HomeWorld Business 08/30/10 Vol. 22 No. 18 : Page 1
VOLUME 22 No. 18 AUg. 30-SEPT. 12, 2010 THE NEWSPAPER FOR THE HOUSEWARES DECISION MAKER® ICD Publications Las Vegas World Market egas, NY Shows Reveal Shifting Business Views Vegas Exhibitors Rewarded With Strong Big Box, Dot-Com Turnout Vendors: NY Gift Fair Prime Planning Time For 2011 Retailers and vendors forecasted for the fall and beyond at the summer New York International Gift Fair. By PETER gIANNETTI Editor-iN-chiEf LAS VEGAS— This month’s Las Vegas Market was a solid draw for national retailers as mass market furniture and lighting suppliers continue to wrestle with the costs and logistical challenges associ-ated with multiple trade shows and locales throughout the year. Despite the expected absence of the office superstore seg-ment, buyers from big chains were well represented at the World Market Center, most evidently at RTA furniture showrooms. Big-box retailers on hand included Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Fred Meyer, Meijer, Cost Plus, Costco and continued on page 26 By LISA COWLEy associatE Editor Ave Six, a division of Office Star Products, showcased its new RTA Fontana Arm Chair. NEW YORK— Vendors at the New York International Gift Fair expressed a forever-changed business view, resulting from lessons learned from the economic downturn. The recession, coupled with continued concerns over delayed lead times from China, have challenged both retailers and vendors to analyze their business model and con-tinue to plan ahead. continued on page 12 NewYork International Gift Fair Cuisinart: Social Media A Marketing ‘Gam By BILL MCLOUgHLIN ExEcutivE Editor STAMFORD, CT— Social me-dia can be a game-changing ele-ment in a company’s marketing program, enabling it to reach new market segments, drive retail sales and gain critical in-sights into consumer behavior. That was the assessment of Mary Rodgers, director/market-ing communications for Cuisin-art and Waring, during her re-cent presentation, “The Power of Social Media: Driving Shoppers to Retail, from First Point of Con-tact to Point of Sale,” at the 2010 Shopper Insights in Action (SIA) Conference in Chicago. continued on page 18 Innovators in Home Comfort nov nH eC Inno ators isin Home Comforrtfort Performance…Quality…Value www.laskoproducts.com www.laskoproducts.com
Vegas Exhibitors Rewarded With Strong Big Box, Dot-Com Turnout
Peter Giannetti
LAS VEGAS— This month’s Las Vegas Market was a solid draw for national retailers as mass market furniture and lighting suppliers continue to wrestle with the costs and logistical challenges associated with multiple trade shows and locales throughout the year.
Despite the expected absence of the office superstore segment, buyers from big chains were well represented at the World Market Center, most evidently at RTA furniture showrooms. Bigbox retailers on hand included Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Fred Meyer, Meijer, Cost Plus, Costco and Best Buy. Target.com was among many prominent online buying organizations at this month’s market here.
For RTA furniture suppliers with showrooms in Las Vegas and High Point, such as Sauder, Whalen and Linon, the spring High Point markets might offer better timing for comprehensive new product introductions. However, the recurrent presence of high-volume retailers at the winter and summer Las Vegas Markets has provided strong cause for volume- store furniture suppliers At the World Market Center to affirm their commitment to leasing showroom space at the facility.
Most of the RTA furniture showrooms in Las Vegas showcased refinements and extensions of lines previewed earlier in the year. Bush Industries was among the RTA suppliers with showrooms in Las Vegas— and not in High Point— that used this month’s market to launch several new collections (see story on page 26).
Bedroom furniture was among the most active RTA segment in Las Vegas. Several suppliers, including Legare, Powell, Prepac, Sauder And South Shore, showcased new finishes and extensions.
Suppliers in Las Vegas reported growing online sales for bedroom RTA furniture, in large part because websites offer the “space” to showcase full bedroom collections, including an expanding assortment of platform beds. Those that have refined warehousing and drop-ship practices to serve the e-commerce channel are stepping up efforts to replicate that opportunity for big-box stores that can’t fit bedroom RTA into their planograms.
The Las Vegas Market also set the stage for an expanding array in 2011 of compact, versatile and affordable home workstations, many designed to accommodate the expanding use of laptops. Streamlined, new desk designs previewed in Las Vegas, including several creations from Office Star’s OSP Designs, include models for adults and an increasing selection specifically for children.
