February 1, 2017

Categories:

• Furniture
• Giftware

Most Popular Rooms in a Home

When deciding a product that people will use in their home, it is important to understand how people use their homes. Whether you sell furniture, housewares, or giftware, your product needs to fit into your consumer's lifestyle if you want it to be a success. With the average home containing seven rooms, tailoring your product to fit into a heavily used room could lead to increased sales. A recent survey conducted by Furniture Today gives a pretty good picture of which rooms people find to be most important.

Most Popular Room to Spend Time in

It should come as no surprise, but . Nearly half of all people asked stated that they spend the most time in their living room. As a result over a third of consumers would like to get new furniture in their living room than in any other room in their house. While you may think that a third is low, it is important to consider that the living room is where we spend our waking hours, but that we sleep in our bedrooms. However, sleeping isn't all we do in the bedroom, nearly half of all people charge their electronic devices, such as phones, in their bedroom, and 15% of consumers surveyed said that they spend more waking hours in their bedroom than anywhere else in the house. As a result, a quarter of all consumers would prefer to purchase new furniture for their bedroom over any other room in their house.

Other popular rooms to spend time in include the den, where another 15% of people say that they spend the most time. Home offices are most popular with 10% of people, and kitchens are most popular with 8%. However, only 1% of people say they spend the most amount of time in the dining room, and another 1% say they spend the most amount of time on their patio, deck, balcony, or other outdoor spaces.

Where do you Eat?

Of course, it isn't just about where we spend time in our home, but also what we do in our homes. Eating, of course, is the one thing that everyone will do inside of their home, and if you sell dinette sets, tableware, silverware, or any other product that people use when they eat, you might want to take into consideration where people prefer to eat their meals before you design your next product.

When it comes to eating as an entire family, the dining room and kitchen are the most popular places to eat. 35% of families say they prefer to eat in the dining room, while 34% say that they prefer to eat in the kitchen. You may be surprised however that 22% of families eat most of their meals together in the living room.

When it comes to where you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the numbers aren't all that different. The kitchen is the most popular room for breakfast and lunch, while dining rooms are the most popular (but just barely) for dinner. The kitchen is easily the room of choice for breakfast with 44% of people naming the kitchen as where they usually have their cereal and milk, that number drops to 35% at lunchtime, and drops even further to 29% at dinnertime. While you may think that this is because the dining room becomes more popular as it gets later in the day, that actually isn't true. The dining room is most popular with 23% of people at breakfast time, but only 22% of people at lunchtime. The dining room however gets its most use at dinnertime with 30% of people stating it as their room of choice. So it is actually the living room that becomes the most popular place to eat as it gets later in the day. Only 18% of people say they prefer to eat breakfast in their living room, but that number jumps to 23% at lunchtime, and up to 28% at dinnertime.

While the kitchen, dining room, and living room are the most popular places to eat, they aren't the only place to eat. You've probably heard of breakfast in bed, and 4% of people say they prefer to eat breakfast in their bedroom, but you may be surprised that that same 4% also prefer to eat dinner in their bedrooms, while 3% prefer to eat lunch in their bedroom. Other rooms where people eat include the den, which is the room of choice for about 6% of people. About 3% of people like to eat in their home office, with lunch being the most popular meal there. You may be surprised, but only 1% of people prefer to eat their meals outdoors, and this was a nationwide survey that questioned people in both warm and cold climates.

Funding your Product for the Home

Of course, it is one thing to have a great design for a product for the home, it is another thing to have the proper financing in place in order to produce and sell that product. If you are struggling to get your business off the ground, or you are experiencing rapid growth, accounts receivable factoring may be the solution you are looking for. Unlike a loan from a bank, accounts receivable factoring is fast and easy, and rather than looking at your credit and past sales, factoring companies look at your customers good credit. If you don't qualify for a loan with a bank, or the bank can't provide you with a large enough credit line, give DSA Factors a call at 773-248-9000 and with one simple phone call we can start funding your business in as little as 24 hours. There is no obligation or long term commitment, and the funds you receive from DSA Factors are not a loan. So call today and learn just how easy it is to grow your business with accounts receivable factoring.

March 21, 2016

Categories:

• Giftware

Candle Sales On The Rise

The end of 2015 was not a particularly good one for the giftware industry as overall orders declined by 2% over 2014 numbers. However, candles not only were the only segment of the giftware industry that saw an increase in orders, but orders increased by 13% over 2014 numbers. Many people may think that this is due to newer, more complex fragrances available on the market today, however, classic fragrances are still far and away the most popular.

The most popular fragrance for both candles and air fresheners in 2015 was Pumpkin, taking over 5% of each market. The next to most popular are Vanilla and Apple, with Vanilla being slightly more popular with candles, while Apple is slightly more popular with air fresheners. Vanilla and Apple both come in at just under 5% each of either market. After that Fresh takes about 4% of the candle market, followed by Cinnamon and then Beach each around 3%. For air fresheners Autumn is next at 3.5% followed by Fresh and Beach which each have about a 3% market share.

While everyone knows these classic scents, they are also readily available from nearly every manufacturer. The key to staying competitive in a crowded marketplace is not just offering these scents, but offering a slight twist or nuance to the fragrance. By doing this you set yourself apart from the other brands while still offering those classic scents that consumers love. A great way to do this is by working with a perfumer in developing fragrances that give you that little extra something that will translate to higher sales.

If you are in the candle and fragrance industry and could use some extra cash flow while you are developing more creative scents, one way to do it is via accounts receivable financing. Contact DSA Factors at 773-248-9000 and learn how our factoring program can provide you with the cash flow you need. With 30 years experience factoring for the giftware industry, we have the knowledge and know how to help your company grow.