If you sell paint, you’ve got a lot of boarders. Specialty stores, other independent home improvement stores, farm supply stores, big boxes and even discounters like Walmart all want to sell to it. But while many retailers can put paint cans on shelves, few are able to fully maximize the category. Doing this requires a retailer to stay on top of trends, keep abreast of the latest product innovations, create an inspiring in-store presentation and offer knowledgeable assistance.

Simply put, being successful with paint means going beyond the basics and finding ways to make your paint department stand out from the competition.

To see what separates the good from the best, let us focus on three retailers who have mastered the art of selling this category. Since the best paint retailers always have an eye on fashion, a bite from the representative from the Pantone Color Institute has been incorporated,  to let you know what’s new and trending in color and design for 2018.

Image: Indiamart

The success of your paint department depends on your willingness to change quickly with trends in the market. Donnelly, Vice President of sales operations at Flanagan Paint, a specialty paint store in St. Louis, Missouri, brought in a line of new products. This year, he’s working to get that same line replaced because they’re already outdated. According to him things change real fast in this industry. A continually updated inventory has become a mandate! Unfortunately, most independent hardware stores don’t stay up with the trends in their paint department. That kind of makes them obsolete right when one customer sees them. And, that’s not a viable option for any business. Even when distributors make it easy to return products in exchange for new items, many retailers don’t go through the trouble of swapping them out, and that can have a negative impact on the success of the department. One of the hottest trends in the paint category right now, for example, revolves around specialty paints and applicators. Chalk and chalkboard paints, as well as mirror and glow-in-the-dark paints, continue to be popular.

Stephanie Hunter, floor supervisor at Wildomar Ace, California, says paint that creates a weathered, antique look is one of the most popular trends now. She adds that rags, chip brushes and other tools are what do-it-yourselfers(DIYs) are using to produce that look.

Whatever the current trend, the best paint retailers are those who keep an open mind about what specialty paints might catch on and who search trade shows and magazines for the latest product trends.

Create an exceptional shopping experience

Before you can even start putting yourself forward as the retailer of choice in paint, you need to look the part. While it’s important to have bright light and fully stocked shelves, it’s not enough if you want to be an exceptional paint retailer. Consumers generally expect a different experience when choosing colors to paint their homes than when, for example, they buy a box of nails. They want a place where they can feel comfortable browsing. And if they’re going to buy a premium product, they expect a premium shopping experience.

Image: http://flanaganpaint.com

“If you’re trying to sell a $60 gallon of paint, you can’t have your department looking 60 years old,” Donnelly says. Most stores don’t give indoor renovation of stores a high priority, but when premium services and products are sold it is imperative to hold that look – within and without.  At Flanagan Paints,  a single year don’t pass without making at least a minor adjustment to the store layout. If it’s been awhile since you’ve given your paint department a makeover, you’re likely overdue. Most retailers who do well in paint focus on the customer’s paint-buying experience. That means staying current on color racks and planograms from your paint vendor. Keep new and premium products at eye level at the entrance of your paint department. Make a place that’s comfortable to sit, look at color swatches and talk with a paint consultant.

Pine with Pinterest

Ask nearly any retailer what’s new in the paint department, and it won’t be long before you hear the word “Pinterest.” This social media platform has given do-it-yourselfers a whole new level of confidence about doing projects themselves, along with a wealth of new ideas. DIYers who find a project they’d like to try on- Pinterest-ers typically end up in your store asking for the products to complete that project. If you want to be a top-tier paint retailer, you should look at Pinterest, too.

Paint manufacturers or dealers must spend a lot of time studying Pinterest to stay updated themselves on what’s trending and to bring them on! Customers may know what the finished project will look like, but are not always sure how to get there, or what products to use. Flanagan Paints even help people figure out how to do a particular project; having the patience to work with a customer like that is part of offering great customer service. Look everywhere for trends, including Pinterest and HGTV, so your business can stay one step ahead of your customers.

The challenge is with customers who want to use exactly what the blogger they follow have used. So it’s imperative to know what’s trending and all of the latest painting techniques so that if you don’t have the exact same product, you can direct your customers to the closest paint colour.

And don’t just follow on Pinterest: Lead the way with a page for your own store. Flanagan Paint has its own Pinterest page where customers can search for project ideas that involve the colors and tools found in the store. It’s also a great place for Donnelly to post project how-to information and establish his business as an authority on paint and design. 

Take a look at their pin boards and created curated looks. They are not only attractive and appealing but also show a high sense of marketing by learning and updating consecutively. Learning is imperative for any business and Flanagan Paints have nailed it.

Similarly, a global industry player Asian Paints have also done the same in their marketing moves. They too keep their Pinterest page active and ethically, beautifully chosen a blend of colours and textures.

Also, it gives easy Home decor ideas, or Do it Yourself projects that can be accomplished with Asian Paints’ own range of paints and tools.  

Asian Paints also introduced its new line of wall stickers and they are so in trend with the current generation and for children, as always! Imbibing leading trends and not just wall paints, Asian Paints has nailed it all!

Be Proactive in Educating Consumer, Staff and Yourself

Waiting for a customer to ask a question about a project won’t always get the conversation started. Because of the wealth of information on the Internet, the average consumer today probably did a lot of research on the project they want to tackle, so they may not think they need your help. Encourage your employees to start the conversation. The information the customer has may not always be accurate, so it’s important to find out exactly what they found out online, and then confirm if it’s really correct. To do that, it’s even more critical that employees are well-trained in product and project knowledge. Asian Paints provide their customers with an array of services, literally anything that can cross the mind of a person buying paint or service. Therefore, they have at-home color consultation service, ‘Colour Shashtra’ – color selection based on Vastu Shastra principles, home painting services. They haven’t put themselves any way backward. They’ve grasped almost everything to cater to their business and displayed them beautifully on their website- which is a vision to watch.

