Why Should I Visit a Physical Kitchen Showroom?
‘Why should I visit a physical kitchen showroom? A question our Marketing Director, Graham, posed to himself on the way to work. Here are his thoughts about the benefits of being physically ‘present’ in the process and how a more first-hand experience will likely create a better end result.
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In this digital world, the effort of having to go somewhere can sometimes put us off. ‘I don’t need to try on clothes, Amazon lets me try before I buy, Deliveroo will bring me my dinner and I haven’t done a big-shop in years.’
What about when it comes to creating your new kitchen?
There are a growing number of kitchen companies that allow you to design your new kitchen online, from the comfort of your home. Brilliant, I hear you say, that’ll save me a lot of time and effort - Will it?
Now, I’m not a trained kitchen designer, and even though I have worked in the industry for over 10 years, the intricacies I see our design team going to every day are well beyond my slightly-enhanced level of expertise.
When I tried to apply my knowledge of workflows, footfall, interior architecture, kitchen furniture technicalities and styling to an online design software I quickly learnt I wasn’t a professional.
Yes, the kitchen had some degree of form, I’m not at a complete loss, but it was when I had to apply the details that I began to see where my DIY enthusiasm surpassed my actual talent. By now an hour had passed and I was nowhere near a finished result that could give me an idea of the price.
It was reassuring to know my muddled effort would be sent to a professional designer who would be back in touch to tell me what my kitchen was likely to cost when done properly. However, I still didn’t know whether the design could have been better.
If my mission is to design a kitchen from home, what next? Maybe a video chat, like the not-so-good-old Covid days, would suffice. I could share ideas, provide dimensions, receive samples, and sign off designs via Zoom – that’d do, right?
For many, I suppose it could. As we seem to be headed towards a world where written text communications feel more comfortable than picking up the phone, not having to actually see someone face-to-face could make a certain group of consumers feel happier in the process.
What are you missing out on?
No.1 - TOUCHING THINGS.
An obvious one. Yes, a sample of veneer can give you a sense of what your kitchen fronts are going to look and feel like, but what about the hinge motion, how smooth the drawers slide open and how easy they are going to be to close when your hands are covered in baking mix?
All the videos, pictures and demonstrations by showroom staff or social media influencers aren’t going to give you the sensation.
No.2 - TRYING NEW THINGS.
There is no doubt that a good online website can give you a point-of-view experience of a kitchen. Largely thanks to 360-degree photos and video, tours of showrooms can be made from your home, but what about actually trying to do things?
For example, testing your personal workflow for making a cup of tea, cleaning dirty dishes, emptying waste bins, operating appliances – the list goes on.
You can’t fully appreciate the ergonomics of flexible storage systems, physically experience new workflows to see if they work better for you or hear the noises of everyday appliances.
NO.3 - REALLY GETTING TO KNOW A DESIGNER.
As a child of the 80s the internet and social media didn’t really take off until I was practically an adult. Physical, face-to-face interactions or phone calls were how I was brought up. I suspect, because of this, I believe in the need to meet someone to truly understand what they are about.
As a marketer, I am intrinsically sceptical of websites and the written word. Authenticity can be difficult to distinguish without first-hand experience and video chats can feel a little flat - like you aren’t getting the complete picture.
I know, if I was going to invest a great deal of time, effort and money in a new kitchen, I would want to spend some quality time with the person I am going to ask to work with me. And, the only way I am going to do this is to take a walk to a showroom and say ‘Hello’.
When discussing my kitchen project with a designer I’m hoping to find rapport and answers that assure me I am in a safe pair of hands that I can trust.
WHAT AM I TRYING TO AVOID?
A poor job being done – show me your design expertise and finish standards are well above my own expectations.
The design not being the right one for me – help me understand why your proposed design is the best answer to my brief and why other options or ideas would not be the right choice.
Feeling like I have been ripped off – teach me about the value of what you do.
Being disregarded once I’ve committed to a sale – tell me about how you care for and look after your customers.
So, why would I visit a physical kitchen showroom?
To avoid the above and make sure I was happy with what I was purchasing. A new kitchen is a high-value investment, and I would have every intention to live with it for years to come, so I’d want it to be right.
I don’t expect to receive a birthday card from my designer, but I would hope that I get to know them well enough to feel we both want the same thing. And should they call me to let me know things have gone slightly sideways for an unforeseen reason, I would have built enough trust to know they will have a suitable solution ready to explain to me.
If you really care about your home and want to make it better for you and your family, I think a visit to a showroom and a talk with a designer would be time well spent.
No doubt, in 10, or 20 years, this will all be possible via a VR headset or through another miraculous technological advancement. However, for now, I think interacting via a screen can only get the process so far without you losing some of what makes the experience so exciting and enjoyable.
With all this said, it would be remiss of me as Marketing Director not to invite you into one of our showrooms in Bath, Swindon and Winchester. We would be delighted to see you.
