We all know that the best closer in your store is you. If you could spend ten minutes with every customer that walks into your store, you would undoubtedly see an increase in revenue. But you’re just one person with limited time. And since cloning yourself isn’t an option, we studied the time management behaviors of some of the best retail sales leaders.

What follows are five of the most effective time management tips for furniture store sales:

     1. They Prepare Early

Plan your time for sales months and get to the store early enough to take a deep breath and review your goals and to-do list. Planning equals setting realistic goals and incentives and ensuring you have product inventory—training staff up. I suggest rearranging the store to accommodate more traffic and adjusting product visibility based on customers spending a little less this year.

     2. Identify timewasters

It’s easy to settle into a slower pace when people are casually shopping (we know, some just come in to watch the big screen TV). But when they’re in a rush, you need to be as efficient as possible. Find ways to make processes faster, like check-out, inventory assessments, customer greetings, and service. Make sure everyone that walks through your door is greeted and feels like they will be helped as soon as possible, even when the store is packed.

     3. Make breaks count

Hours on the floor can make anyone cranky. Work rotations so that there is time off the floor to organize contacts. Sales Associates get a break from people but are also productive. And when their scheduled breaks come, make them leave the store for some personal time so they return refreshed.

     4. Delegate

Remember, you are only one person. So delegating means training your staff before the rush begins. Have fun with sales day drills, pretending you’re at peak hours. Measure effectiveness and give out awards for best performance during these training games.

     5. Automate

Nothing wastes time more than redundant and manual tasks. Automate it! Technology is your friend. Use it. The right technology makes it possible to automate and scale the personal touch process.

Remember, you’re not selling furniture. You’re selling a lifestyle. Take the time to do it right. With the right time management skills, your sales team can be more productive and increase sales!

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 3% of the US workforce quits monthly. Voluntary turnover, especially among our salespeople, is at an all-time high. The workforce is shrinking, baby boomer retirements are accelerating, and your employees have more options than they have had in a long time. In the last several months, we have seen a decrease in traffic in our stores, and losing an experienced, knowledgeable salesperson hurts. Sometimes we spend so much time on the front end with our newest salespeople that we lose sight of those seasoned employees helping our bottom line right now. This new gap can cost your organization money in hiring, recruitment, lost company knowledge, and customer relationships.

It creates emotional and personal challenges with your sales team as well. Sales team morale can suffer, productivity, and possible confusion about roles. Even your managers may have difficulty imagining a future without their star players.

Several trends have emerged over the last several years that are crucial employee engagement drivers for seasoned employees.  We have some tips and have talked with several retailers to see what they do to keep their seasoned salespeople engaged.

1. My opinion counts at work.

Employees always want a voice, but it’s significant for well-seasoned salespeople. Employee engagement Surveys are a great way to understand how well your employee engagement is working and identify areas of opportunity. You can conduct pulse surveys on any topic at any time, but at the minimum, perform an employee engagement survey once a year.

Rob Ball, HFA Sales Academy Trainer, and owner of several retail stores in Florida evaluated his value chain within his stores. A value chain is the number of touchpoints you have with all the salespeople within your organization. “I saw within our organization that my touchpoints were depleted to almost nothing, whether through a webinar, phone calls, live meetings, or one-on-one. I mean, like literally one a year during a holiday party.”  “How can I manage my sales team and keep employees engaged if my touchpoints are so few?”  If you encourage your management team to increase their team touchpoints, it is a way to hear them, understand them and give them a voice.

Rob also stated another way to keep seasoned employees engaged is to “Have your seasoned salesperson write a sales process. Not only are you asking for their opinion and paying homage to their success, but you are also finding out what works for them. Plus, when they work through it, they may remind themselves of things they might have forgotten or don’t do as much, and this process might help sharpen their skills.”  Rob continued, “We have seen after this process, all of a sudden, they are moving beyond what they did 2 or 3 years ago and selling much more.”