Meanwhile, the RTA adaptation of case goods continues to see more new product development. Office Star’s Ave Six division unwrapped new RTA upholstered chairs in several styles and fabrics; and OSP Designs featured its growing collection of Parsons dining chairs.
Linon featured a broad range of contemporary-style accent chairs along with an expanding lineup of counter and bar stools.
New bar stools and tables in several contemporary styles anchored the presentation by LumiSource, which also previewed its first office chair lineup and a number of sleek designs in LED task lighting.
Vendors: NY Gift Fair Prime Planning Time For 2011
Lisa Cowley
NEW YORK— Vendors at the New York International Gift Fair expressed a forever-changed business view, resulting from lessons learned from the economic downturn. The recession, coupled with continued concerns over delayed lead times from China, have challenged both retailers and vendors to analyze their business model and continue to plan ahead.
The uncertain supply situation in China— the result of labor and container shortages— that made it challenging for suppliers to forecast the availability of goods for the back half Of 2010 is influencing business heading into the first half of next year. Adding more worries about delivery delays, ocean shipping Lines have ordered cargo sea captains to drop their speed in order to cut fuel costs, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times.
NYIGF exhibitors who import from China said they are trying to wrap up orders by the end of September so retailers don’t risk not having product in time, a time-line of months in advance over previous years.
Mark Shepherd, CEO of Formation Brands, said, “I want to get that reorder dollar; in order to do that, we have to be early.” Shepherd said he was already presenting fall 2011 trend boards to retailers to get them thinking ahead.
Mary Sisson, regional sales manager for Sisson Imports, echoed: “We want to have everyone pre-booked by September. I’ve told retailers, ‘I’ll let you cancel, but if you’re not booked you may not have product.’”
Paul Williamson, vp of Oggi Corporation, said the company is working with retail buyers to have them order further out and is asking them for their projections on what they will need. For example, if there is a high-turn product that they predict they will need to reorder, Oggi can stock up its warehouse. Maintaining a close relationship with factories is also key when scheduling retail product launches and reorders, he said.
Rising costs are not only present with importing, companies that drop-ship are also feeling the pinch. “Domestic freight costs are skyrocketing; our costs are up 30%,” said Alice Title, vp/marketing and logistics for Pillivuyt.
Despite these challenges, most vendors reported a busy and productive show August 14 to 19, many with nonstop booth activity on the Javits Center’s first two summer NYIGF days, Sunday and Monday. While buyers are still left cautious due to the economy, they were still out looking for new and innovative product, even if they didn’t write orders right on the spot as in pre-recession days, said vendors.
“This economy is making [buyers] better business people; they do more careful planning, which is good,” said Linda Arnesen, president of Linden Sweden. “They are watching their dollars more.”
Many exhibitors reported new customers, and a significant presence from Canadian buyers. Independent retailers Were in attendance, as well as specialty and department stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond and Bloomingdale’s, reported exhibitors. Many bloggers were also walking the gift show, said one supplier.
“The show has a lot of activity and feels more energized,” said Dotti Spillman, sales manager for Blomus. “The economy has caused people to look at what and how they purchase. They are analyzing what they’re buying.” She said buyers were looking for quality, but not putting in big quantity orders. Shepherd added that buyers at the show were “putting their dollars in and going deep” rather than wide.
Cuisinart: Social Media A Marketing ‘Game Changer’
Bill Mcloughlin
STAMFORD, CT— Social media can be a game-changing element in a company’s marketing program, enabling it to reach new market segments, drive retail sales and gain critical insights into consumer behavior.
That was the assessment of Mary Rodgers, director/marketing communications for Cuisinart and Waring, during her recent presentation, “The Power of Social Media: Driving Shoppers to Retail, from First Point of Contact to Point of Sale,” at the 2010 Shopper Insights in Action (SIA) Conference in Chicago.
Noting that Cuisinart has been active in social media activities since 2006, Rodgers stressed the value of such web-based efforts as a means of driving consumers to Cuisinart’s retail partners as well as a strategy for building the company’s brand by reaching out to consumers.
“Our goal is to elevate the success of the Cuisinart brand by engaging consumers with relevant content within the online forums where they are most comfortable,” Rodgers said.
