Penny Andrews
People don't buy products. They buy confidence.
Last updated: August 27, 2026
Every item in a Reno plan tends to start life as a placeholder: a rough position, size, style, maybe even a colour or material.
Looking at how Reno users build their plans over time, the actual product - the brand, retailer, link to the product page, and cost - is usually one of the last things added. It's the bit that ties the item to something you might actually buy, and it often turns up weeks or months after everything else about that item seems to have been decided.
It isn't the decision that's missing
For a long time I assumed that gap was due to people not actually choosing specific products until late in the day - perhaps considering multiple brands, doing cost comparisons or negotiating with sales teams for bigger purchases. I think that assumption was wrong.
From the conversations we've had with hundreds of customers, our sense is that by the time someone adds that link, they've almost always already decided - ages ago - on the actual product, brand, or retailer they want. Nine times out of ten, they can tell you exactly what they're picturing. What's missing isn't the decision. It's the commitment.
What one customer told us
One customer recently told us what happened when they shared their existing Reno plan with deVOL, the kitchen company they had their heart set on buying from right from the start:
“Definitely made the whole planning process with deVOL more seamless and easy to get to the right layout - even if some of my suggestions were wrong, haha.”
By that point, they weren't looking for deVOL to sell them a kitchen. They wanted someone with the right expertise and product knowledge to help check and optimise their plan and give them the confidence to commit to it.
What retail is missing
I think this is something retail is missing, particularly KBB businesses where there's often still an expertise-led, showroom-based part of the purchase process. A plan sitting there for weeks without product links isn't a customer who can't decide. More often, it's a customer who already has decided on the product, brand or retailer, and is waiting for something, or someone, to make it feel safe to commit.
If that's right, the job isn't to chase the sale sooner or push harder. It's to close the gap between “I know what I want” and “I'm ready to commit to this exact thing, as part of this exact plan, from you.” That means:
- Building a genuine understanding of why one option beats another
- Giving clear answers on whether a choice still fits everything else already chosen
- Someone who engages with the plan as a whole, not just the specific product being discussed today
A slow decision doesn't necessarily mean a lost sale. More often, it means the customer hasn't felt ready to commit yet. The opportunity for brands and retailers is in building that confidence, before someone else does it for them.
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