Bricks & clicks do best together

During his presentation at our recent Leadership Conference, Dan Lackner, an executive with com.Score, a company that monitors consumer use of the Internet, made the point that retailers who sell via bricks and clicks do better than those who use only one of the two. 

So, home furnishings retailers might be well advised to target consumers with messages both in print and online.
In making the case for print, a recently released report strongly suggests that consumers are still letting their fingers do the walking when it comes to using the Yellow Pages to get information about furniture. 

The report, by the Yellow Pages Assn., says that consumers consult the “Furniture-Retail” heading in the Yellow Pages nearly 77 million times a year. That ranks the heading at No. 26 out of some 4,000 Yellow Pages headings. 

If you’re wondering what the most frequently consulted subheadings are, the report says consumers “most frequently refer to this heading when looking to buy furniture and bedding (26%), followed by living room furniture (24%) and chairs and recliners (13%).” 

According to Larry Small, the YPA’s director of research, consumers typically look at an average of four ads under the Furniture-Retail heading before making a purchase. 

He said that, “historically, furniture retailers have relied on print and Internet Yellow Pages to help generate business because of the medium’s high return on investment — $14 of profit for every $1 spent.” 

Small also said the lion’s share of Yellow Pages searches for furniture, more than 87%, result in a transaction. 

Lackner told our group that consumers spent a whopping total of $733 million this most recent Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving), sending that number up 21% over last year, and an 84% jump from the average daily online spending totals during the preceding four weeks. 

It seems obvious that when it comes to shopping for home furnishings, consumers not only are using their fingers to do the walking, they’re also using them to access the Internet. 

And with business as challenging as it is, it seems like a good idea to be ready to meet them at both destinations, especially if the ultimate goal is to encourage them to use their fingers to open their wallets.