Office Flooring Trends

Workplaces are evolving in many ways, from technology and culture to how they look. As a flooring retailer, it’s essential to be up-to-date with current flooring trends.

Workplaces Are Constantly Evolving

As technology expands, we see how things are becoming smaller and thinner. Monitors are becoming slimmer; laptops are easily transportable, works stations are increasingly sharable.

In terms of flooring, many businesses are looking towards durability combined with aesthetics. For example, vinyl flooring or cement can look like wood flooring, but with benefits like being easier to clean and maintain and less costly to install.

Carpets combine intricate weaves to add an element of luxury. However, many office spaces may decide on throw rugs for color and texture.

While budgets need to be considered, it’s clear that beauty, symmetry, and easy maintenance are high on the priority list.

Durable and Attractive Flooring

Many office and workspaces are turning towards textured, patterned, and luxurious designs due to expanding upcoming products and brands.

Exposed concrete coupled with rugs is a significant trend to watch. Customers can choose from polished or stained for attractive and efficient flooring.

An attractive rug can really liven up an office

Typically, workplace installations include ceramic, vinyl, broadloom, carpet tiles, and stone to create the proper look. A significant consideration for your clients should consist of the installation process, maintenance, and projected lifetime. Identifying client needs and providing these pertinent pieces of information for them to consider makes their shopping experience easy and stress-free.

For example, suggesting stain-repellent carpets for high-traffic areas or lighter carpets can be a life-saver for customers who haven’t considered the impact of spilled coffee over time.

A Trend Towards Hominess

Flooring retailers may notice that clients might veer towards anti-carpet. Instead, they might decide on open office spaces, open ceilings, and many area rugs to mitigate acoustics and add texture and colors to create a homey atmosphere. An example might be painted concrete that utilizes color schemes to indicate special rooms or to increase productivity.

Don’t be surprised if you see a growing trend towards concrete for beautiful floors. Clients may choose the most economical option, like carpeting over existing concrete. However, it can be expensive to refinish existing concrete.

As collaborative culture grows, businesses might gear towards combining beauty with comfort. The current trend seems to be layering textures and area rugs coupled with warm and cozy designs. The role of flooring in these spaces appeals to clients and employees alike.

Shared workspaces or desk sharing allow employees to quickly connect or disconnect, carry their laptops or iPads, and communicate openly. Office spaces should reflect this open and clutter-free work zone. If people spend long hours at work, they should have a few comforts from home and an environment that allows them to feel comfortable.

Customer Service: Back to Basics

With limited capacity laws implemented into stores, retailers have had to find different ways to retain people’s satisfaction and interest. Walking into a shopping center or retail department with complete comfortability has become difficult, and the convenience of shopping online contradicts the risk of physically buying products at the storefront. Flooring retailers have seen a huge shift for themselves since the beginning of 2020, as the pandemic hurdled product price increases, decreased revenue for supply and stifled buyer uncertainty within the industry as a whole. However by the end of 2020 home interior design started to become more profitable, and  CEO of Kenneth L. Mink & Song and manager of Macy’s Fine Rug Gallery, David Mink confirms that his rug business is seeing increase in profit, and says that “With more and more people working and spending time at home, the more they are spending on their home. This is a benefit to the rug business.” Since the end of last year, many changes have been made to store’s and online flooring retailers. 

Simple at Storefront

The most obvious trend for revitalizing customer service has put pressure on businesses to make their customer experience more streamline. Jim Mckay, vice president of sales for Great Floors, has limited the amount of manufacturers promoted in his store during lockdown, reevaluating the 40 hard-wood flooring planks displayed in his showroom by saying  “This is just ridiculous. We can’t even tell the difference between all these things. How’s a customer going to do that?” Macay says that “We have big stores, and it’s really easy for a customer to walk in that front door and be overwhelmed. So we’ve tried to simplify it,” aiming to limit manufacturer brands to create a streamlined store experience. Darren Braunstire, VP of Worldwide Wholesale Floor Coverings, explains how he separated wire brushed and smooth wood options into different sectors within the hardwood section, and how specifications are placed behind the tiles to keep from distracting the  main displays; Methodology like this amplifies customer experience through simplifying advertising tactics, while still keeping standard manufacturer promotion. 

Managing Online

In a 2020 analysis, more than 75% of consumers polled online services more engaging than storefront sales for their basic needs, like banking, food/restaurant shopping and video calls for emotional human support. This integration toward digital solutions has helped retailers promote products during social distancing. Director of U.S sales at Mercier’s, Wade Bondrowski, has expressed how social media presence has sustained communication and customer personalization, as data within these apps integrate products with customer interest. Keeping sales face to face, Adam Ward senior project manager at Mohawk, reveals that virtual conferencing has become a daily occurrence between staff members to ensure constant team collaboration, and Hallmark, a manufacturing company, reports that their increase in “real time responses,” online has kept connection between customers and specialty retailers. Omni-channel is a new culmination of all online promotion platforms into one source, which Dan Foskett, CEO at Flooring Superstore, has utilized to great extents. Foskett reports that his sales have grown 142% since 2020, with floor sample requests increasing by 172% and web sessions by 99%. 