She identified Facebook, Twitter, retailer websites, the blogosphere and viral videos as the most critical elements of the company’s social media efforts and outlined a series of best practices that companies need to undertake in order to succeed Within this rapidly evolving medium. She noted that diligence and consistency— frequently updating content, responding promptly to feedback and delivering a consistent message across all platforms— are critical to maintaining credibility with today’s consumer.
Maintaining constant brand awareness in an environment where changes come on a minute- by-minute basis is also critical for companies looking to be successful in this new media space. Likewise, Rodgers noted that having a keen awareness and understanding of your target audience and their activities in a given medium can often mean the difference between success and failure.
“Focusing solely on sales may have an adverse effect as social media users are generally marketing savvy and turned off by over-promotion,” Rodgers said.
When done well, however, social media can deliver tangible and measurable results. For example, Rodgers pointed to Cuisinart’s Facebook efforts as one such instance where the company has used social media to reach a new audience. She noted that 76% of Facebook users who “Like” Cuisinart are women and 26% are in the 25 to 34-year old age bracket, a demographic that is younger than the typical Cuisinart customer and a key target of the company’s recent bridal efforts.
Additionally, she observed that 77% of the company’s site visitors who come through Facebook are new visitors to the Cuisinart site, reflecting The medium’s ability to expand a company’s potential customer base. Reinforcing the “viral” nature of the social networking sites, Rodgers pointed out that over 50% of the Cuisinart.com visitors coming from Facebook stem from links to other Facebook users. For Cuisinart, the result has been a 21% increase over last year in site traffic and a 35% bump in revenues over the previous year.
Facebook also can serve as a means of gaining and building consumer loyalty, which also translates into improved sales performance. As evidence, Rodgers cited a June 2010 study of 4,000 respondents by Syncapse indicating that “Likers” (those who specifically indicate they “Like” a particular Facebook Post or page), on average spend an additional $71.84 on products they like compared to those who don’t. Correspondingly, “Likers” are 28% more likely to continue using the brand and 41% more likely to recommend a “Liked” product to a friend.
Like Facebook, Twitter has also become a focal point of social media marketing efforts for Cuisinart as for a growing number of companies. To be successful, Rodgers noted that it is crucial to gain “followers,” (viewers who sign up to “follow” the new posts of a person or company in which they have interest). One of the keys to achieving such a following, according to Rodgers, is to have a unique handle, or online name.
“Being referred to by a unique handle is a valuable means of perpetuating a presence on Twitter,” said Rodgers. “It is a means of garnering new followers that may not otherwise have been exposed to the account.”
When successful, such efforts can pay substantial dividends. She noted, for example, that Cuisinart.com’s visits through Twitter are up 500% this year from last year. Additionally, she pointed out that Twitter users Generate two times as many leads for the company as non- Twitter users and that, excluding search engines, Twitter is now the number three referring site for Cuisinart.
The other leg of the social media stool that is becoming increasingly important is bloggers, with “mommy bloggers” emerging as by far the largest and most authoritative community in this new space.
“Maintaining a presence on consumer blogs is an effective means of reaching a younger demographic,” said Rodgers.
The importance of connecting social media efforts to more traditional marketing efforts is reflected in Cuisinart’s use of its core website, which now includes areas designed specifically for consumer-submitted content And interactivity. The company currently devotes nearly a quarter of the active space on the Cuisinart home page to social media activities, including a Baby Photo Contest, MyCuisinart on Twitter, a Desktop Recipe Widget and cooking contests.
Rodgers pointed as one example to two Recipe Swap events the company initiated, that generated significant and broad-based results. A “Fourth of July Picnic Swap” event, for example, delivered a 20% bump in average site traffic, while at the same time delivering six times the normal number of followers On the company’s @MyCuisinart Twitter feed.
In addition to the ability to generate additional sales opportunities and build brand, Rodgers noted that social media allows companies to gain unprecedented feedback from and information about, both existing and potential consumers. “Traditional advertising focuses on what brands try to portray to consumers,” Rodgers explained. “Social media allows, for the first time, consumers to tell brands about themselves.”
She went on to note that, “By running programs with social media and location based media, we can collect both consumer data and shopper trending.”
However, while social media offers myriad opportunities for companies, she noted that it is also easy to become lost in the vast number of emerging options available online. The key, she concluded, is to focus on a core of key outlets.
“Involvement in too many sites diminishes efforts by overextending resources,” said Rodgers. “Choose the venues with significant market penetration most relevant to your customer base.”
