Stock and speed of supply, support services, range expansion and product innovation to aid differentiation are the main focus.
As the kitchen and bathroom industry navigates economic uncertainties, Häfele is stepping up to help its customers build resilience and prepare for an anticipated market recovery in 2025.
Häfele’s support focuses on four areas: stock and speed of supply, support services, range expansion and product innovation to aid differentiation.
“As we all know, the kitchen and bathroom market has been unpredictable throughout 2024, with some major brands and retailers, unfortunately, succumbing to challenging economic circumstances,” said Richard Curtis, Managing Director of Häfele.
“In response, over the past 12 months, we’ve made strategic decisions in our business to support our customers in building resilience in theirs. We are cautiously optimistic for a recovery through 2025 and are doing all we can to help our partners prepare for an upturn.”
One of those strategic decisions is Häfele’s stock and supply chain. With inventory challenges cited as a significant concern for retailers, given the unpredictable market demand, Häfele has boosted its stock levels. “Many businesses can’t afford to be sitting with high levels of inventory, but they need to be able to respond more quickly,” added Richard.
“As a manufacturer and a distributor, we’ve increased our stock holding to support our customer base but also invested into our supply chain infrastructure to increase speed and agility.”
Curtis continued: “Appliance availability is just one area of investment for us in 2024. Along with our premier partners Smeg, Rangemaster and Rayburn, earlier in the year we also partnered with Samsung to supply its major domestic appliances to KBB and merchant sectors. Now, we can offer a market-leading 48-hour delivery on a range of appliance brands to retailers and their customers.”
Support services have been a further area of expansion and consolidation for Häfele, recognising that many within the KBB sector are working with reduced personnel and resources. Expanding on its added-value service, Häfele’s Service+ covers aspects from technical product advice and support, planning and specification advice, to custom- manufactured solutions and help with showroom or installation demonstrations, all designed to help customers at various ‘pinch points’.