COVID has shown the advantage of multi-channel digital sources ledwaying the path toward future customer experience, and the stresses within the flooring industry has produced creative solutions to a seemingly impossible situation. With coordination on both fronts, flooring retailers are reaching the highest global revenue levels since 2013, and have started out the first quarter of 2021 strong. 

It goes without saying that even with great customer service, you also need efficient processes in order to achieve that. With VendorPriceBook, communication between vendors and retailers is streamlined so that there are minimal delays. Quick service equals happier customers. From getting pricing for inventory, to making purchase orders—everything is done quickly on a cloud-based application that VendorPriceBook provides.

And it’s not all about communication—VendorPriceBook members can easily send announcements and promotions to retailers. It’s really a symbiotic tool that helps businesses on both sides make the most out of their relationship!

Learn more about VendorPriceBook today.

How to Offer a Virtual Flooring Consultation

Offering convenience and flexibility is one of the best ways to cater to your clientele, especially when it comes to complex home projects. By providing virtual consultations, customers can meet with you and your dedicated flooring team from the comfort of their own homes. You can help them realize their decor design and style while offering advice regarding which products look best in their homes.

From the first steps of choosing new flooring to having it installed, customers appreciate guidance throughout the process.

Replacing floors can be daunting and overwhelming, but you can keep the process from being stressful. You can help your clients research and settle on a plan so they can get the floor they want.

Encourage your customers to look at every available flooring. This is the time when they can let their imaginations run wild while also taking stock of what they want their budget and design to look like. Once they have a good idea of how they want their flooring to look, you can start helping them figure out how to achieve their dreams.

Your virtual flooring consultation gives your clients the space to figure out their price range that fits perfectly with their needs.

Help Your Customers Upgrade Their Home

Offering virtual flooring consultations keeps home improvements safe and convenient. They can easily choose from your extensive assortment of flooring choices, including tile, hardwood, carpet, and more. If they are considered with sanitary issues with flooring, don’t forget to mention any of your antimicrobial options.

Once they have decided on a floor style they would like to visualize, the next step is to take a picture of the room they would like to improve and simply show it to you over the web meeting. They can even bring you to their room during the video call! The consultant will be able to make some quick recommendations or use the photo and later assist with using a visualization software to help the customer see all the possibilities unfold before their very eyes with a realistic conception of how their new floor might appear.

Would You Prefer to Stay Home? You Can Still Shop for New Floors

Changes in the world have inspired us to rethink how we should approach how we stay connected with clients while showcasing our products. Virtual flooring consultation allows retailers to do a virtual consultation via zoom or phone at any time convenient to customers.

You want to demonstrate that you work hard to keep your customers and their families as safe as possible. We all face the same challenges, but we work every day to adapt and improve, so it’s important to provide this option to consumers.

Plus, it makes it easier for customers to simply book an online or phone appointment so you can offer insights for their projects and offer solutions.

If you want to go one step further in enhancing customer service, you have to think about getting them the most up-to-date pricing and availability for what they want. VendorPriceBook makes this easy by providing flooring suppliers and retailers a cloud-based application for instant communication. No more flipping through pages, searching through emails – VendorPriceBook is here to help stop the chaos and streamline communication.

These Flooring Trends Might Surprise You

Styles come and go, and then come back again and that’s just the case for clothes–home design trends also experience shifts. Pastel pink tiles of the 90s. Checkered board floors of the 50s. Each decade seems to have its own signature look when it comes to flooring and interior designs. As flooring manufacturers, vendors and retailers, it’s important to stay on top of consumer trends because tastes do change, and that in turn affects supply and demand.

With the pandemic allowing more people to stay and lounge around in their homes, many people are looking to renovate. Flooring is a great first step to that process. Let’s take a look at what trends we think will stick out through 2021.

Hardwood: always a classic choice, hardwood can be elegant and modern at the same time. This year, you might want to take notice of cool color tones, wide planks, and environmentally friendly finishes. Source: The Flooring Girl.

Antimicrobial: health and safety are at top-of-mind now more than ever. “Antimicrobial” or “antibacterial” types of floors are those that are finished or with technology (i.e. Microban) which help inhibit the growth of bacteria.

Terracotta Tiles: social media is going crazy over these! These give a space a rustic, earthy charm if we do say so ourselves and they are less expensive than other ceramics. They can be as basic or as ornate as a home remodeler pleases–check out all the varieties here and you’ll see why they’re growing in popularity!

terracotta tiles

If you want to visualize yourself as a renovator and understand the decisions they have to make before buying flooring, check out this video:

While there may be some debate on which flooring styles may ultimately takeover and be the next big trend, there’s one thing that will always ring true for consumers looking to renovate–they don’t want to wait around for pricing. With a long laundry list of items to buy and things to fix, a home renovator needs to know what flooring is in stock and what the cost is. As a retailer, a customer on the showroom floor will expect quick answers and paper pricebooks won’t cut it.

VendorPriceBook streamlines communication between vendors and retailers so looking up pricing and inventory can be made on-the-spot using a mobile device or computer. To learn more or to start your free trial, please go to VendorPriceBook.com.