2. Goals and accountabilities are clear.

This driver becomes more critical across tenure. Seasoned employees want to know the goals and get a clear direction to help them understand how they perform and contribute to the organization’s success. Discuss team and individual objectives and expectations when you meet with your employees. Help align their goals to the company’s mission, so their work feels relevant and significant. Keeping your employees in the know and helping them tie their plans to the organization’s strategy will make them feel positive about how they contribute and more optimistic about the future. Rob Ball further talked about management touchpoints, “Have your management team out on the floor and understand how they do what they do, you can go over their KPIs, discuss their wish lists and career goals, and listen to their suggestions. The touchpoints need to be personal and frequent. You must manage sales teams by ensuring that you’re talking about what’s in it for them and that it’s not always about the KPIs.” Your store also wins if they are happy, and their goals are achieved!

3. My job is interesting and challenging.

It’s essential to keep seasoned employees engaged by finding new and creative ways to challenge them in their roles. Keep your superstars involved by investing in their career development—share opportunities for additional training, certification, or responsibilities with your other team members. New opportunities will help them with boredom and potential burnout. Keep things interesting by ensuring your employees have growth opportunities and challenges at every level they desire.

Matt Pridemore is also an HFA Sales Academy Trainer and owns and operates 16 top-producing retail furniture stores in the Southeast commented, “as a sales manager, it is your job to figure out from your team what is challenging and where they want to go. Not every good salesperson wants to be a sales manager, and that’s ok, but they still want to be challenged differently.” Matt further states, ” you need to talk to them with one-on-one conversations. I like to take my people to lunch and get to know and understand their hopes and dreams.”

Miguel Valle, Senior Sales Manager, El Dorado Furniture, comments, “At El Dorado Furniture, we have El Dorado University, a several-week training course for our new salespeople. We have asked many of our seasoned salespeople to be instructors at the university. “Miguel also went on to say. “One of the best ways we keep our superstars engaged is to have a yearly awards gala. For us, it’s like the Oscars, and we celebrate top performers across the organization. It is about sales, sales associates’ performance, and their leader’s performance at the store level. Every speaker addresses them by name and, by storytelling, explains what they did to get to where they are and why they are being recognized. And we watch our sales associates and leaders work all year to get a seat at that event.”

4. I have the information I need to do my job well.

This driver becomes increasingly essential as time goes on. Frequent communication and feedback are crucial to helping employees feel informed and connected. Don’t stop paying attention to an employee just because they’re doing well or have been on the team for a while. Create a feedback culture with your sales team and company to encourage honest and open communication. When employees trust their management to listen, they are more likely to share feedback and insights into their work, including communicating what resources and support they need to succeed.

It is essential to keep your seasoned salespeople engaged in their work. They are valuable assets and can provide insights that new employees may not have. Review the employee engagement trends we’ve outlined and ensure your business is doing everything possible to create an engaging work environment for these experienced employees. Are you providing regular feedback? Giving them opportunities to learn and grow? Making sure they feel like their opinion counts? If not, start today! Your bottom line will thank you.

If your sales meetings leave your teams snoozing, it’s time to wake things up. Keep reading for tips on how to make your sales meetings more engaging. From changes in format to interactive activities, we’ve got you covered. Making a few simple tweaks can transform your sales meetings from snooze fests into productive and engaging sessions that energize your team and help close more sales.

As a leader, your team members will look to you for cues about how they should view the meeting. Just because it’s a sales meeting doesn’t mean it needs to be all data and no fun. Your team will pick up on your energy. In other words, if you treat the meeting as an errand, your team won’t be any more excited than you are. Show appreciation for those with great efforts or results throughout setting up a positive space from beginning to end!

