Aqualisa Quartz: Simply a Better Shower

Question: Why is the Quartz shower not selling? If you were Rowlison, which action plan you take to succeed with product sales?

The U.K. shower market has not seen any significant changes in the assortment of shower types for at least 20 years when an unsuccessful innovation led to distrust in any modernity for the plumbers. Consumers are generally unaware of the shower market, except one brand that had built their brand awareness, so consumers heavily relay on the plumber knowledge. 73% of mixed shower type selection is partially or absolutely dependent on plumber viewpoint, which is biased, because plumbers have their go-to showers, that they have learned to install and maintain and they mostly do not like to deviate from it.

As the average consumer is not interested in the market and mostly do not research the market by themselves they are also unaware of the new type of mixed shower. Plumbers, on the other hand, do not feel the necessity to do some kind of research because for years only innovations have been cosmetic as well the mistrust in true innovation. 

Considering the great impact that plumbers have on shower type choice it would be wise to try to “convert” them to this innovative product using a different approach than before.

It is known that plumbers want a shower that is easy to install with a guarantee to not break down or require servicing, as that is a cost put on plumbers. One solution would be to actually guarantee that the shower would not break down (and covering expenses if it did). As the shower is designed to be for long-term use this guarantee would not be too costly; to actually ensure that this guarantee is not generating losses there would be needed some kind of insurance included in production cost. In addition, in promotion material there should be provided the information on ease and time of installation.

As an alternative, the action also could be to focus on promotion of the shower in showrooms. As this shower becomes a leading product when installed as a working display it is obvious that this strategy could work. As more and more home owners and developers will select this shower the more plumbers will also witness the ease and functionality of this shower and actually recommend it to the consumers that are looking for plumber advice.

Building a consumer brand could also be the answer; as the Quartz is a pioneer in the new segment there is a huge potential for recognition of high quality, innovative products. This strategy could also boost the sales of already existing products if clients would associate the high quality and innovation with the whole company. The impact could be similar to products like “iRobot” or “Pampers” (in Latvia) when the whole product segment is actually associated with one brand, regardless of producer of the actual product.