Leading bathroom retailers have urged suppliers to implement a new pan-European pricing policy to prevent German wholesalers from selling discounted branded products online at the expense of UK showrooms.
Speaking at the kbbreview Retail and Design Conference at kbb Birmingham, Ripples managing director Paul Crow (pictured) said the main problem facing the bathroom industry was differing product price levels across various countries.
“It doesn’t help us in the showroom and suppliers don’t know what to do about it,” he said.
Derek Miller, managing director of Glasgow-based Scope Bathrooms, agreed, saying the situation had the potential to wreak havoc in the sector if it wasn’t addressed.
“We’re seeing the advent of German wholesalers selling branded goods and it makes it virtually impossible to compete,” he said. “We need a pan-European pricing policy. If Reuter Bad open stores in the UK, it will tear us apart.”
• For more on this story, see Paul Crow’s analysis in the March issue of kbbreview