Recognition is a powerful tool to engage and motivate teams. Preparing with data from your CRM before meetings will ensure you emphasize the collective achievements among them. Doing so will aid in creating an engaging atmosphere from the start. Motivating your team and ensuring they feel appreciated can be a prime source of inspiration for even greater success. However, if you want to maximize the benefits of your sales meetings truly, then make sure to not only strive toward recognition but also consider the following tips:

Invite your team to share their ideas. An innovative sales team meeting approach is recognizing the idea exchange’s value. By allocating time for brainstorming, you allow your team to benefit from each other’s ideas and insights. Ask open-ended questions. These questions are an excellent way for everyone to engage in the conversation and feel respected. It’s essential to stay focused on relevant topics such as:

• any information about how your competitors are positioning and selling their products
• better sales and marketing communication
• improving your sales strategy
• presenting your new product or service
• goals for the next quarter

Engage in role-playing. Allow your team to sharpen their skills in a fun and interactive way by incorporating sales role-playing into your next meeting. This exercise can help simulate real-life scenarios while keeping everyone engaged, spurring discussions on potential obstacles they may encounter down the road. Make meetings a fun learning experience with this interactive approach.

Switch it up. Altering the environment and activities gives your usual sales meetings a breath of fresh air. Diversify by taking a stand-up or lunch meeting; you can even take the team out for an engaging activity that will bring everyone together. Break away from standard protocol – it’ll help get more people involved in the discussion, ultimately improving productivity. New environments contribute to increased productivity and ensure that all members fully participate in every session.

Overcome obstacles. As a manager, it is crucial to remain informed about your team members’ daily obstacles. Making time in each meeting agenda to hear their status reports will enable you and everyone else present to gain insight into what’s working and areas that could use improvement while also creating an opportunity for collaborative problem-solving. Knowing roadblocks firsthand allows you to facilitate smoother operations by mapping out potential solutions that address any issues with precision and efficiency!

Sales meetings can be an excellent opportunity for teams to come together and learn about what’s going on with sales, brainstorm solutions to problems, and build relationships. However, if your meetings leave your team members snoozing, it’s time to make some changes. In this post, we’ve outlined five tips for making your sales meetings more engaging. What strategies do you use to keep your sales meetings engaging? We’d love to hear from you, and we can continue to build this list!

Average Transaction Value (ATV)

A sales key performance indicators (KPIs) used to measure the sales process’s effectiveness and the store’s team is Average Transaction Value (ATV) or Average Order Value (AOV) in eCommerce. With a talented and experienced sales team on the floor, businesses can unlock greater Average Transaction Values (ATV). This measurement plays an integral role when coupled with other benchmarks, such as Units per Transaction and Conversion Rates monitored daily by store/eCommerce managers through comprehensive reporting.

ATV = Sales ÷ No. of Transactions

For example, a store generated sales of $600,000 during January, with a total of 300 transactions.

ATV For the Month of January = $600,000 ÷ 300 = $2,000

The Importance of Average Transaction Value

1. Evaluating Performance

Knowing your Average Transaction Value gives you an insightful measure of the performance and efficiency of both your sales process and team. It’s a key metric to set targets for, monitor progress towards, and encourage success among all sales force members.

Tracking your KPI provides invaluable insight into how best practices and process tweaks can boost sales. One example is investing in a training program for the team, where changes in ATV afterward clearly demonstrate its effectiveness as an investment.

2. Improving Profits

In home furnishings, fixed costs can take up many profits. Fortunately, there is an easy calculation to improve your store’s ATV and increase overall sales: maximizing value from existing customers! You’ve already used marketing efforts to draw shoppers in – it’s time for those investments to pay off by enriching each customer experience through strategic ATV improvements.

3. Factors Affecting Average Transaction Value

Average Transaction Value and Average Order Value can be difficult to gauge due to the broad range of influences that distinguish one business from another. Consequently, benchmarking these KPIs is a complex task.

Average Selling Price – Businesses sell different types of products at various price levels—high-ticket items, such as electronics or furniture, and low-price items, such as accessories. The average store price will affect the ATV/AOV and should be considered.

Units Per Transactions – To increase Average Transaction Value, a strategy that you can leverage is to enhance cross-selling efforts and ultimately drive up the Units per Transaction. Doing so will boost overall sales performance in addition to transaction values.

