John Merwin
CEO
3Z Brands
We recognize that many consumers prefer to experience products firsthand before making a purchase. That’s why we believe driving traffic to retailers is crucial for those who want to try our products in person.
At 3Z Brands, we’ve created a retail partnership program centered around brand awareness that combines our unique product offerings, marketing support, strong price points, and sizable margins. It’s all about increasing door swings and ensuring value to the retailer.
Our retail partnership program is a comprehensive solution for retailers. Our strategy to drive real value for retailers is characterized by driving store traffic, bringing in new customers and delivering industry-leading margins.
We provide established marketing, merchandising and technology capabilities to drive traffic and increase door swings. We also offer diverse pricing options to drive strong gross margins and fit each retailer’s unique needs.
Phil Carlitz
COO
Bedding Industries of America
With high inflation, consumers are spending more on essentials and less on high-ticket discretionary items like mattresses. As such, retailers need to give consumers every incentive to spend. Value-items and innovation in retailer merchandising can accomplish this goal.
Bedding Industries of America has always been known for its house-of-brands strategy and its innovative products. That variety assures that dealers can find products in our portfolio that can fit any consumers budget and comfort/style preference. We have recently leaned in heavily on innovations like our split-head hybrid and all-latex designs that offer custom comfort on adjustable bases.
Additionally, our YourComfort marketing strategies across several brands is making it easier for consumers to select the perfect comfort for them. With YourComfort, we offer five distinct feels in the same mattress and price point, making it crystal clear for the consumer to sell themselves. These are just some examples, but our team is communicating regularly with our dealers all the time to help them bring traffic through their doors
Eugene Alletto
CEO
Bedgear
Retailers that are not prioritizing an incredibly dynamic e-commerce website will continue to struggle in getting people into their store. The front door of a store is no longer the physical entrance but the mobile device in the consumer’s hand.
Retailers need to invest in a mobile-first approach that offers an exciting and simplistic reason for customers to visit the store. By capturing their interest through mobile devices, retailers can drive foot traffic effectively. This is the crucial step to getting customers to visit you and give you a chance.
We are transforming the in-store experience with our dynamic Bedgear Shop and the newly launched FIT.LAB. Our FIT.LAB is a touchless, biomechanically designed experience that integrates seamlessly into the store’s sales process and gives them the latest technology. It offers customers an easy-to-understand, user-friendly way to improve their sleep quality without compromising comfort. We highlight these innovations on our website to attract customers, emphasizing that they shouldn’t gamble with their sleep.
With the right commitment of our retail partner, we collaborate closely, sharing advertising costs and deploying fantastic marketing campaigns with incredible assets ready to be shared. We are creating a compelling reason for customers to visit the store, beyond just discounts and free bundles. Our partnership focuses on comprehensive marketing tactics for top, middle and bottom funnels that are delivering real results, right now.
Micah Swick
president and COO
Bernards
I’ve spent 20 years in retail, and what I’ve learned is that you have to pull all the levers.
It’s financing, it’s promotional pricing, it’s being in front of people all the time. It’s gimmicks, freebies. It’s everything. You don’t have to do them all at once, but you can do them all at different times and switch them up.
But the biggest focus is maximizing the opportunities you do have. The real focus would be maximizing the opportunities. It’s closing the sale I do get. It’s making sure my salespeople are trained. It’s increasing average tickets however we can. It’s getting managers involved. It’s having great store displays. It’s having excellent value and compelling product that inspires the customer.
Eric Vollmer
senior marketing strategist
Best Home Furnishings
We’re still experiencing the post-COVID hangover in terms of furniture demand and lifestyles. Consumers are choosing outdoor activities, traveling and experiences over their home.
With discretionary income so limited, furniture is an afterthought when it comes to spending purchases. Painting, accessories, accents, pillows are being used to update a look inexpensively.
Outside of running huge markdown sales, there needs to be a significant draw to capture the consumers’ attention, especially now that we’re in the summer season. Enhancing the in-store experience, educating consumers on the newest furniture innovations/trends, hosting events and enhancing community relations — all while communicating these happenings through their social channels in a way that reflects the store’s culture — can go a long way into driving awareness, building a ‘want’ and creating store/website visits.
For many years, Best has run pretty aggressive SEM campaigns targeting consumers who are interested in furniture purchases. By capturing them during the research phases and directing them to our website, we can funnel them to our active dealer list. Tens of thousands of dealer searches every month result from these campaigns, and the hope is consumers are demonstrating an intent to purchase by finding a store near them.
