It’s no longer disputable that Amazon has fundamentally changed the way products are sold in the United States. It’s equally beyond dispute that the e-commerce giant has and will continue to put home furnishings stores out of business.
At Furniture Today’s Leadership Conference in December, Piper Sandler’s Peter Keith noted that Amazon currently accounts for 30% of unit sales in the mattress business. Correspondingly, its furniture business — both via its owned-inventory and through direct sales through its marketplace — is growing its share daily.
At the recent National Retail Federation’s Big Show, WD Partners’ Lee Peterson presented research revealing that nearly 70% of consumers prefer to shop online, according to reporting from Retail Dive. And their top reason for avoiding stores is that shopping “takes too much time and effort,” according to the report.
Clearly when it comes to convenience, ease of shopping and speed of delivery, Amazon is tough, if not impossible to beat; ditto when it comes to price and assortment. Amazon has for several years been the No. 1 product search site, and there’s little that can’t be found there.
Which begs the question: Why would anyone shop anywhere else?
The answer is simple — experience.
That word is overused within the pundit community and often means different things to different people. I’ve heard retailers at some of our conferences talk at great length about their “experience” in terms of how they train associates to upsell, how they guide shoppers through the stores to maximize their purchases or how they close the sale.
While that is necessary, describing the retail sales experience in terms of how RSAs close a sale or upsell the shopper is only one part of the equation. To focus on that to the exclusion of other elements of consumer experience leaves retailers vulnerable in today’s competitive environment. If it’s about the transaction, which is ultimately what such a sales process is, then Amazon wins. If all the consumer wants is to transact, then they have less reason to visit a store.
The goal for successful retailers going forward is to create a WOW factor, an experience that is so unique, special and noteworthy that Mrs. Jones runs home to tell all her friends and family about it. Maybe that’s a unique look, exciting activities or a combination of sights, smells and ambience that create a lasting memory and a strong desire to relive that experience.
As you shop Las Vegas Market this week for the latest and greatest home furnishings, it is worth giving additional thought to what happens after you get back. Are you just filling slots, or are you creating a merchandising statement that will WOW your shoppers and create evangelists for your store? Will your selections differentiate you, not only from other brick-and-mortar retailers in your trading area, but also from the e-commerce giants who effectively live in everyone’s backyard?
It’s never been more important to find answers to these questions.
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