Retailers push the survey button to stay ahead of customer needs. The customers will not always tell us exactly what they want, mainly because they do not know. Although based upon trends that occurs in complementary categories some are able to develop related products providing customer with solutions to their exact need.
Lakeland is a major player in the home base market, and has been here for half a century already. Maybe it is because of its founder’s idea of; always look after the customer, and the business will look after itself.
As the customer change their habits in the kitchen, Lakeland has offered a collection of creative kitchenware and practical ideas for the home and garden. The change of habits is again the result of the huge impact different media has brought to the kitchen.
Already in 1985 the untrained chef Keith Floyd changed the rules of TV cooking pursued by Masterchef, Jamie’s kitchen, Nigella Bites and so on.
The great British bake off has influenced Scandinavian television programs as well as bloggers and the cupcake brings new products to the shelves. One product is for example the Magic oven liner that helps you clean the oven easier after having spilt the mixture outside the cupcake cases.
Picking up all this needs, Lakeland is able to present about 850 articles in baking on their web site and the online sales are up 20%. The link between different digital media and the potential sales seems to be shorter as it is possible to be relevant to the targeted audience.
The trend in eating healthier food is increasing, and as well in shopping centres as in high streets, the offers pop up as juice bars and yogurt ice cream kiosk. It drives the sales in Kitchen supply, as the customer inhabit the products. It does help that television documentaries such as Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead also promote the equipment for making a healthier juice, and because of this Lakeland increased the sales of this machine by 7.500% in one month in 2013.
A VEGETABLE SPIRALIZER that will transform my 5-a-day into spaghetti-style spirals recently, tempted my basket visiting Lakeland recently. I am sure that it will make it a lot more fun to stick to my veg ambition.