Also, our new 3D draping tool powered by Marxent is engaging many potential buyers. Our special-order business continues to be a major growth area for the company, providing an instrument that allows consumers to choose fabrics, visualize in realistic detail, and then spin, zoom and save.
We’re finding that consumers who are utilizing the visualization tool are spending more than 5 minutes per session selecting fabrics and draping them on products. This takes much of the guesswork out of the retail visits, which result in higher closure rates and less consumer remorse for our dealers.
Donnie Leslie
senior vice president, operations
Braxton Culler
Just as we have been busy refreshing our brand with a heightened sense of design, not only in our product offering, but also in examining and reinventing our processes across the board, retailers also need to think about reinventing themselves to drive business as well.
Everyone has to look outside of the box, because the days of turning on the sign, opening the door and waiting for customers to walk through are over. We believe the answer is not in lowering prices in a race to the bottom; it’s in looking at every opportunity they can to get consumers to take a look at doing business with their store.
There is business to be captured by catering to interior designers, stagers and by partnering with realtors and home builders.
There are macro factors at work here that our industry cannot impact. We all need inflation to slow down and the cost of money to decrease so people start buying and selling homes and building again. In the meantime, no business can afford to sit back and wait for things to change. We believe product plays a major role because we know the consumer for medium to better-end goods is not impacted as much as the entry-level consumer who is shopping for a $399 sofa.
While I’m certainly not suggesting the situation now is as dire as the Great Depression, we can learn some lessons if we look at this through the lens of history. Businesses that survived that era, and thrived, were those that took every opportunity to reinvent themselves in order to attract people through their doors.
We’re doing it through collaboration with our dealers to help set them apart in their marketplaces. Consumers want personalization now, and the strength of Braxton Culler is customization. Since we believe product plays such an important role, we’re working with dealers that want to grow with us earlier than ever in the process to make sure that we’re lined up with their needs. We’re offering them the ability to personalize product for their markets and their customers.
Our advantage is that we’re very nimble and we can help them cater to the needs of today’s consumers.
Larry Furiani
senior vice president
Coaster
Retailers must balance online and offline strategies to adapt to the shift towards e-commerce by raising visibility. By sharing a good story, and leveraging AI, dealers can create an immersive experience in conventional brick-and-mortar stores. Retailers must embrace customers wherever they are, whenever they shop.
That said, having a well-designed website is essential. Equally important, to be effective, it is essential to invest in a well-thought-out strategy. Commit to a strong social media campaign combined with a strong commitment to invest in customer attraction, engagement and conversion.
Coaster provides the best digital technology platform for retailers to enhance consumer attraction. We invest a significant amount to build a digital platform that allows consumers, retailers and manufacturers to fully integrate with data that flows efficiently. We support dealers who meet consumer expectations for product and extended services.
We have learned the significance of combining exceptional product images with digital content that accurately portrays the appearance, dimensions and functionality. We provide real time inventory feeds so dealers can promote immediate access to a curated or an endless aisle of product. We are able to support an omnichannel solution that allows consumers to shop online. The goal is to provide enough resources, so consumers have sufficient options to shop, visit and buy local.
Beyond this, Coaster’s supply chain efficiency and national logistics network are combined with an extensive assortment with emphasis on developing value-driven product. Speed to market provides tremendous advantages for retailers who want to increase in-store traffic.
With our nationwide network of strategically positioned warehouses, orders can ship within 24 hours. Proximity to the retailer reduces friction, transit time and local freight costs.
Bob Ulrich
senior vice president of sales and marketing
Currey & Company
We have always encouraged our retail customers to have a substantial display of our lighting and furniture in their showrooms, enough to make a real statement. We help with this by offering discounts, free shipping, social media promotions and in-person events such as CEU seminars, book signings, trend forecasting, product information training for showroom sales staff and more.
Since COVID, we have found that the consumer is seeking to have real experiences and meet with others in a social situation that does not require Zoom or buying products via the Internet sight unseen. Quality lighting and furniture are investments in your home and require knowledge and guidance from trained showroom personnel.
Also, showhouses are a great way to get retailers involved in their local design community, worthwhile charities and gain exposure in magazines in an organic way and not just paying for an ad.
