A.R.E. has long worked to encourage retailers to choose our member fixture companies over nonmember manufacturers. Efforts have included reaching retailers directly via trade show promotions, Retail Design Awards, industry press, A.R.E.’s annual print and searchable online store fixture buyers’ guide, and much more.
In 2003, at the suggestion of A.R.E.’s Retail Advisory Council, made up of retailers and designers, we decided to take the next step and create an online system that connects our members with their potential retail clients. The goal? To make the process of identifying and qualifying vendors so easy that buyers wouldn’t think of going anywhere but A.R.E. for their fixture needs.
This project involved rethinking and redesigning our online Fixture Finder search, creating an A.R.E. Standard Vendor Qualification Form (in a PDF format that members can complete, save, and reuse as needed), and developing icon designations that quickly communicate members’ participation in industry education and research and other association programs.
“A.R.E.’s Retail Advisory Council kept telling us that they wanted a way to quickly sift through member descriptions to find the right match for their company’s needs,” says Karin Pryor, vice president of marketing for the Store Fixtures Group of Leggett & Platt, and chair of A.R.E.’s retail marketing committee. “Our new vendor qualification form has been developed to facilitate the initial search phase of vendor selection. It enables retailers to compare identical criteria from potential vendors, and to determine which vendors are best suited to participate in future bids,” Pryor explains. The online system does not replace face-to-face meetings. It is merely a service to facilitate introductions between A.R.E. members and potential buyers.
The vendor qualification process was launched in late 2005. “A.R.E. felt that the best way to serve its members was to simply facilitate the first introduction between buyers and NASFM members,” Pryor says.
The new online vendor qualification system is just that—a process that matches up vendors with specific qualifications with buyers and specifiers who have specific needs. Most retailers and designers prequalify their fixture suppliers before they ever invite them to bid. And because bids for retail jobs are unique, lengthy, and often require extensive discussion between the buyer and vendor, making the right connection may well present the opportunities for future jobs. |
