Merchandise matters

Furniture/Today, through its annual Furniture Store Performance Report (FSPR) survey, has been striving for nearly two decades to offer furniture stores a set of benchmarks to measure their own store’s performance up against. Data on furniture stores’ merchandise mix printed in last week’s issue, September 14. A free download of this report is available for the 30 days; click here to receive your copy.

So how did best-selling price points on key product categories perform during fiscal year 2008? Viewed as a whole, they had a positive upswing from last year’s results. While half the price points for the 20 product categories assessed tumbled lower, the other half of the product category lineup stayed the same or rose. Summing up the total percent change from 2007 to 2008, price points rose by a cumulative percent change of 48%. Product categories showing the most increase in price points included master and youth bedroom; those demonstrating the largest decrease in price points were fabric-covered stationary sofas and leather-covered recliners.

As for SKUs and lines, for the 20 products tracked in 2007 and 2008, the cumulative sum of the median number of SKUs was down by 30%. But the median number of lines was virtually unchanged, a total of 65. Ten products dropped in terms of median number of SKUs, while seven products gained SKUs; three stayed the same. Furniture product categories dropping the most SKUs included RTA, formal dining, recliners and bedding. Those adding the most SKUs were desks and master bedroom.

Does your store have the necessary POS software to track best-selling prices, SKUs and lines? Knowing your store’s percentage of sales for particular product categories at their best-selling price point, which lines sell best and how much of your sales are generated by particular SKUs can help keep inventory lean and nimble, more responsive to your market needs.

There was some other good news to report among the statistics collected this year. While the percentage of gross space devoted to selling space remained the same as last year, 68%, the sales per square foot of selling space actually increased this year, rising from $115 for fiscal year 2007 to $130 for fiscal year 2008. This could be a reflection of the increased number of Top 100 stores who answered the survey or it could be a reflection of belt-tightening among the respondents.

As we continue to survey furniture stores in the future, let us know if we’re neglecting something you feel is important. We welcome your recommendations. jfulbright@reedbusiness.com