Hank Hegert
central region sales director
Diamond Mattress
In today’s market, every dollar counts. This makes it crucial for retailers to be strategic with their advertising budgets and timing, ensuring they target customers during peak events and avoid advertising too early or too late. A smart strategy is to promote higher-priced items during traditional promotional periods, enticing customers to spend on luxury items they typically wouldn’t budget for outside of these periods. Alternatively, during non-holiday times, retailers can focus on advertising lower-priced promotional programs.
Retailers will benefit from reviewing their overall assortment to identify gaps or overlaps in their merchandising. This approach can lead to a stronger floor plan that appeals to a broader demographic, reduces SKUs, and improves inventory management.
To drive customer interest and increase store visits, Diamond Mattress offers a diverse range of high-quality products at competitive price points, allowing dealers to achieve higher margins compared to other name brands. We focus on market differentiation through advanced, technology-driven products that excite both retailers and customers, such as the AutoPilot smart bed, Technogel and Gel Grid by Diamond Mattress.
With lower foot traffic, retail sales associates need to maximize their closing rates with the customers who do visit. Product education and selling skills are crucial for enhancing the customer experience and boosting conversions. Diamond Mattress is renowned for providing high-value sales and product training, as well as interactive point-of-purchase materials that facilitate sales.
Additionally, we encourage retailers to innovate their customer service models by offering appointments, leveraging mailing lists, loyalty programs, and engaging with customers through social media. These strategies can help enhance consumer outreach and drive interest in your brand.
Charles Song
marketing coordinator
Diamond Sofa
Conscious of the fact that consumers are more acutely evaluating their spending in the today’s economy, Diamond Sofa has focused in the past year to introduce new collections at very appealing price points, in some cases nearly 50% less while very much offering the same experience to be expected of our brand – in terms of very current, high-demand contemporary style and comfort.
The response has been huge and accounts for our continued year-over-year growth despite the challenging increase in ocean freight and current high interest rate environment, which is innately connected to furniture consumption.
Chris Taheny
senior vice president of sales
DreamFit
Retailers must re-invent the in-store experience and offerings for consumers. A mattress showroom needs to be more than a shop that you stop into every couple of years — or decades — when you need a new bed. Instead, it must be more of a total sleep solution, where you go for all your sleeping essentials as well.
Need pillows, sheets, an additional mattress protector, or a comforter? Go to the mattress store.
Mattress retailers should not be abdicating these sales to big box or department stores but should rather be collaborating with their top-of-bed vendors to create year-round destinations that offer consumers more.
There are other home goods categories that not only solve everyday issues, but also have more frequent purchasing cycles, enabling retailers to bring shoppers into the store more quickly and more frequently. We have seen a direct, positive impact for the dealers we work with who have successfully transformed their retail environments into destinations like this.
We are facilitating this by leading the industry charge in several ways. We will continue to release content that raises awareness of the prosperity in the opportunities themselves and the profitability and enhanced customer satisfaction found in our easy-to-execute sales processes.
We also have recently innovated and introduced solutions to our assortment based on what the customer tells us they are looking for through their research and shopping habits. Our sales team is having substantive conversations with our retail partners as to the why? behind a product as opposed to it being just another option within our collection.
Paul Comrie
CEO
Elements International
Consumers only have so much disposable income. The furniture business is driven by housing sales, which are down. Elements International is focusing on getting the best product at the most affordable prices for our customers. This way they can pass on affordable prices to their customers.
Jon Stowe
managing director
E.S. Kluft & Co.
To navigate the changing and challenging environment the bedding industry is facing, we are looking at four key strategies to help drive foot traffic to mattress stores.
First, targeted marketing and advertising campaigns. Today’s consumers are embracing personalized service and retailers and manufacturers that use social media platforms, Google ads, display and email marketing can use these platforms to reach and influence potential customers with tailored messages. This may include promotions, new product launches and special events. In addition, local SEO will ensure the store is easily discoverable online by optimizing for local search.
Next, attractive promotions and services: Value and efficiency are important drivers to keep in mind. Seasonal sales and special financing continue to drive sales during key shopping periods such as Memorial Day, July 4th and the Labor Day holidays. Same-day or next-delivery also is very important for the end consumer.
Also, an engaging in-store experience is critical. A store that is welcoming and comfortable with products that are clean and properly displayed encourages consumers to stay and test mattresses. Additionally, a knowledgeable staff can provide hands-on demonstrations and help consumers make informed decisions.