Units Per Transaction (UPT)

Units per Transaction, also known as Items per Customer (IPC), is a KPI used to measure the success of sales teams and stores. Calculated daily by retailers, UPT provides insight into how well shoppers respond to offers and events while delivering valuable information to optimize future campaigns. By monitoring this metric in detail alongside Average Transaction Value (ATV) & conversion rates, businesses can get an accurate picture of their performance – enabling them to make data-driven decisions regarding achieving results.

Units per Transaction (UPT) is calculated by dividing the total number of units sold by the total number of transactions for the same time (day, month, year, etc..)

Units per Transaction (UPT) = No. Of Units Sold ÷ No. of Transactions

For example, in February, the store sold 1210 pieces of merchandise and had 345 transactions for the same month.

UPT for February = 1210 ÷ 345 = 3.5

Concluding that, on average, each customer bought 3.5 units from the store that month.

The importance of Units Per Transaction

1. Measuring Markdown Effectiveness

Evaluating UPT is a key metric to measure the success of sales and markdown events. By closely monitoring this KPI during discount periods, management can gauge whether customers respond positively to price reductions or new merchandising efforts. With an understanding of how well inventory moves at sale prices, stores can also ensure they’re meeting their objective: clearing stock without losing profit margins.

2. KPI For the Store Team

As a store manager, UPT is an essential KPI to track performance and measure success. By achieving higher targets for Upsells & Promotions Transactions (UPT), it showcases the team’s ability to help customers seize great deals from your store and improve overall sales figures! To further reward successful efforts of upselling/promoting items in-store, many retailers hold IPC/UPT Competitions that encourage teams to exceed their goals.

It can also indicate good visual merchandising at this store by highlighting products that encourage customers to buy different items together or whole room groupings.

3. Improving Sales

One of the many ways to capitalize on existing traffic and increase sales without spending more on marketing is simply working on improving UPT.

4. How to Increase UPT?

Units per Transaction (UPT) can be increased with the following:

• Bundle Offers (e.g., Buy 2 Get 1 Free) and discounts
• Cross-Selling
• Add-ons
• Visual merchandising techniques
• Hiring Skilled Salespeople
• Conducting UPT Competition Among Stores

Conversion Rate

Maximize your profits without sacrificing budget or margins by improving the conversion rate in your store! By considering how many people purchase from you out of all those who visit, you can better understand what will help increase sales and make more efficient use of marketing dollars.

Conversion Rate = no. of transactions ÷ traffic x 100

For example, if 400 people enter your store and 40 people buy.

Conversion rate will be 40 ÷ 400 x 100 = 10%

You will be impressed by how much a one-point conversion rate increase can add to your top line.

Sales = traffic x conversion x average transaction value (ATV)

To clarify the situation, let’s consider a hypothetical example in which traffic and ATVs remain constant.

Traffic x conversion x ATV = Sales

500 x 20% x $2,000 = $200,000

300 x 21% x 200$ = $210,000

How to Increase Conversion Rate in Retail?

The conversion rate in retail and eCommerce is directly tied to customer satisfaction. If people can find what they’re looking for, their shopping experience will likely end with a purchase. To address this issue and increase conversion rates, pinpointing the areas where customers are not finding inspiration is key – allowing retailers to bridge those gaps through targeted solutions.

 1. Improving Product Knowledge

A successful sales team has the power to drive conversion rates up! Keeping your staff well-versed in their products means they can identify available alternatives for customers when requested items are out of stock. A knowledgeable sales member helps build confidence, enabling smooth navigation toward purchasing other options and closing higher numbers of deals.

2. Hiring the Right Salespeople

Maximizing sales and conversions requires finely tuned expertise – the right salespeople. Furnishing customers with personalized solutions is often challenging, but skilled personnel can find successful avenues to offer possible resolutions that overcome friction in the selling process. Even if leads are dispersed among staff members evenly, those who capture a higher conversion rate likely do so because of their persuasive negotiating ability. Having professionals on your team increases success throughout every facet of customer transactions!

