There has been a tendency in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic to nostalgically search for signs of “the new normal,” an indication that despite changing demographics, technology, geopolitics, culture and lifestyles that things would return to a stable and recognizable state.
Inevitably that search has proved futile.
Instead, the furniture industry is increasingly defined by a state of perpetual change or what at times can feel like a lurching from one unforeseen crisis to the next. And while not all the changes underway can be foreseen, they are less a sign of crisis than a fundamental shift in the nature of the business.
There is a no way around a couple of core truths. The first is that e-commerce and those who compete primarily in that sector — whether through direct sales to consumers, sales through major marketplace platforms or via their own primarily e-commerce business — are growing at a faster rate and capturing share from traditional brick-and-mortar retail.
Another is that shoppers today consume media in very different ways than they did as little as five years ago, and that is not confined only to Millennials and Gen Z. Correspondingly, the emergence of social selling (sales via social media platforms) coupled with consumers’ embrace of all things mobile has fundamentally changed the media and shopping ecosystem. Add to that a changing geopolitical environment that is likely to reshape global sourcing relationships, and it’s clear the post-pandemic world varies dramatically from what came before.
None of these developments is reversible. Certainly, there will be additional changes going forward, but there is no path back to previous norms, just as there’s no way back to the days when horse-drawn carriages were the primary conveyance.
With that in mind, here are 5 things that retailers can do to strengthen their competitive position as the business environment continues to move forward.
- Maximize for mobile: The smartphone is the primary form of communication, education, entertainment and transaction for a rapidly growing majority of Americans of all ages. If your content and communication is not optimized for that platform, you’re falling farther behind every minute.
- What business are you in? If you said, “selling furniture” it’s going to be increasingly difficult to compete. Consumers can buy furniture faster, easier and from more places today than at any time in human history. For furniture stores to survive, they need to offer something extra, a level of service, education, excitement or convenience that can’t be found anywhere else. If it’s only about the product then it’s primarily about the price, and stores can’t win that battle.
- The medium is the message: Taking a traditional transactional message and blasting it across all forms of media is a missed opportunity. Consumers use social media for different reasons, and retailers’ messages need to align with that usage. A transactional offer targeting the bottom of the sales funnel does not work on a platform consumers use for inspiration. Tailor the message to the medium, and focus as much on the top of funnel as the bottom.
- Guard your relevance like your life: It’s becoming increasingly common to outsource or push back portions of the business on vendors or outside third parties. If someone else holds your inventory, delivers your product and manages interaction and/or transaction with the consumer, it is only a matter of time before your role becomes excess cost. Your data and your relationship with the consumer is your lifeline to the future. Guard it closely.
- Be a change agent: The history of retail is littered with companies that rejected change because it was uncomfortable or deviated from “what we do.” The phrase, “the only constant is change” is not just an expression; it’s reality. Figure out where the puck is going, and get there first.
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