And, an omnichannel presence: Consumers value the convenience and seamless experience of researching products online and easily finding the same products in store.
By focusing on these strategies, mattress stores can effectively attract consumers, create a compelling in-store experience and ultimately drive sales. To help draw consumers into stores, we are supporting our retailers with an increased investment in both local digital advertising campaigns and with customized store displays to help create a seamless, integrated and welcoming in-store experience.
We are working closely with our retailers to implement promotional and advertising activities throughout the year, and especially during the busy Memorial Day to Labor Day selling season. These include multi-media campaigns with location-based display and paid social advertising to help drive traffic to stores.
And we are taking on the responsibility of managing the digital campaigns so our retailers can focus on their stores and selling mattresses to their customers.
In addition, to help enhance the in-store experience and help consumers understand the benefits of each product, we continue to invest in store displays that include signage and posters as well as customized displays. We present ad-hoc store display recommendations to help showcase our brand and products.
We also continue to embrace our heritage in high-quality, luxury bedding and will stick to the strategy of offering luxury price points at $3,000 and above. With this commitment, we are staying true to our luxury brands and will not confuse our consumer with multiple price bands at mid and premium price points.
David Crimmins
vice president, sales and product management
Flexsteel
Consumers continue to have increased expectations around all products. We’re focused on driving new innovations aimed at solving specific consumer insights.
Consumers expect to be engaged in a variety of ways: social media, in-store experience, and post-sale support. We believe enhanced content to attract consumers online and retain their attention is also critical to driving traffic to stores. We’ve recently launched an enhanced retailer locator on flexsteel.com, with product-specific information enabling consumers to search for a product and find a retailer with the product physically on their floor.
We have significant ongoing investments in a few key areas to partner with our retailers and facilitate consumer engagement.
First, developing and launching innovative product solutions: Our focus on the health and wellness category, specifically the introduction of the Zecliner sleep chair line is increasing our consumer engagement in measurable levels.
Second, enhanced digital and POS content: Ensuring we have attractive, engaging content that is optimized for a variety of digital platforms is key.
Finally, we strive to make this content easily accessible and usable by our retailers. We’ve partnered with PromoBoxx and currently have more than 450 retailers leveraging our turn-key content from this service, with more than 700,000 impressions and counting.
The combined impact of innovative product, great content and easy to use syndication is facilitating consumer engagement.
Jodi Brookshire
vice president, sales and marketing
Furniture of America
With the rising cost of everything, not just food and gas, consumers need to see some relief so they can feel comfortable in making purchases that they want rather than need.
Creating a sense of urgency through effective marketing can help and, with that, placing an emphasis on quality and value to the consumer.
Having great new and different products also gives them something to talk about. In this climate, consumers must feel more than just good about their purchases in the traditional sense, they must feel that they invested their dollars wisely for their home and lifestyle.
Our product team has been working very hard to bring dealers an entirely new assortment across all categories. All our new products are at lower price points, and the quality really sets us apart. We have been bringing, in the last two market cycles, on-trend, exclusive designs, well-made and priced right. All things that consumers are looking for and that dealers can promote in their markets through both traditional and social media.
We work with dealers of all sizes, and we believe in giving them support and tools wherever we can, especially for the smaller companies. We have a partner that works with us to offer incredible marketing programs, including websites to drive consumer engagement and ultimately get feet in the door.
In addition, the support offered through our marketing team ranges from POP displays and in-store banners to sales flyers, catalog options and a special program call PDP for select retailers.
We will continue to have most everything new on display in stock during market or arriving within a few weeks after so that our dealers can get items quickly and turn them for cash. All of our new products this year will be on display in our Las Vegas showroom.
Marcus Bontrager
president
Fusion Designs
Consumer confidence levels are off, and everything tends to follow. A lot of what’s happening hinges on the housing market being down. We’ve had two quarters of housing slumps, and the situation won’t improve until we see some rate cuts. People aren’t selling because they don’t want a high interest rate, and not buying because there is not enough supply. Uncertainty surrounding the economy also means they are not remodeling.
We all know this. So, rather than focus on what’s wrong, we can do what we can to give people a good reason to travel to stores right now, because they are obviously not out leisurely shopping like they used to be.
We saw a huge bump in orders from Memorial Day, which tells me that sales periods work, and our dealers staged events and promotions for the holiday like never before. While it’s clear that promotions also take more work to successfully drive consumers into the stores, it turned out to be a great sales weekend for those who made it an experience for shoppers.
