Man-made carpets compete to boost margins

As the flooring market descended into summer doldrums for some months this year, what’s the best sales strategy in a tight market? Constrain pricing to help hard pressed consumers afford something, or enhance the product offer to get better sales from those that can afford it?

The answer, of course, is both! There’s business out there to be had but there’s certainly no easy money about and manufacturers have had to tread a tightrope on costs and quality to get the balance – and your profit margin – right.

Betap, for example, are keeping a dual perspective on the current market conditions. “It can be a misconception that a tight market equates to a race to the bottom on price and margin,” says UK Product Manager Andrew Bramall. “We keep close to the UK market and believe that consumers are looking for good value and a carpet that will meet their expectations.”

Betap’s approach is to introduce ranges with added value. That could be a premium backing such as its new Fusion fleece or creating a 1/10th gauge version of a popular 1/8th gauge range. A good example of this is the new Winchester 1/10th gauge which is engineered to a popular price point with the added handle and performance of the tighter gauge.

Charlotte Coop, marketing manager, says: “Polypropylene used to be considered a rather coarse fibre, but improvements have meant we’ve been able to engineer softer yarns without a trade-off in stain-resistance or cleanability. These softer yarns make polypropylene deep pile qualities more desirable and attractive and so we’ve been expanding the number of options in our Stainfree family.”

Affection also has a fleece backing, adding comfort and warmth, while making the carpet more pliable and so easier to install; it brings benefits to homeowners and installers. The fleece can also help to reduce underlay thickness. Homeowners can pick from 2.5m, 4m and 5m widths depending on room sizes and the carpet is rated suitable for heavy domestic use. With Abingdon Flooring’s Stainfree for Life promise and a 10-year wear guarantee, Affection is a quality deep pile carpet that offers excellent value compared to nylon and polyester styles.

The latest launches at the Cormar Carpet Company show how a company can enhance the appeal of a popular range of easy clean, manmade carpet.

But Andrew adds: “On the other side of the coin, we are adding some simplified ranges, keeping SKU's to a minimum which means our customers stock-holding is lower. This also gives a better service and enables a sharper price point.”

Abingdon Flooring is also committed to an added value approach, as demonstrated by the launch of Affection in its Stainfree range. Made in Britain in eleven trend colours, Affection offers a 14mm luxuriously deep and invitingly soft pile in a tenth gauge construction to join a growing range of deep pile Stainfree styles.

Affection benefits from Abingdon Flooring’s bleach cleanable and stainresistant polypropylene Stainfree yarn. In its latest generation, the yarn has become softer and more luxurious, fuelling the launch of several deep pile Stainfree carpets.