Aqulisa

The Problem:

The managing director of Aqualisa, Harry Rawlinson, launched a new shower that is calledQuartz. Despite of its features such as quality, safety, cost of installation and ease of installation andusage, the early sales have been disappointing. The problem is not that sales are low, but the reasonswhy sales are not as expected. Some of the reasons are related to distribution channel, promotionalstrategy and positioning of the product. Consequently, the real problem here is how to boost sales.The biggest issue is having problems with reaching plumbers because they are the key players interms of being a reliable source for consumers when choosing the product.

The Solution:

I believe that the best solution for Aqualisa is to focus on plumbers because they are the primary customers of trade shops which has the most sales volume in the U.K. shower market. Inaddition to this, plumbers also work for developers, showrooms, contractors or directly for consumers. As we can see, plumbers play a big mediator role in the distribution channel and reachingthe end consumers. First of all, trade shops focus on demand and they do not have time to explain the benefits of the new product. If Aqualisa get plumbers to demand Quartz, trade shops have to stock upthis product because their primary customer is the plumbers. Secondly, showrooms also offer installation services by subcontracting with contractors or independent plumbers. Once plumbers areconvinced and informed about the benefits of the new product like ease of installation, they will become a source of word of mouth to push showrooms to call attention to Quartz by emphasizing thelow cost of installation. Similarly, plumbers will help convince developers by suggesting the new product. Lastly, consumers in the standard price range trusted an independent plumber to advise or choose a product for them. Sales will automatically be increasing by getting plumbers to select Quartzfor this consumer segment. As a result,...