To help get the Fusion Designs story out to consumers about our solid wood furniture handcrafted in the heartland, we built and launched an entirely new website. The site is loaded with improvements designed to help educate, inform and engage, but we think one of the most important of these is the dealer locator we added to help drive people interested in purchasing to the stores that feature our high-quality products.
Additionally, we have been encouraging our sales representatives to make sure that dealers are aware of our Platinum Preferred Program to boost their sales promotion efforts. The program is a great tool for dealers that qualify, especially during these times when dollars are tight, and they want to refresh their floors to create excitement and attract consumers.
Among its benefits, the program provides dealers with a 20% discount off new product added to their Fusion Designs floor sample display, and we supply comprehensive point-of-purchase materials, including a gallery sign and catalogs. The program also provides for two 10-day period sales promotions with 10% off our complete line-up, so they can run two separate sales periods six months apart. Additionally, we kick off the program with a professional training seminar in-store for their RSAs, and it’s proving very effective for the dealers that are utilizing it.
Matt Anderson
chief commercial officer
Hollywood Bed
We have trained the consumer for years to shop to wait for promotions, so much so that they don’t look for new products anymore but they wait for promotions. They also shop when they have time — long holiday weekends — and that’s when the mattress industry pushes its sales.
We have to deliver on product innovation and give consumers are compelling reason to buy.
If we’re going to get consumers back in the store, we have to have some macroeconomic tailwinds. Household formations and home sales need to rebound to push those shoppers into the stores.
Hollywood bed is partnering with retailers to deliver products that consumers can get excited about. We’re competing in three ways: innovation, design and stealing market share.
John Schulte
president
Innovative Sleep Technology
There is still a large segment of the population that would rather see and feel the product rather than purchase online so foot traffic for larger purchases, such as mattresses, will always have an in-store purchase preference.
With the current market conditions, it seems consumers continue to be drawn to the advertised specials, whether by snail-mail or targeted online ads. Unique product offerings tend to promote foot traffic more so than advertised specials on a standard product line-up, and the ability to communicate the differentiating factors in products and address consumers’ concerns are paramount to getting them in the door.
Also, the low (or zero) percent financing options are more important than ever due to inflationary prices in every product category.
To help drive store traffic, Symphony Sleep offers both unique products and impactful marketing programs that help retailers communicate to their customers the value and how our products are different. We designed visually impactful marketing materials to make it easier for the RSA to address a variety of sleep issues for the consumer, and our innovative accessory options allow retailers to take advantage of each opportunity to grow their tickets.
Our combination of unique products and very competitive prices ensure that retailers will get more opportunities when competing for foot traffic and the potential for higher profits with every sale.
David Binke
CEO
King Koil
The best way to get consumers shopping again would be a reduction in interest rates to stimulate refinancing and new home sales. Until that adjusts downward — and I don’t believe it has to adjust downward significantly to help consumer confidence — the macroeconomic situation is not going to change.
All of King Koil’s products are geared for the ultra-premium, luxury market. While the more affluent consumer is not as affected, the mass market is hesitant to buy. Inflation, though is less than it was a year ago, is still relatively high. Basic items, such as food, groceries and gas are still much more expensive than they were. That affects everybody and everything.
Mattresses are a postponeable purchase. If your refrigerator goes out, you absolutely have to replace it the next day or everything will spoil. If your mattress hasn’t fallen apart, you can put it off for a week, a month, a year
King Koil is working with our individual retailers on digital marketing strategies to help them maximize their traffic and to support other advertising they will do. We’re increasing our spends around the big holidays. We did a very big spend on digital over Memorial Day weekend, for example, and we saw strong results with the lion’s share of our customers.
The tactics change depending on where the retailer wants us to focus, whether it’s advertising on Facebook and Instagram, or geofencing, but there’s no question focusing on efforts on supporting the dealers’ efforts helps.
Frank Hood
CEO
Kingsdown
We still contend that consumers need to feel the benefit of lower inflation, or a lower trending or moderating CPI. Meaning the everyday cost of goods and services need to feel as if they aren’t escalating, or moreover, start declining. We further believe that housing starts and transactions will benefit from an interest rate reduction.
To those ends, we have been working with our dealers — new and existing — on making sure that they have a differentiation strategy in place. With fewer customers in the market, a retailer must have different and unique product — not the same as every competitor — for them to get door swings.