3. Changing Store Layout & Navigation

A customer’s shopping experience is crucial to their purchase likelihood. Clear in-store navigation signs could effectively improve the process, increase sales, and ensure customers can find your products quickly and easily. Additionally, when considering store layouts online or in physical stores, it’s essential to optimize the overall journey from browsing categories efficiently to eventually selecting items with relevant filters like size/color rather than focusing on aesthetics only.

4. Avoiding Analysis Paralysis

With an abundance of choice often comes hesitation – research has revealed that customers can be easily overwhelmed by too many product options and, as a result, are less likely to complete their purchase. By following the 80/20 Rule, you can ensure consistent sales: 20% percent of your products will give you back up to 80% profits! It is essential to analyze your current selling patterns carefully to refine buying decisions accordingly to guarantee success for both customer satisfaction and commercial objectives.

 5. Capturing Missed Opportunities

Make sure you are capturing every potential sales opportunity – by having a system in place to recognize items that customers couldn’t find and then doing your best to make those products available later on. You will increase not only customer satisfaction but also boost conversion rates. You can find this out for eCommerce by analyzing customer search behavior – both on their platform and off. By understanding the keywords, customers utilize when looking for products, they have a much better chance of stocking items that will improve conversions and increase traffic through more relevant product offerings. Brick & mortar locations should also observe consumer inquiries to identify missed opportunities; documenting requests from multiple storefronts is an efficient way for merchants to pinpoint high-demand goods, which could be beneficial investments in inventory.

6. Implementing Easier, Faster Checkout

Many customers will leave the store, despite needing the product, if they find out they will have to wait too long to check out. The same applies to e-commerce. Make your checkout page simple & fast and highlight payment methods that people prefer & trust. Also, consider guest checkout if it will work for you.

Retail is a numbers game! You will find, over & over again, that tweaking just a single variable in your conversion, Average Transaction Value (ATV), and Units Per Transaction (UPV) will improve your sales performance and increase profitability.

If you are facing a flatlining sales record, the cause may be one of your team members. This low performer can weigh on morale and harbors repercussions beyond their results: it impacts the whole company’s success. Coaching such underwhelming performances is tricky; it requires ingenuity and skillful management for them to start selling successfully again. In this article, we will discuss how to coach a low-performing salesperson effectively.

Encourage personal development can improve confidence

Confidence is a significant factor in sales success and those lacking this trait often need help to close deals. To support your low-performing staff and help them achieve peak performance, give them the resources they need – such as one of these inspiring books, which could potentially transform their mindset and ability.

• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Solutions like motivational books can help increase self-confidence and break through any barriers that may be standing in the way of success. Remember, it’s vital also to double-check your sales process for other issues beyond low confidence – addressing these two aspects will ensure optimal progress on both fronts.

Product Knowledge

A salesperson’s confidence can take a hit if they need to be better versed in their product. To ensure success, arm them with helpful resources such as product sheets and videos which explain how it works and the features and benefits, plus provide one-on-one training sessions for specific questions with trainers or manufacturer reps. Encourage staff to take notes during these sessions as an additional learning aid when engaging customers.

Overcoming Objections

Even the most experienced salespeople will encounter customer resistance periodically – so it’s vital to equip your less successful team with strategies for overcoming objections. Doing this can help them boost their performance and give customers a powerful, positive experience.

To equip your sales team with the best methods to address common customer objections, create a document that outlines how each objection can be overcome. Provide this resource to those struggling and then hold role-playing sessions.  In these sessions pose as customers raising various objections. Such exercises will provide necessary practice for conquering real-life scenarios.

Provide helpful, effective sales scripts

Struggling salespeople may need help to open and close conversations with customers. To help them rise above these obstacles, provide a personalized sales script that outlines key ideas they can use in their own words during customer interactions. Ask your team what type of guidance they need the most, then equip them with the right resources to increase their success rate!

