The furniture industry has had a brutal few years. COVID-19 froze factories, snarled ports, and exposed the fragility of single-source supply chains. Then came a second shock: the sweeping tariffs introduced under the Trump administration, first in 2018 and then again in 2025, hit Chinese manufacturing hard and forced retailers
If You Replaced Your Delivery Tech Tomorrow, Would Your Customers Notice? It’s a question worth sitting with. If you swapped out your dispatch and delivery platform this week, would your customers see a difference in how they’re treated and served, and in which direction would that difference go? For most
Most conversations about the future of eCommerce focus on the surface—better website design, faster checkout, and smoother user experiences. While these improvements matter, they are no longer the primary constraint. Today’s customers expect more than just a clean interface. They expect accurate delivery timelines, real product availability, and fast fulfillment.
Understanding Your True Landed Cost: How Tariff Layers Are Reshaping Your Home Furnishings Business The trade environment for home furnishings retailers has rarely been more complex — or more consequential. For many businesses, tariffs are no longer just a line item on an invoice. They are a core operational variable
Inventory management is the key to your cash flow and your store’s success. You spend more money on inventory than anything else, and while it’s the most important asset you have, it’s also the place where you can bleed money if you don’t monitor that asset very carefully. When buyers
You already know this feeling: sales are strong, customers are walking in, and yet somehow your bank account tells a different story. You’re not imagining it. But what most people don’t realize is that cash flow problems in the home goods industry aren’t usually revenue problems—they’re inventory problems. Inventory is
If you thought of the title of this article as a question, your first answer might be “Products that sold with the least amount of markdowns.” You could be right, but that’s only a small part of the answer. It’s not just about selling products with low markdowns. There is
Inventory is your biggest asset, but also your biggest expense. Manicuring and curating your inventory assortment is the most important job you have. It’s very easy to get distracted by other things in your business. Still, your inventory is the best place to invest your time, and in doing so,
Why Data-Driven Sourcing Is Becoming Non-Negotiable On April 2, 2025, President Trump announced sweeping new import tariffs that immediately reshaped cost structures across industries, including home furnishings. Companies recalculated landed costs, revisited pricing strategies, and reassessed sourcing exposure almost overnight. Less than a year later, on February 20, 2026, the
Inventory management plays a big role in customer satisfaction. Inventory management should be designed to monitor product availability, but thanks to advanced technology, it can do so much more than that. Inventory management can tell you when to reorder products, help fulfill orders faster, identify what’s selling fast, and so
Global trade policy continues to shift rapidly, and for home furnishings retailers, those changes can have immediate consequences for costs,
I want to tell you about something that’s already happening on your website, right now, that you’re probably not aware
Every checkout tells a story, and not all of them end in a sale. For many eCommerce brands, a lack
How independent furniture retailers can turn their website into a real part of how they sell — not just a
HIGH POINT, N.C. (March 9, 2026) — The Home Furnishings Association (HFA) announced its High Point Market Seminar Series, delivering
AI & Retail Transformation: Your Roadmap to Smart Adoption The technology landscape for home furnishings retailers is evolving fast. For furniture retailers, simply adopting
AI is no longer just powering search bars and chatbots. New agentic AI experiences are changing how shoppers discover, evaluate, and buy products online. For
MEMBER-ONLY DISCUSSION: Technology Connect with fellow HFA member retailers to exchange insights, challenges, and successes in using technology and AI