Retailers must have a differentiation strategy to more effectively compete in today’s tough sales climate. Using this strategy, Kingsdown has actually increased share this year due to our unique combination of pricing, innovation and quality construction, all of which are vitally important to consumers.
We are laser-focused on differentiating our product mix so we can offer dealers a unique story to present to their customers. Kingsdown is always managing its product mix, looking at placement to value opportunities when designing our active portfolio, ensuring dealers can make higher margins from the limited number of customers coming into their showrooms.
Equally as important, we are leveraging our digital marketing efforts to help retailers, and using our consumer insights, based on our propriety data, to develop product focused on those insights and the media that supports it
Matt Harrison
president
Kuka Home
To encourage consumers to visit physical retail stores, retailers must go beyond traditional shopping norms and create an elevated and interactive in-store experience. This experience should be welcoming and offer exceptional customer service that cannot be replicated online.
Retailers can also showcase innovative products with standout features on social media to captivate consumer interest and generate higher foot traffic. In addition, providing exclusive in-store promotions is an effective tactic to boost in-store shopping.
Through our Becki Owens Home line, we offer retailers customer engagement through curated social media posts for their platforms and facilitate interaction by having Becki Owens engage with current and potential customers on her platforms.
Michael Hsieh
CEO
Lifestyle Enterprises
Lifestyle believes that driving foot traffic is developed by offering values. This is not price, but rather excitement around product enhancements and building on innovation without adding price.
For example, we have functional stationary that has storage, opens up into a bed or a theater seating or play pit. When consumers look at this product, they see options and solutions in a stationary sofa which has so many features and the cost is still at a stationary sectional price. It could be merchandised in the sofa area, the sleeper sofa area or the theater seating area.
It gives a retailer conversation points that will connect with consumers and drive traffic.
Gabriele Natale
president
Manwah USA
Americans are back living the pre-COVID life, spending disposable income on entertainment/travel and so on. Furniture is and has been a deferrable purchase, no urgency, and retailers are back to having to promote aggressively to move the needle.
This is not new; we got spoiled over COVID when, to sell furniture, all you needed was inventory availability.
Manwah always provides best in class comfort, quality and value, which makes a big difference in current market conditions.
Derek Leishman
national sales director
Mlily USA
There’s been a growing trend among younger consumers indicating their focus on products that improve their overall health, coupled with a willingness to spend more on these products compared to their parents and grandparents.
With the three pillars of good health being diet, exercise and sleep, our industry has an opportunity to lean into the many health benefits behind sleep products in response to this demand from younger consumers as well as to build a relationship with them by reinforcing their increasing interest in wellness.
Retailers that focus on selling quality sleep for overall better health can outperform their competitors who are product and price driven.
Products such as Mlily’s mattresses and adjustable bases offer a wide range of health benefits at prices that make quality sleep affordable for everyone. Our long-term partnership with the International Chiropractors Assn. is a meaningful differentiator for the Mlily brand and products because consumers can easily relate back issues and good health with sleep and a good mattress.
Mlily’s initiatives to strengthen in-store sales training will give RSAs the knowledge and strategies to sell good sleep and the health benefits of our products. Additionally, we are enhancing marketing materials and P.O.P. to support the training and help RSAs have better sales conversations with more confidence resulting in better close rates.
Scott Hill
president of sales
New Classic
Advertising and events are helping, but it appears the consumer is waiting for events to shop, and you must be promoting value or financing and in most cases both.
Our team is making a concerted effort to be in front of retailers on a daily basis offering bestsellers, new introductions and specials.
We have made a concerted effort to do our best to have our best-sellers in stock and on water, albeit having to pay more in some cases to get the goods we need.
Tim Newlin
president/CEO
Norwalk Furniture
Price is not the answer. There needs to be an appeal to the consumer who is still looking to upgrade their existing home (as fewer are moving). The other target are those consumers who believe good design and adding comfortable furnishings in fabrics that make them happy is good for overall well-being.
The other important message is that now consumers can order exactly what they want, custom furniture that fits their style and space, and get it delivered very quickly.
We are always striving to provide all the right “in store” and digital tools to support the sale. Everything from a great website, swatch samples, memos, digital assets, and sales aides. True omni support is the only way to cover all the bases for where the consumer wants to shop. Then we make their order right and get it to them quickly, which makes for a happy consumer.
