Hardware group announces launch post-meeting

Essential's house brand paint

The big news is the re-launch of the house brand of paints, in partnership with Medal Paints that are price competitive and have new-look packaging to improve in-store impact. It has also introduced the house-branded DIY security gate available for purchase from all its retailers from June 2010.

The group will also launch its 'Essential Radio' into its 200+ member's stores across South Africa and Namibia. "A large percentage of our company's advertising budget is spent on getting customers into the store, as 70% of all purchases are impulse purchases that are made in-store. We made the decision to maximize the effect of these impulse buys by launching an in-store radio station that reinforces and enhances our advertising messages to buyers at the point of sale, and in so doing increasing customer spend to a maximum, whilst enhancing the customers shopping experience," explained Essential Hardware GM, Michael Valssechi.

Finally, it launched its 10-Point Service Charter into the group. This powerful tool will provide key drivers for management and staff to improve service delivery when interacting with consumers.