Teach the salesperson how to listen actively

Listening is critical to sales success; it enables your team to uncover the knowledge they need and craft personalized solutions that will make a positive difference in their customers’ lives. You can build trust and create opportunities for successful sales with active listening. By teaching your team these communication skills now, you’ll benefit from its long-term rewards.

Coaching Sessions

Coaching a struggling sales rep is an excellent opportunity to gain insights into your team’s challenges. Before starting, carefully analyze their process for flaws and consider listening in on the sales floor for evaluation. By taking this approach, you can suggest effective strategies to improve their performance while providing valuable information to use when making future hiring decisions, allowing you to create and maintain high-performing teams.

Although it may be difficult, coaching a low performer is essential for any sales manager. Using the techniques we’ve outlined, you can help this individual improve their performance and get back on track to contribute to your team’s success. To do this, you must make your sales meetings engaging and provide actionable and motivating feedback.

For centuries, retail was a pretty straightforward proposition. Merchants opened stores, and customers came to those brick-and-mortar locations, browsed with the help of a knowledgeable sales associate, and went home with their purchases. While that model is still at the heart of modern merchandising, today, the most successful retailers pair that high-quality in-store experience with a carefully crafted website, seamlessly blending a store visit with the thrilling online eCommerce experience shoppers crave. Shoptelligence CEO Laura Khoury puts it this way:

“eCommerce has shifted from an add-on to a retailer’s digital foundation that permeates every step of the customer journey, from discovery to delivery. Shoppers don’t go from site to store. They start onsite and rely on some form of digital to enhance every interaction they have with a retailer.”

Comprehending the Value of eCommerce

To understand what an upgraded eCommerce plan can do for your business, begin by checking out the current size of the online shopping industry:

• 96% of Americans have purchased something online in their lives. (George Washington University)
• In 2021, retail e-commerce sales amounted to more than five trillion dollars worldwide. Experts expect this figure to grow by 56% over the next few years, reaching over eight trillion dollars by 2026. (Statista)
• Nearly 20% of all retail spending this year will be done online. (Shopify)

• To devise an effective omnichannel eCommerce strategy, you’ll also need to incorporate an understanding of how mobile devices come into play.

Meeting Shopper Expectations through Personalization

As the eCommerce sector has grown, shopper expectations have grown too. The most mentioned benefit of eCommerce among consumers worldwide is the ability to shop anytime, but more than simply creating a website is required. You’ll need to offer them a personalized experience that meets them where they want to shop and travels with them on their path to purchase, accompanying them across all channels, back and forth from online to in-store and back again.

What is Personalization?

Personalized online shopping offers consumers a tailored user experience, curating product discovery and communication to their tastes, preferences, and budgets. Unfortunately, many efforts at personalization fall flat by failing to reflect the shopper’s priorities and preferences. The best-received, most full personalization is much more than simple “if you like this, you’ll love that” recommendations. Top-notch personalization demonstrates that you know the customer, understand their priorities and can help solve their problem, often in ways they haven’t even thought of yet. Combine that data-driven personalization with the human touch provided by personal assistance, and you’ve got a winning formula.

The Value of Personalization

Numerous studies have demonstrated the potential benefits of personalization to eCommerce merchants, including increased engagement, improved conversion rates, increased average ticket size (AOV), and enhanced customer lifetime value (CLV). Segment’s 2022 State of Personalization Report provides valuable insight into the potential gain that personalization can offer your business:

• Nearly half (49%) of consumers say they will likely become repeat buyers after a personalized shopping experience with a retail brand.
• One in three consumers (38%) say that a good experience will cause them to prefer a brand and choose that company again despite the possibility of less expensive options.
• 62% of shoppers say that a depersonalized experience will cost a brand their loyalty. That figure rose nearly 40% from the previous year.

Personalization is no longer the future of data-driven marketing. It’s the most modern, contemporary approach to sales. Today’s empowered buyers expect a lot more from online shopping. They want to feel as understood as they used to feel when they were greeted by a friendly, trusted associate at their favorite store.

