Often overheard in a furniture shop: `Just looking’

What happened the last time you walked into a store intending to buy furniture? Did you make a purchase? Or did you leave discouraged?

A recent survey of 2,500 households for the trade journal Furniture/Today estimated that $47.5 billion was lost last year because consumers like you and me didn’t find what they wanted when they shopped for new furniture. The biggest percentages of non-purchases were for futons (50 percent), motion sofas (43 percent), curio cabinets (42 percent) and dining rooms (40 percent.)

My husband, Carter, and I fit the non-buyer profile. After searching in several stores for a sofa table with a few shelves of display space, we finally found an attractive one at a furniture store in Palm Beach Gardens. The only problem was the price. We liked it but not enough to shell out $1,400.

Price isn’t always the obstacle. Industry pros say the furniture shopping experience is far more complex, a combination of emotional and merchandising experiences.

Touchy, feely thing

This survey didn’t ask folks why they didn’t buy. Was it price? Workmanship? A pushy salesperson? Or some other reason?

One of the people who knows why we buy or don’t is Britt Beemer, an Orlando marketing strategist and founder of America’s Research Group. Beemer, who has looked at furniture shopping data from more than 2 million Americans, compiles information on consumer behavior research and strategic marketing.

For the last two to three years, between 36 percent and 38 percent of all furniture shoppers didn’t buy, he said. The non-buyer numbers have been in the mid-to-high-30s for the past decade.

“Furniture is a very touchy, feely thing for a lot of people,” Beemer said in a telephone interview. “Most people can’t tell you what they are trying to find.”

Here’s Beemer’s top five reasons why consumers walk out of a furniture story without buying:

1. They only have a vague idea of what they want. If something catches their eye, they’ll buy it.

2. Nothing in the stores looks new. Beemer blames retailers for not flagging items as “new.”

3. The stores don’t entice them to stay. Many retailers aren’t selling the sizzle. One retailer who does it right, according to Beemer, is Robb & Stucky, which has a reputation for some of the best displays in the business.

4. Price. Consumers see something they like, but it’s more than they want to spend.

5. Consumers don’t recognize the brands. Beemer says both retailers and manufacturers are to blame. (One marketing exec from a major furniture company told me the branding is difficult for the manufacturer because retailers often remove hangtags and labels so that consumers don’t try to get the furniture cheaper in North Carolina.)

Using famous names

One of the ways to sell the sizzle and the brand is licensing, a program where a manufacturer agrees to pay a person, place or company a percentage to piggyback on the well-known name. Think Ralph Lauren, Martha Stewart, Bob Timberlake and Ernest Hemingway.

Robert Skotnicki, president of Global Licensing in Pawleys Island, S.C., learned a lot about retailing in the eight years he spent as an executive in the furniture business. One of his jobs was working to develop the retail gallery network for Bassett Furniture. Back in the late ’80s, Bassett began putting sofas, tables and lamps together in vignettes to show consumers what a room would look like. This is the same concept that has made Rooms to Go a success.

Skotnicki said the folks at Bassett realized that consumers didn’t have the confidence that they could put things together and they didn’t have the time to search for them. If the pros put together the look for them, the shopper knew he or she could be proud of the purchase.

“Furniture is not like buying a pair of pants,” he said in a phone interview. “If you are dissatisfied with something that cost you $12,000 to $15,000, you can’t hide it in the closet.”

Buying a piece of furniture that has the imprint of Martha Stewart or Ralph Lauren gives a similar reassurance. Skotnicki put together a deal between Better Homes & Gardens magazine and Universal Furniture, which debuted at the recent High Point Market and garnered rave reviews.

“I still believe that this confidence [in a well-known name] carries so much weight with licensing,” he said. “It gives the consumer confidence. They know that a neighbor won’t come over and make fun of it if it’s a name they trust.”

But the main reason people shop without buying is because furniture is a purchase that can be postponed.

“You typically shop for furniture a long time,” Skotnicki said. “I am not surprised that people walk in stores and walk back out. It’s not like going out on a Saturday morning to buy shoes. You have to develop ideas and start looking at colors. The process is extended over many months.”

Skotnicki is on target. We’re still looking for that sofa table months later. How about you?

Write Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub, Home & Garden Editor, at Sun-Sentinel, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fl. 33301 or e-mail her at cschaub@sun-sentinel.com.

Information from: www.sun-sentinel.com