Motion ads sell comfort, choice
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, January 18, 2004
HIGH POINT — It's vital to regularly advertise recliners and motion furniture, but many retailers are finding that it isn't always necessary to scream about low prices in order to have a successful promotion.
Instead, an emphasis on broad selection, recognizable brand names and product comfort will attract consumers' attention and help convince them to open their checkbooks, retailers say.
Price will always play an important role in the consumer's final purchase decision, but retailers say most shoppers are looking for products that offer a good value for their money — a term that shouldn't be equated with the lowest price.
"If we can show 20 chairs in an ad, and then the consumer comes into the store and sees 40 chairs … it gets across the idea that we have a wide selection," said Paul Pedersen, president of Santa Rosa, Calif.-based Drexel Heritage Home Inspirations by Pedersen's.
Pederson's did exactly that in a recent "special order sale" featuring Barcalounger recliners, and the results were excellent, Pedersen said.
The only mention of price was a line of type stating that recliners start at $599. The full-page ad was dominated by color photos of 20 Barcalounger chairs in a variety of styles and covers.
"I think that was the strongest element of the promotion," Pedersen said of the photo layout.
Lifestyle messages
Taking a slightly different, but no less successful approach, was Top 100 retailer Kittle's. The Indianapolis-based chain listed motion furniture and recliner prices in a recent New Year's ad, but the featured items were a Berkline four-seat home theater configuration at $3,999 and a Broyhill motion sectional at $2,699.
"We're using more lifestyle-oriented ads … and recliners and motion sofas are certainly going to be an important part of that mix," said senior buyer John Carlson.
Carlson said the ad was aimed at consumers furnishing family rooms or living rooms, and it emphasized the comfort delivered by motion sofas, sectionals and recliners.
Home theater-related promotions also have been successful at Smith Furniture, a five-store chain based in Louisville, Ky., that also sells electronics.
Jack Kabazie, executive vice president, said the company was especially successful with a newspaper ad that touted a free Catnapper recliner with the purchase of a big-screen television.
Not only did it spur sales of televisions, the promotion enticed many consumers to purchase additional entertainment furniture, he said.
"You have to tie in home theater seating with the electronics. People need to see it in a full home theater display," Kabazie said. "Once we did that, it started flying out of here."
Not locked into lowest price
Recliners moved at a brisk pace during a recent promotion at Newton Furniture, a four-store chain based in Livonia, Mich. The ads prominently displayed prices, but several were anything but promotional.
The featured chair, in fact, was a Barcalounger model for $749, and another Barcalounger chair was advertised for $929.
Noting that his stores are in the same market as heavyweight retailer Art Van Furniture, co-owner Bill Wolf said it's pointless to try to compete with the Top 100 chain on price.
Newton's focus, he said, is the middle and upper end of the market.
"We're in the newspaper all the time, and we advertise recliners at least once a month," said Wolf. "But the upper end of the market is not as price-driven. That's where we can be successful."
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