Is your business doing enough to give customers what they want and need?

Personalize Customer Experience to Maximize Revenue

Personalization works. McKinsey’s Next in Personalization 2021 Report says, “personalization drives performance and better customer outcomes. Companies that grow faster drive 40 percent more revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts.” Data shows that businesses using Shoptelligence’s proven AI-powered personalization platform businesses have more than doubled revenue per visitor, grown revenue per buyer by 33%, lifted shopper time spent on site by a factor of 6x, increased conversion rate by 150%, boosted AOV by 42%. Most see a return on their investment in only 60 days.

Shoptelligence’s interactive merchandising platform can be installed on your current website, seamlessly blending in-store shopping experiences and offering intuitive recommendations from your current inventory.

Discover the many ways that partnering with Shoptelligence is helping businesses like yours thrive in today’s competitive online marketplace.

It has been a tumultuous year for home furnishings retailers and their consumers as we have navigated various macroeconomic issues. We have seen inflation with rising energy costs, supply chain disruptions, lingering COVID-19 impacts, and regulatory and legislative efforts on clothing storage unit tip-overs. In May of 2022, the Home Furnishings Association’s Government Relations Action Team (GRAT) returned to Washington, DC, for an in-person fly-in. They met with Members of Congress, White House staff, Administration officials, and other stakeholders to highlight the retail furniture response to these challenges. Read on to see more HFA advocacy efforts in 2022 and what’s to come.

Challenging Economic Conditions

Furniture retailers have experienced several factors adding to the uncertainty of their business, including increased demand throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers were forced to work/school at home. That led to extensive limitations on product availability as the broader supply chain was in disarray from ocean shipping to inland trucking. Container rates soared to historic highs, pressuring prices for vendors, retailers, and consumers. Along the way, furniture retailers did all they could to absorb those increasing costs and manage uncertainty. Consumers waited 8 – 12 months for products – there was no better way to illustrate these dynamics than to explain them in person to policymakers in Washington, DC.

While it was not an easy time, furniture retailers and their employees were resilient in the face of an unprecedented business environment. As we continue through this business/buying cycle phase, container and shipping rates have returned closer to normal, and delivery times have become more reasonable. As we begin to adjust, we are staring down the possibility of a massive railroad worker strike ahead of the holidays, threatening huge supply chain chaos. The furniture industry has joined many other sectors to urge the Biden Administration and Congress to intervene and avoid this pending strike.

Furniture Tip-Over Standard

Looking ahead into 2023, a pending regulation from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) creating a mandatory safety standard for clothing storage units will transform the bedroom furniture category. As the CPSC rolled out its proposal earlier this year, it noted that ONE single unit it tested (out of nearly 200) would meet its minimum standard. For furniture manufacturers and retailers, that means all clothing storage units must be redesigned/engineered before they are sold. The CPSC Final Rule was published in the Federal Register in late November 2022, so the industry will have until late May 2023 (180 days) to comply.

With its continuing commitment to safety, the furniture industry-built consensus within the ASTM voluntary standard subcommittee responsible for an existing voluntary tip-over standard with revisions to address concerns from parent and consumer groups. Congress recognized this critical effort – in September 2022, and the U.S. Senate passed a new version of the STURDY Act via unanimous consent (big deal!), which requires the CPSC to adopt the revised voluntary standard as its mandatory federal standard. Negotiations are ongoing in the House to advance this bill to the President’s desk. Regardless, significant change is coming to bedroom/clothing storage units. So, no matter where you are in the furniture ecosystem, whether manufacturer, retailer, or consumer, you must prepare for these updated standards.

Over the last two years, furniture markets have come back in-person, returning the personal touch to this high-relationship industry. Connecting with policymakers in D.C. was valuable for furniture industry advocacy as we can directly share HFA member experiences and commitments to critical issues under consideration on supply chain, ocean shipping, port capacity, furniture tip-over, and more. We look forward to continuing this advocacy in 2023, as these issues will continue to impact all aspects of our industry and your business.