Trend #1: The showroom becomes a validation appointment
For a long time, the showroom's role was to introduce possibilities: materials, colors, and layouts. That is no longer the starting point of the journey. According to EPSIMAS, online 3D configurators now allow clients to develop their projects 80% of the way before even stepping into a showroom; in-store, virtual reality takes over to validate ergonomics and flow.
The real change is in what it shifts: the showroom appointment is no longer the moment for discovery, but for validation and technical alignment of a project that has already been largely decided online. A client who arrives with a 3D project in hand only to find a salesperson who is seeing their file for the first time experiences a regression, not premium support.
What this means for a network in practice:
- A booking process that captures the 3D project or criteria already defined online (budget, style, square footage) before the showroom visit;
- A designer-salesperson who has the project context before the appointment, rather than discovering it on the spot;
- A journey that works just as well for an initial scoping meeting as it does for a technical validation appointment.
Trend #2: The market is catching its breath, putting pressure back on appointment management
After a 12% drop in sales value in 2024, a direct consequence of the slowdown in new real estate and rising interest rates, the sector is beginning a cautious recovery. Falling interest rates and a rebound in real estate transactions are two positive indicators for 2026.
This recovery, like the one already seen in real estate, changes the operational landscape: more projects to handle and more design appointments to honor, all within a market still structured by three-tier competition: specialists (Groupe Schmidt with Schmidt and Cuisinella, Groupe Fournier with Mobalpa, Perene, and SoCoo'c), home improvement superstores, and generalist distributors. In this competitive market, a poorly orchestrated showroom appointment costs more than elsewhere: dissatisfied clients have plenty of other options if they decide to visit a competitor.
What this means for a network in practice:
- An appointment booking process that remains fluid even as the number of project requests increases;
- Automatic assignment of the right designer-salesperson based on the showroom and availability, rather than manual management via paper agendas or spreadsheets;
- Consolidated visibility into the activity of each showroom for multi-site networks.
Trend #3: Salesperson expertise is becoming the true differentiator
The third trend follows directly from the first two: with customers better informed beforehand (trend #1) and a more competitive market (trend #2), the technical competence of the sales designer is no longer optional. A poorly matched appointment—a generalist salesperson facing a complex layout project, or vice versa—can ruin a project that the customer has already spent hours preparing online.
This is also where the appointment show-up rate is determined. An appointment booked without prior project qualification or automated reminders before the visit is more prone to no-shows—a critical issue, especially since the purchasing cycle is infrequent and every missed slot means a sales designer’s time has been wasted.
What this means in practical terms for a network:
- An appointment booking form that captures the nature of the project (full kitchen, partial renovation, small budget) to route the customer to the right salesperson profile;
- Automated email and SMS reminders to ensure the customer attends a high-stakes, infrequent appointment;
- Centralized management that allows you to see, showroom by showroom, where the friction points are.
What it looks like in practice
A European leader in specialty retail, operating over 1,700 points of sale across a hybrid network of company-owned and franchised stores, has digitized its in-store expert appointments with automatic routing based on skill and location, automated reminders, and consolidated management across more than 100 stores. The result: over 50,000 appointments booked annually, fully automated, with teams spending less time on the phone and more time with customers.
They aren't a kitchen retailer—they operate in the nature, pet supply, and wellness sectors—but the principle is directly transferable: high-perceived-value expert appointments in a multi-site network, where automatic routing and reminders make the difference between a kept appointment and a lost slot.
In summary
Frequently Asked Questions
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