Retail Observer

NOVEMBER 2014 RETAILOBSERVER.COM 53 E. Michael Allen, BrandSource VP of home furnishings, has been with the organization for 15 years and overseen the growth of the category to one of the largest in the country. needs more support for the neck. Likewise, goose down is comfortable, but can be annoying for people with allergies. Memory foam is great for support, but can retain heat. Remember that you're selling more than just a pillow. You're selling a comfortable, great night's sleep, which is invaluable. Once you get that through the minds of your sales team, selling the right pillows, and more of them, will come naturally. We talked to one furniture storeowner who has been particularly successful at attachment sales and who prefers to remain anonymous because the area he is in is so highly competitive. "More and more people are coming into our market, but the market is finite. It's like carving up a pie, we all just get smaller pieces," the source says. "We therefore had to rethink our business and figure out a way to raise per ticket price and maximize every bit of in-store traffic." The source began by making sure that every price point imaginable was represented on the showroom floor—from the $50 mattress cover to the $80 twin mattress to the $1000 adjustable base to the $8000 deluxe king. "We couldn't risk having a customer come into our store and not be able to find what they were looking for," he says. The store also made sure that it's appearance was up to snuff, repainting all the stores and installing new carpet to create a more relaxed and clean aesthetic. "The last thing you want is for your store to look or smell like your grandma's basement." Aside from aesthetics and price points, attachment sales are key to success because they raise per ticket price. For example, our source began selling more adjustable-bed bases and making sure his mattress product line was optimized for the subsequent attachment sale of an add-on adjustable base. He also instituted a program that gives customers more flexibility on return dates based on the type of mattress cover they purchase. The higher the cost of the cover, the longer time period allotted for a customer to return his or her mattress. Because most people return their mattresses within 30 days if they are unhappy with them, this program posed very little risk to the storeowner. It gives the customer peace of mind while boosting ticket averages for a win-win scenario. In fact, by emphasizing attachment sales such as adjustable beds and mattress covers, this particular retailer is actually doing better than he was at this time last year, despite an approximate 20% decrease in foot traffic due to increased competition. So the question isn't whether or not you are going to begin to focus on attachment accessory sales, but how you're going to deploy your own particular strategy. With stiff competition, you can't afford not to. RO

• Cover