Colour Ensures Impact for Mailings to Builders

The Opportunity

Household furniture sales depend on the health of the economy and are strongly influenced by consumer wealth, home sales and new home construction. Although home sales and new home construction have been on a strong upward trend, growth in output value of furniture stores between now and 2007 is projected to rise more slowly than the level of furniture manufacturing.

The slow growth in furniture store sales reflects lack of consumer demand for household furniture, whereas manufacturing growth responds to wholesale trade and business demand.

Value-added resellers can find opportunities.

One potential source for furniture sales is builders who can use higher-end home systems in model homes or, in some cases, even recommend furnishings to home buyers. The placement of a “system” in a spec home adds a strong selling component by enabling potential home buyers to view the dwelling at its best and to gather ideas about how they eventually will furnish it. It also acts as an off-site “showroom” for the furniture dealer. The VAR can use a full-colour, oversized postcard to deliver a cost-effective and powerful business communication to home builders.

The Errington Group Advantage

The challenge for VARs is that not all mail is treated equally. According to the Canadian Postal Service, 78 percent of mail is opened over a trash can. Typically, it has a 1- to 2-percent response rate.

Therefore, the goal of every value-added reseller should be to ensure that direct mail gets read and acted upon before it hits the circular file. On that note, a market study compiled by The Digital Printing Council found that incorporating full colour in direct mail causes response rates to climb to 135 percent, compared to a static, black-and-white document.

A quality document will capture attention. The example used here is a full-colour postcard picturing an upscale home theatre setting in a modern dwelling. The piece literally showcases the products, signalling to the home builder that the reseller can provide a highly professional service.

The use of full colour ensures the card will be noticed, while increasing the odds of higher response rates. Additionally, along with compelling graphics and copy, an invitation for a free consultation is yet another method of getting the desired response.

The Errington Group's print-on-demand solutions simplify creation and production of customized information for different target audiences.

Affordable Catalogues Are Like Extra Feet On The Street

The Opportunity

Today’s furniture manufacturers are paying higher prices for lumber, steel wire rod and polyurethane foam as suppliers boost prices to cover their own rising raw material, trade and development costs.

Meanwhile, unfavourable long-term demographics show that new household formations—a prime driver of household furniture demand—are projected to fall from 1.3 million in the late 1990s to below 1 million by 2008. With fewer prospective customers to look forward to, furniture manufacturers will have to work harder than ever to capture a significant share of market.

More people prefer to browse at home.

Although people shopping for high-end furniture will typically visit three stores, industry analysts note that 80 percent of customers actually dislike furniture shopping. So why not make it as easy as possible for this majority of would-be buyers to at least do their pre-shopping at home? A comprehensive product catalogue can give manufacturers an advantage in meeting consumer needs by previewing their products and potentially influencing buying decisions before they are made.

The Errington Group Advantage

Colour adds greater perception of value. An advantage of digital printing is that catalogues can be produced in colour, inside and out, for less cost and more eye appeal. The use of full colour makes it easier for readers to “see” the furniture in their homes and adds more impact to the catalogue’s contents. The flexibility of digital printing offers an additional range of finishing options in how a document is presented.