Jeff Schwall
vice president of sales
Porter Designs
Guys that are pushing promotions are having success. Pushing financing is helping, too, but that’s more for the big guys. Guys like Ashley are hammering this stuff and offering everything, but that price point merchandise is the toughest right now. Those consumers have no discretionary income. And even if they do have it, vacations are getting prioritized. It’s tough.
We continue to do lots of new product. We’re doing some upholstery re-covers. So many of our bestsellers, whether it’s browns or grays, are slowing down. So, we’re adding more colors to the frame.
You just have to be new. Retailers still want new looks, something that entices a shopper.
We have incentives for retailers, like giving them more time to pay for items. Just like consumers, retailers want a good deal.
Sarah Bergman
chief marketing officer
Purecare
Inflated interest rates that have led to a sluggish housing market coupled with the invisible threads that bind election years with unpredictable retail sales is where we find our industry, as a whole, slogging through the middle of a stagnant sales year in 2024.
Advertising discounts, sales and added value are the messages that retailers turn to in order to drive foot traffic, and the necessity to capitalize on every opportunity — maximize every door pull — is the constant buzz on the retail floor.
In a year like 2024, the advantages of a successful soft goods partnership are never more evident. The integral role that soft goods play in growing average tickets and increasing margin in every sale is the opportunity in 2024, and Purecare is working with every one of our retailers to ensure that they have the product, support and knowledge to close a larger deal.
Our job is to make it easy for the retailer’s customer to say yes to a sale that includes more than just the mattress. It’s years like this that prove that a retailer’s decision to get aggressive on the sales floor and online with bundled soft goods offers and value-priced add-ons makes a huge difference — if not the difference — to their bottom line.
Laurie Tokarz
president
Restonic Mattress Corp.
There is no single solution for attracting consumers to a mattress or furniture store. Success requires a blend of effective marketing, exceptional customer service, competitive pricing and an inviting store environment.
Crucially, retailers need to optimize their website for search engines to appear in local search results when potential customers search for mattresses or furniture. Additionally, using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to showcase products and engage with customers can boost store traffic. Share content that educates, entertains, inspires, and persuades, offering real value to your followers and motivating them to visit your store.
Restonic provides a comprehensive digital marketing program for our retail partners. Our “set it and forget it” social media service ensures your channels are regularly updated with high-quality posts.
Additionally, our geo-targeted advertising program delivers impressions at five times the industry standard. Our streaming TV spots allocate 85% of your budget directly to ad placement, maximizing your investment.
Lastly, our interactive spec cards allow consumers to explore the features and benefits of each mattress in depth, helping them confidently choose the right one.
Tim Oakhill
chief marketing officer
Serta Simmons Bedding
The mattress category is complicated, and for consumers, it can be confusing.
First and foremost, advertising matters. Our powerful national media campaigns are grounded in strong consumer value propositions, reaching the right audiences at the right time, driving consumers to retail with messaging tied to consumer needs, and that is absolutely critical.
Secondly, it’s vital that brands offer simple step-up stories that consumers find relevant and can easily understand. This is precisely what SSB has done with our seven new collections across Serta, Beautyrest and Beauty Sleep, which are all going to be on display at Las Vegas Market this summer.
The product platforms make it easy for retail sales associates to explain the step-up stories, helping drive higher AUSP and margins. Targeted media support underscoring our value proposition combined with clear, succinct product offerings for consumers equates to an unbeatable recipe for success.
Bill Hammer
president
Shifman Mattress Co.
To effectively drive consumer traffic into stores, retailers must adopt a multifaceted strategy beginning with competitive pricing and compelling promotions that surpass competitors, and then supported by aggressive advertising across diverse platforms to ensure unparalleled visibility and engagement.
By leveraging special promotions and discounts, retailers can create a sense of urgency that entices customers to visit their stores. It’s crucial to effectively communicate a compelling value proposition that helps their business stand out from the competition.
To support retailers in this endeavor, Shifman provides co-op advertising dollars to expand their outreach. Additionally, we offer price reductions, enabling retailers to pass on significant savings to consumers.
We encourage retailers to intensify their marketing efforts, especially during economic challenges, by conveying clear and compelling promotional messages with good frequency and consistency. Through our dedicated advertising initiatives, we aim to enhance awareness and stimulate interest in our products, thereby driving traffic and mutual success with our retail partners.
