How to spot consultative salespeople who listen, build trust, and follow through — before they ever set foot on your floor The Most Expensive Hire on Your Payroll Is the Wrong One Few positions cost a furniture retailer more when filled badly than the sales role. A wrong hire on
The home furnishings shopper no longer follows a simple path to purchase. Consumers often spend weeks researching before ever setting foot in a store. They browse retailer websites, compare prices, read reviews, and seek inspiration across social platforms. By the time they arrive at a showroom, many have already narrowed
In a furniture retail operation, one of the biggest threats to customer trust is not always the product itself. It is what happens after the sale. Retailers invest heavily in merchandising, showroom experience, and conversion. Still, the customer’s lasting impression is often shaped by delivery, service, protection, repairs, and after
How Furniture Retailers Can Thrive in the Agentic Era The digital landscape for home furnishings is shifting beneath our feet, moving from static websites to dynamic, AI-driven ecosystems. To help our members navigate this transition, we recently sat down with three industry experts to discuss the practical application of “Agentic
How AI is reshaping consumer behavior, redefining the modern retail journey The home goods shoppers no longer discover products the way they once did. They are moving away from exploratory weekend store visits and printed catalogs toward a more personalized, intuitive, and visual experience. Artificial intelligence (AI) is now becoming
Connecting POS, inventory, and ecommerce has become essential for furniture retailers. It directly impacts how a business runs day to day and how customers experience the brand. Many retailers still rely on systems that were set up at different times and do not fully work together. This creates gaps in
Every checkout tells a story, and not all of them end in a sale. For many eCommerce brands, a lack of flexible payment options can be a barrier to conversion. Lease-to-own helps eCommerce brands capture more revenue by giving shoppers in a potentially overlooked segment a flexible way to pay
How independent furniture retailers can turn their website into a real part of how they sell — not just a page that exists. Think about the last time you made a major purchase. What was the first thing you did? You researched it online, and so do your customers. For
What Retailers Need to Do Now to Stay Visible, Trusted, and Chosen The best retail sales associate in the world is no longer standing on your showroom floor. It is AI. It never sleeps. It never forgets a spec. It never skips a recommendation. And right now, it is deciding
When service contracts are presented alongside customer furniture selection, they feel natural and valuable. When they are saved for the checkout counter, they feel like an afterthought. In retail furniture stores, protection plan sales fail not because customers do not see the value, but because the conversation happens too late.
On September 1, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), requesting input
The Home Furnishings Association (HFA) is excited to announce that nominations are now open for the 2027 HFA Pillar Awards.
Estate planning isn’t only for the wealthy. In reality, everyone should have a purposeful strategy based on what matters most
Digital marketing gets most of the attention in traffic conversations, but furniture remains a category where physical experience matters. Customers
Following the Supreme Court’s February 2026 ruling striking down IEEPA tariffs, a significant refund opportunity remains available to home furnishings
Men and women often bring different priorities to their jobs, and the companies that understand those differences build stronger teams, deeper loyalty, and better business
The competition for talent, from sales floor to delivery to leadership, keeps intensifying, and the retailers winning it are thinking beyond compensation. Join the Home
