kITCHEN CABINET BUSINESS: REPORT & TIP

Industry Stats & Facts

More consumers are hiring designers for their kitchen remodeling jobs. Design professionals (employedby dealers, distributors and kitchen design shops)are involved in a little over one-third of all kitchen remodeling projects, representing over half of the revenue generated by kitchen remodeling (pointing to higher average project costs than DIY kitchen projects).

Satisfaction with kitchen cabinet purchases is about more than price. J.D. Power’s “Cabinet Customer SatisfactionStudy” revealed that the top characteristics that lead to customer satisfaction (and the percentage of people citing each as the primary factor determining satisfaction) were operational performance (26%), ordering and delivery (21%), design features (20%), price competitiveness (17%), and warranty (16%). Kitchen Cabinet manufacturers, dealers, kitchen designers,and other retailers should keep these priorities in mind when determining kitchen cabinet product lines to carry, price points, ordering procedures, delivery methods and schedules, and marketing and advertising messages.

Consumer Reports (August 2007) evaluated customer satisfaction with remodeling jobs undertaken by homecenters, independent contractors, local stores, and manufacturer-recommended contractors. When it comes to installation, home centers ranked about 10 points lower in customer satisfaction levels than smaller cabinet dealers and kitchen design shops, which ranked around 87 (out of 100). Fewer consumer problems occurred with manufacturer-recommended or local store installers than with home center installers(30% and 40% experienced problems, respectively).

Consumer interest in “green” (healthy and environmentally friendly) kitchen design is growing. A big concern for customers is the level of formaldehyde in cabinet-box construction. A number of alternatives are available, such as Medite, a type of fiber board free of formaldehyde, which consumers should be educated about before and during sales presentations. 

Critical Success Factors

​Offer a variety of cabinet product lines, but ensureplenty of choices exist for high-end consumers and designers -- since higher-end products carry better profit margins and the customers who buy them are less price-sensitive.

Keep steady cabinet supply chain. Cabinetry Factory is the leading cabinet manufacturer that focus on American style kitchen cabinet manufacturing, who manufacture and export kitchen cabinets from Vietnam with 0 tariff.

Ensure customer satisfaction by streamlining the kitchen cabinet ordering process, offering warranties on products and workmanship, delivering on time, and hiring top-notch contractors to install cabinets and countertops. Cabinetry Factory is a kitchen cabinet factory that can keep their customer satisfied.

Create awareness of the company’s services and increase traffic into the showroom by inviting website visitors and home show attendees to sign up for a weekly email newsletter series about the kitchen remodeling process, and include in the newsletter images of the showroom and staff to familiarize them with the firm.

Encourage referrals from past customers; for example, create a cooking club and host parties in kitchens completed for customers, and have them invite their friends and neighbors.

Use the showroom for more than selling cabinets and countertops; make it available for fund raising events like luncheons, cocktail parties, and celebrity chef demonstrations -- to build awareness, generate goodwill, and encourage referrals.