E-COMMERCE: FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS EXPECT TO QUADRUPLE ON-LINE SALES IN THE NEXT 4 YEARS ¡¾Jan. 05, 2002¡¿ |
||||
| E-COMMERCE: FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS EXPECT TO
QUADRUPLE ON-LINE SALES IN THE NEXT 4 YEARS December 2001 - According to a recent survey by CSIL, on-line furniture sales in general reached more than 500 million dollars in 2000 and represent 1.1% of total on-line sales. This data is relevant if we consider that this is a result of 70% increase as compared to the previous year. Currently about a quarter of American furniture dealers and a fifth of furniture manufacturers take orders on-line, and this makes up respectively an average 2% and 4% of their business. Both dealers and manufacturers expect to triple and quadruple, respectively, the amount of on-line sales in the next four years. 25% of American furniture manufacturers and 30% of dealers consider that the Internet in one way or another represents a challenge to the traditional distribution chains (the manufacturer can bypass the dealer). As far as price trends are concerned, however, to date there is no evidence of a reduction in the price of on-line furniture (except of course for the sell-offs in the wake of failed dot coms) but the general opinion of about 70% of operators in the sector is that "Internet selling will lead to more price competition". Nevertheless, the advantages for the sales outlet should come not so much from the reduction in price as from the series of collateral services the sites can offer, such as real-time information on the state of progress of orders, physical availability of the product and delivery times. |
||||
