Jan. 6/13, 2020: Volume 35, Issue 14
By Lindsay Gonzalez
Provenza Floors is looking to shake up the new year with a host of tools for the flooring industry. To kick off this new era of innovation, Provenza has created and launched QR codes for 300 of its product SKUs. The codes, which will be placed on all Provenza displays, aim to make the selling and buying process easier for sales professionals and consumers alike. What’s more, the codes do not require an app download.
How it works: When a consumer enters a retailer’s showroom in search of flooring, she is usually inundated with tons of samples. After looking at sample after sample she is expected to pick a color and style that she believes will look the best in her home. Instead of using her imagination or a room visualizer to picture how the flooring will look once installed, the consumer can simply open the camera on her cell phone and place the lens over Provenza’s QR code. Once the camera reads the code, the consumer will be brought to a website with a video of that specific product SKU.
“We have created something very unique that no one has done before in the industry,” said Ron Sadri, co-founder, Provenza Floors. “The video features an installed large floor area of the SKU the consumer has selected. It also shows different angles of the flooring as well as close-up shots.”
According to Sadri, the various videos allow the consumer to see what any of the 300 SKUs will look like once installed. “The QR codes help the consumer visualize what the products are going to look like in her home,” he added. “It makes it a lot easier for her to make that decision because commonly the samples are too small to show how a large area of the floor would look like. This way she can see color variation, fillers, cracks, etc.”
David Janti, creator of the QR codes, explained that this technology is unlike the software other companies are using to visualize their flooring. “This is the actual flooring that has been shot in the studio,” he said. “What’s more, these QR codes are evergreen, meaning that they live forever. They can be updated, enhanced or whatever the need might be. If we have a new line of flooring or we want to relay something to the retailer or the end user, it can be done immediately using the same exact code. The consumer and retailer do not have to download anything. That code will live on.”
Provenza has invested time, money and resources to create the QR codes as well as the videos that go along with each one. Each video required an approximate 200-square-foot installation of one SKU, resulting in a total of 60,000 square feet of installed flooring for the 300 SKUs. The videos were then placed on specific landing pages and linked to Provenza’s website. By linking the videos with Provenza’s site, the manufacturer can assist those consumers who start their purchasing journey online.
“If a consumer is shopping at home, she can click the image of the SKU she is interested in on our website and will be brought to the same video landing page,” Sadri explained. This also helps create brand consistency from online to in-store merchandising, he added.
The QR codes will be placed on every sample in Provenza’s display unit. The manufacturer plans to start with its new samples, and then move to existing samples. All current display samples will be updated—at no additional cost—by the company’s sales reps.
“The QR codes really help the retailers assist the consumer with making her buying decision quicker,” Sadri said. “The retail sales associates do not have to explain the product’s grading or if it has character or other product descriptions. This helps because usually the pictures on the back of the samples do not do the actual product justice. So, these codes really cut down on questions and wasting the consumer’s time.”
According to Provenza Floors, the QR codes are just the beginning in terms of the company’s future innovations. “In 2020 we will focus on technology and the changing consumer landscape,” Sadri noted.
