"Merchants are increasingly finding themselves in competition with national retailers and sometimes they need to go back to basics in order to compete.

Paint and decorating products offer a fantastic opportunity to achieve margins unheard of in the majority of other ranges stocked. A well planned and merchandised paint section will often yield fantastic profitability within a compact and easily maintained display.

Merchants need to ensure that they are offering the correct product ranges to suit their customer base and ideally, revisit the stock holding on an annual basis to ensure that their range is keeping up with market trends.

Overall the trade paint market has changed little in comparison to the retail market, however in recent years, there have been major developments in product innovation which appeal to the consumer and trade user alike.

Consumer driven

In today's consumer driven market, time has become the most precious commodity people have, whereas price, although important, is often secondary so long as the product delivers on performance.

Quick drying products such as the Johnstone's Aqua Water- Based Gloss & Undercoat, Leyland Acrylic Gloss and Primer Undercoat and Johnstone's Ultra range offer users professional products that are quick drying, low odour and superior coverage, allowing application to be completed quickly and with minimum disruption to the working environment.

The benefits to merchants stocking these products are the higher price points offered by premium products and therefore higher cash margins and pence per litre ratios.

The popularity of quick drying or water based products is increasing each year, last year alone, the BCF (British Coatings Federation) Trade Paint market report identified water-borne gloss & eggshell products as having an increase of 6.3 per cent in value terms from 2005.

By stocking these premium products and merchandising them on their key attributes, i.e. quick drying, low odour, or time saving properties, merchants may be surprised how willing customers are to "trade up" from traditional products.

New Works

Another area of focus, in particular for merchants is to ensure that the correct range of New Work products is available. New builds are showing no sign of slow down in the UK building trade and merchants need to ensure that they capture this important sector by offering the correct products in store.

A good range of Contract Matt, Silk, Gloss, Undercoat and Primer will cover off the majority of stock required. Contract ranges such as the Leyland Trade range are specially formulated for application onto new plaster, dry lining boards and bare wood and metal work, making them ideal for new work.

The largest market share in the trade paint market has always been matt emulsion, and this shows no signs of changing. Matt in particular is showing fantastic year on year growth, whereas silk in comparison is showing a slight decline. In order to maximise profitability in this highly competitive area, merchants should be aware of the various premium Matt offerings on the market.

One of the largest areas of growth within the matt finish range has been the "premium" matt emulsions. For example, John stone's Acrylic Durable Matt offers a highly durable finish, and is typically 10 times tougher than standard matt emulsion which makes it ideal for high traffic areas, kitchens and bathrooms. Johnstone's Ultra High Opacity Matt offers superior coverage and performance, allowing for a one coat application for a speedy finish. As mentioned earlier "premium" products such as these allow merchants to offer their customers real benefits and solutions to their decorating requirements whilst maximising profitability.

Mix & match

In terms of colour breakdown, the trade paint market has always been heavily weighted towards Brilliant White & magnolia.

Traditionally merchants offered a small range of ready mixed colours within the more popular colours and finishes. However over recent years although whites and magnolia continue to grow in terms of market share, ready mixed colours now only contribute around 8 per cent to the market share whereas the biggest growth continues to be in tinting, which holds around 29 per cent. (Source BCF Trade Paints Round Robin).

It is in this key area that merchants can truly maximise sales and profitability; and to be able to compete on a level playing field with the national retailers, the purchase or lease of a tinting machine is a must.

The key benefits of tinting allow merchants to offer customers a complete colour offering in the thousands - all available 'while you wait'. The reduced stock holding required by merchants who offer a tinting service often allows for additional, better selling lines to be stocked, whilst reducing the risk of getting caught out by annual colour reviews. No longer will merchants end up with a display of last season's colours with the result that they have to reduce their margins to clear the stock through.

Above all else, tinted products command one of the highest pence per litre ratios and are typically not aggressively promoted in the market place, therefore allowing merchants to reap the rewards. "

SK information:

SigmaKalon Decorative Coatings UK & Ireland is one of the premier manufacturers and suppliers of decorative products in the United Kingdom and Ireland . The company supplys via its own Decorating Centres, Stockists and National DIY Accounts to professional decorators and consumers.

SigmaKalon's John stone's and Leyland trade brands are among the most recognised in the market and hold significant market share positions.

2006 saw the re-launch of the John stone's Trade brand and as a result SigmaKalon and their John stone's stockist customers are enjoying some fantastic results. As part of the re-launch last year, John stone's signed a three year deal with the Football Leaque and are now the proud sponsors of the " John stone's Paint Trophy".

To support the re-launch and to reinforce its position as a leading trade brand in the UK & Ireland , John stone's has recently launched its new unique 32 canister tinting system. The John stone's brand is also fully supported by a comprehensive point of sale package for stockists.

2007 is all about Leyland, their leading brand amongst merchants, and in January this year SigmaKalon introduced the new livery Leyland Trade Range . The new livery is proving to be extremely popular and is supported by a new Trade Colour Card and supporting point of sale package exclusive to Independent Stockists.

As a SigmaKalon stockist you could benefit from a wealth of market leading, award winning products and brands exclusive to the Independent Market, unrivalled margin opportunity, and fully supported by dedicated commercial and marketing teams.

For more information on the products and services on offer please call SigmaKalon on: 01924 354000 or visit www.sigmakalon.co.uk

ENDS

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