Peter Wellings explains how CustomWest can help blinds retailers capitalise on the growing popularity of shutters

The growth of the interior louvre shutter market in the UK seems undaunted by the spending cuts and slowdown in retail generally. CustomWest has seen growth in sales of shutters over the last year of 25 per cent and we believe our competitors are seeing more or less the same.
We have some idea of the reasons behind this as it’s not all down to the sheer popularity of the product.

I would hazard a guess that the main reason for the disparity between shutters and blinds sales growth is simply down to the fact that shutters displace curtains whereas blinds do not, hence shutters appeal to a broader market. This market encompasses a richer socio-economic group which is less affected by recent government cuts. Because of the lowest interest rates in decades these homeowners are paying down debt and mortgages and looking to invest the extra elsewhere. With huge uncertainty in the stock market and very low returns on deposits it seems to many that the obvious and safest place to invest is in their home. Why sit on money that devalues with inflation when you can spend it – and still have the value of it – in your living room?

Effectively targeting those customers who shop in Waitrose as opposed to Asda, those canny blinds retailers that have made the effort to learn the shutter trade have replaced lost revenues and are now reaping the rewards of higher value sales and decent margins.

It’s amazing how many mistakes get made just measuring heights and widths and screwing in brackets – we have all done it. Shutters are no different, but with training and help, we can eradicate these mistakes for you.

The trick with shutter selling is confidence. Confidence in your measuring and design ability shows and wins sales as customers warm to those who know their trade. Show weakness or indecision and the sale is lost to the re-seller who knows his trade, even if his products are more expensive.

Shutters need designing, whereas blinds do not. At CustomWest we teach shutter design to blinds retailers – that is the majority of what we do. Confidence in your product gives you confidence in your performance with the customer.

CustomWest shutters will not let you down. There are cheaper shutters out there, we know – we are helping some dealers out replacing the replacements for the replacements for wonky, warping, cheaper shutters. Doesn't matter how long the guarantee is if you never get paid the balance.

CustomWest can also give you confidence in your fitting. Our staff will help you with your first fittings, and once you see the jobs go in perfectly you will see that your measuring is in fact great and that the fitting is not so hard after all – then you are up and running.

So if your blinds sales are down and you are prepared to learn a new trade, why not set out to capture the market sector that has money to spend?

Get those P&L figures out of the brackets and partner with an experienced shutter distributor with the training, products and knowledgeable  staff to ensure you succeed. CustomWest runs free introduction courses fortnightly – come on one and get back in the black.

• CustomWest