Squeaky Clean Sales: How to Keep the Sponges, Rags and Cleanup Category Fresh

For paint professionals, maintaining a clean workspace is essential in presenting themselves in a professional way and earning repeat customers, and for DIYers, dealing with mess during projects is a hassle. Investing time and money in your cleanup product category can result in increased sales and higher customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Meldrim’s Paint Center has served the central New York region since 1927 and has five locations in central New York. Paint and Decorating Retailer spoke with Paul Read, manager of Meldrim’s Cortland, New York, location, who shared the evolution of the sponge, rag and cleanup tools section in his store and the best practices he has found to boost sales in this category.

Location Matters
At Meldrim’s, the cleanup tools section makes up a small portion of the store, but brings a big sales impact. These products are often afterthoughts for customers, so making this section prominent on store shelves was a crucial step for Read to attract customer attention and drive sales.

Typically, customers who visit Meldrim’s Paint Center are shopping for other items and not coming into the store just for a rag or cleanup tool, Read says. Customers either come back for these products at a later time or find these items at a big-box store.

“It’s highly advantageous for us to have a fairly large display of rags and garbage bags somewhere near the counter to remind customers they need these items before they leave the store and have to come back or buy elsewhere,” Read says.

To keep sales going, Meldrim’s treats cleaning supplies as impulse buys.

“These products are usually add-on sales, although some specialty name-brand items can bring someone into the store,” he says.

Keeping the Category Fresh
Demand has remained fairly steady in this category for Meldrim’s, but specialized cleaners have taken off dramatically in the last three years.

“I think the surge in demand for these products is due to a combination of better internet marketing and better selling at the counter,” he says.

Before making a purchase, customers often prefer to test-run a product to see if it will work for them and their specific needs. Meldrim’s has noticed increased sales in the cleanup category when customers are able to test out a name-brand product in a smaller package size before purchasing a bulk amount.

“Having customers try products first allows the customer to dip their toes in on a specialty item,” Read says. “Once customers try them and know they work for their needs, they usually are going to buy a bulk pack after that.”

For some of these more specialized products, Meldrim’s draws from customer recommendations.
Read’s customers are typically the first to know what products are trending and popular.

“There are customers who have already found a product they love and want to see it in our store,” Read says. “If they can find somewhere locally, like our store, we can bring in more business just by adding that product on display.”

Read has adjusted his product selection process in this category as more customers bring in recommendations.

“As far as new and trending items, some of that now comes from our customers, which is funny because it used to be the opposite,” he says. “Customers didn’t know about something unless you put it in your store. Now, with the internet and social media, you have customers come in and say, ‘Hey, have you ever seen these?’ or ‘I saw these on Instagram last night, can you get these?’ That has changed compared to 10 years ago, when we were the ones showing them what was available.”

The Must-Have Tool for Painting, Sanding and More

Good for more than just scrubbing dishes, sponges come in a variety of shapes, materials and uses and are a must-have for any paint store. From faux painting to sanding, stock a variety of sponges, including these popular options below, and educate customers on how they can make their jobs easier and more effective.

Polishing Sponges

Used with buffers, polishers and other similar tools, polishing sponges are good for polishing out marks and blemishes on a wide variety of surfaces. They are also used to apply coatings, glazes and other specialty paints.

Abrasive Sponges