Taking the extra time to ask customers about their projects and make sure they have the correct information can help build the sale, not only with add-on products but with the correct products. Experts, for example, often said that one of the most misunderstood parts of the painting project is the primer. Among the many different types of primers available, do your customers know the correct one to use? They may initially choose a cheap primer, but if you educate them on the differences between the primers and the advantages of each, you could easily upsell them a better primer that does the job right. In addition to being proactive in educating customers, the best paint retailers are proactive in providing ongoing education to their employees.

Premium Paints

All of the paint retailers researched after have shown more and more consumers are buying premium paints. Industry experts have definitely seen a trend toward higher-quality paints, as people are willing to spend more for better quality. An assortment that includes all price levels for each type of customer may not be that unusual for a paint department, but the best retailers are proactive in getting their customers to try the higher level of products.

Albrecht Painting Company, that sells anywhere from 150 to 250 gallons of paint out of their stores every week,  give away a premium item if it means their customer will at least try it. These are the most intelligent moves to get people become your customers, rather than relying the ones who are already there. Read the below testimonial of Albrecht regarding his sales of rollers:“My do-it-yourself customers used to come in and get the cheapest rollers they could find. Then I started giving them quality roller covers for free and asked them just to try it. Now, they’re hooked on them and buy them constantly.” As Albrecht has found, usually convincing the customer to buy a premium product rather than a cheap one involves some education.

Sometimes it’s helpful to simplify the language to distinguish the different levels of paint you can offer; ask your customers if the paint they are choosing is for a permanent home, small-time abode or investment property. Using these denominators usually helps the customer decide what type of paint they should buy.

Don’t think that do-it-yourselfers are the only ones who need education about quality products, either. Oftentimes, big paint industry manufacturers have to educate their contractors who have always gone for the lower-quality items, but may be willing to switch once they know the benefits of a better product. Albrecht of Albrecht Paints uses his giveaway tactic to promote new products or to hook the business of a prospective customer.

Moving on to Wall coverings and DIYs

Generation 21st century is becoming Generation DIY in more ways than just crafting. In the past, crafting and do it yourself remained somehow dominantly practised by homemakers, grandparents and kids initially. But our generation has more than transcended. This generation loves doing things by themselves, adventurous as they are- Paint industries could have panicked at the idea of losing customer services, wherein customers want to practise DIYs. But some smart companies took it as a challenge and brought out to customers tips and techniques to help them achieve the look they want, all by themselves but getting the expert special touch. Asian Paints enlarged their resource section where customers can now see DIY videos brought to them by Asian Paints themselves. Here are some of the most watched and important videos:

How to paint your wall DIY video by Asian Paints:

This section has widely popularised the urban lifestyle and is getting huge profit margins over the years.

Wallpapers or coverings not only makes a room individual but also it has a broad range of designs to create a unique living environment. In that case, it is no different from paints.  Busy urbanized homes are growing at a rapid pace in this century, coping up with their needs, paint manufacturers are also changing their eye on viable options to sell out and create a buzz. Wallpapers are less work and once it’s finished there’s no delaying to enjoy your new space, unlike wait till the paints dry out.

Asian Paints brought out their latest designer and beautiful collection of wallpapers called ‘Nilaya’. They are available in different textures and by categories such as ‘cartoon characters’ or ‘floral’/ ‘geometrical’: anything and everything is possible with wallpapers.
Asian Paints introduced their line with very creative and relatable present day lifestyle short films to portray what exactly they aim to achieve.

Let’s take a look at some of the most-watched films produced by Asian Paints-

#MaskedLife campaign led by Brand ambassador Deepika Padukone took the internet by spiral :

They have also run a series of episodes in their campaign named ‘The Great Indian Makeover’ wherein they renovated and decorated living spaces of innumerable people, including celebrities.

Technology and Paint

The worst thing to happen  after painting is that the shade you selected does not really look as good as how you thought it would! That’s because colors are best judged when seen, not thought. That’s why Asian Paints now lets you “Visualize”, using the Virtual Reality technology, how your room will look like after it has been painted in a certain shade of color before applying true paint on the wall.

You can choose from a number of sample images already provided in the app and try different colors on the walls. The app contains a variety of images of different categories like- bedroom, dining room, living room, kitchen, and even exteriors. Choose the sample image you like. Then to paint the walls in the image, choose “paint” icon on the bottom left and tap on “explore” on the top left. You can choose from a range of colors that appear on the left side of the screen. And tap on the walls in the picture to paint. Or even better, to get a much realistic visual you can also take a picture of your own room which you want to paint. And start “painting” the walls in the picture. You can take as many pictures as you want. So, the next time you think of painting your room, try this app first: Asian Paints Color Visualiser. Take a look:

Colour with Augmented Reality apps

Choosing the right color for your room is not an easy task. The colors that you see in the catalogues generally differ when you have them painted on the walls and the paint swatches are not enough. Augmented reality app TapPainter does exactly that. You can use this app and see how your rooms would look with different shades of paint on them.

Paint companies like Dutch Boy, Behr, Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Dunn Edwards, California Paints and many others have provided paint color decks for the TapPainter AR app. You can choose any shade from their paint decks, enter the color code and see your room in new colors. Going with civilisation and lifestyle trends and incorporating technology such as Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality is the key to progress of your paint industry.

This was an analysis about various modern marketing techniques for your Paint Industry. If you would like to have a detailed discussion, please get in touch with us at hello@pixelsutra.com. We would be glad to assist you.