Shifman’s products have a long heritage of designing and delivering genuine value and benefits, providing retail partners a substantial advantage in attracting foot traffic and boosting sales, even in challenging economic conditions.
Nick Bates
president
Spring Air International
Things are really tough at retail right now and everyone needs to understand this. There is no magic bullet, but rather improvement is going to have to come from outside the industry before we see meaningful change.
We need to be realistic that retail woes have more to do with the sluggish economy, political climate and anemic housing sales. However, as a manufacturer, Spring Air is focused on doing everything possible to support retailers.
That means offering them a variety of product to better reach consumers at all price points, giving them feature-rich, higher ticket goods to increase their margins on sales from fewer door swings, better training for their RSAs so they are empowered to close more sales, and a full promotional calendar to stimulate the consumer to come into the store.
Ian Geltner
vice president of sales
Steve Silver Furniture
I come from a retail background, and when things get tight, retailers need to do something compelling beyond just promote, promote, promote.
I had a boss years ago who preached, “make yourself a value.” It is imperative that everyone who walks into a store is maximized. The best way to do this is for retailers to ‘make themselves a value.’
The key is customer engagement and increasing the consumer’s understanding of the fact that seeing, touching and sitting are a value and imperative to their satisfaction. Ultimately, this is on the RSA, but on the distributor/manufacturer end, we must make sure we are giving consumers something to smile about.
Steve Silver Furniture prides itself on having a strong value equation. We develop and price merchandise to not only sell, but also to stay in the home. We have a million square feet of warehouse space to ensure our customers can keep goods flowing without hurting their cash flow.
With containers rates rising and bookings at a premium our goal is to keep prices sharp so our retail partners can purchase goods and sell them before their bill is due. This will help retailers have money to promote, promote, promote!
Susan Mathes
vice president of brand relations
Therapedic International
During these challenging times, consumers are hyper-focused on value. The Therapedic brand has always stood for better value: products with great materials and solutions beyond what consumers expect for the price they pay.
It’s critical for retailers to communicate that value proposition as early as possible in the buyer’s journey, giving consumers compelling reason to show up in-store.
Today’s digital-first world means retailers must ensure they have enough digital content and are amplifying it locally. Then deliver a seamless experience when they convert from online to in-person. Therapedic’s PromoBoxx platform enables us to provide retailers with ready-to-use branded assets, minimizing the time and resources they have to spend on digital content to reach the end consumer. They can also invest in geo-targeting to further amplify the content.
Personalized customer service is essential to clearly communicating the value proposition and differentiating their business from competitors.
To help RSAs and owners do that, we created the video series Inside Track with Gerry Borreggine which offers strategies to enhance the in-store customer experience and boost sales success. We recently added Inside Track – Consumer Sleep Tips with useful topics that speak directly to consumers. Retailers can use these videos in-store and on social channels.
Mac Cooper
president/CEO
Uttermost
I think it’s a time for the industry to shine like never before and to boldly and aggressively pursue the consumer. It’s been an uphill battle with high interest rates and inflation, weak housing and pent-up demand for “experiences”, but these headwinds are slowing subsiding. I’m optimistic that better times are ahead for our industry, but we need to make this happen.
Customers have plenty of choices, and stores need to make the shopping experience amazing. This means the most fashion-forward products in the most appealing presentations, with local touches of creativity to make it fun.
We are more focused on bringing great design to our customers than ever. This is really an understatement, but we’ve never been more passionate to design and develop the latest great designs. We are certainly focused on strong value as well, but designs must be amazing.
We have many other initiatives such as our new website this summer with great shopping features for our customers to use with the consumer, our new Texas distribution center to reduce transportation costs to the central part of the country, etc., but it all begins with great product and great service.
Carlos Bosch
president of sales and marketing
Violino USA
Good manufacturers continue to push the envelope in terms of style and color. Our goal is to offer products retailers can use to push the envelope.
Vegas market is no different than every other market for us. We don’t enter market with status quo; we always look to create product that inspires buyers, something that will encourage our dealers to do something different on their floors.
We’re doubling down on cover to frame applications that we have identified as successful. We have gotten better at identifying the best-in-class for each silo, and we make sure that we have something fresh and relevant for each category.
We’re a very flexible container resource with no minimums, full mixability and no restrictions. That allows our buyers to choose something new and exciting that can upscale their floor presentations, while having enough “core” products to achieve manageable flow. It also makes us a great option for an import special order line.