual and electric opening options will be added soon.
As part of its service commitment, Whitesales launched a major upgrade of its website in the summer to make it easier for different types of customers to locate exactly what they are looking for. Merchants (along with contractors, architects, homeowners and fabricators) now just select from a drop-down menu to access the relevant product, technical and purchasing support.
Alex Gallop, Marketing Communications Manager, explained: “We’ve reorganised the website so that there’s an intuitive online journey for every type of customer — taking them directly to the products and support they need. For instance, the merchant pages feature the product catalogue, access to our merchant support package and RUFUS, our online rooflight configurator.
“Visitors can obviously choose to browse the whole website; this is just the latest example of how we make it easy to work with us.”
Merchant support
Indeed, with the firm’s stated promise of “taking the hassle out of buying rooflights,” the new website presents a clear outline of the bespoke service package it offers its merchant customers. This includes an array of product information, sales literature, technical support, point of sale materials — including shelf wobblers, banners, brochure stands and samples — in addition to the provision of in-store training to upskill the branch team and the hosting of product events at the depot.
As quoted on the website, the firm’s Piers White noted: “We have seen the benefits in training for merchant staff. It has reduced returns due to the correct measurements being obtained and increased the confidence of the salespeople in the branch to proactively sell the rooflights which obviously increases the overall sales of the branch, a win-win situation.”
