What we learned from our 50th birthday conference

Franchisees from across the UK descended on Glasgow recently for the first face-to-face Apollo Blinds conference in three years – and it also marked the start of a year of celebrations for our 50th birthday.

The conference was a great opportunity for our franchisees to share the next steps in the Apollo Blinds journey.

Going from strength to strength

The first thing to say is how Apollo Blinds is going from strength to strength as a brand that is trusted by consumers. There are a number of contributing factors here, including the longevity of the business; the number of franchisees who have been in the network for generations; offering the widest choice of blinds, shutters, awnings and curtains; and our ability to install them perfectly.

When we drilled down further, another set of factors revolves around our ability to capitalise on the level of innovation in the window blinds industry. For example, the demand for Motorised blinds is huge, as people want their blinds to fit in with their home automation. This requires a new level of installation skills, not only to fit the blinds correctly but also to make sure the blinds operate correctly with the home automation system.

And, on top of that, there’s growing demand for shaped blinds, such as blinds for apex windows, which because of their setting require the operation of the blinds to be motorised.

The best reflection of what consumers think of Apollo Blinds is our score on Trustpilot (we should point out that all the reviews we receive are unprompted because we do not pay this platform to harvest reviews on our behalf).

The changing landscape of blinds

At the conference, we shared data from our website that shows just how much consumer tastes are changing. The top five product searches are now Roller blinds, Shutters, Awnings, Wooden blinds and Roman blinds. This is a far cry from a time when the blinds market was all about Roller, Vertical and Venetian blinds.

Although Roller blinds still remain the best-selling type of blinds, the rise in the popularity of Duette® blinds has been astonishing. They now account for more than 1 in 10 blinds we sell, not just because they are stunning but also because of their energy-saving properties. They can prevent 79% of solar heat entering the home and can reduce heat loss by up to 46%. In winter, this could reduce heating bills by up to 12%.

As mentioned, Motorised blinds are becoming a bigger focus for us and, since the Covid crisis started, we have seen a huge rise in sales of awnings – driven by the fact that people are spending more on their homes and enjoying alfresco living.

What’s new at Apollo Blinds

The last main point to share is that Apollo Blinds never stands still – we constantly refresh existing collections or introduce new collections.

In the last few months, we have launched new Roman blinds, Curtains and Pleated blinds collections. And early sales suggest we are chiming exactly with what consumers want.

We’re currently finalising new collections of Duette® blinds and Shutters, which will come to market very soon. All of which was music to the ears of our franchisees.