What do you think? From emerging trends to the latest business principles, Furniture News is setting out to gauge the trade’s feelings on a variety of industry-specific topics. Today, we’re asking our panel: How has your approach to sourcing/buying changed this year?
Kathryn Lukehurst (Lukehursts): It has slowed down. Whilst we are updating discontinued models/ranges, we are also focusing on ranges that haven’t performed, moving them on and focused on clearing stock
Andy Stockwell (Kuhn Rikon UK): It hasn’t particularly changed. Good buying principles always apply – quality, value-for-money products with reliable availability from trustworthy sources who are interested in genuine partnerships
Clare Bailey (Retail Champion): The advice I give is focused on more nearshoring, more collaboration with suppliers as partners, less blind faith in ‘cheap’ containers from far away
Peter Harding (Fairway Furniture): The post-Covid legacy of continued reluctance by some suppliers to either exhibit – or exhibit in any meaningful way – at the key UK shows means sourcing and buying remains a far more fragmented and time-consuming function. This means we naturally have to take more risks on models we have perhaps not seen, as well as relying more on feedback from other retailers to help frame our decision making
Wayne Robbins (Iconography): It hasn’t, really
Jan Duckworth (Cox & Cox): We are seeking out more exclusivity and own-brand lines, balancing the range better for keener competitiveness, without compromising on quality, style or design
Steve Adams (Mattress Online): We’re looking at overseas in more detail as a way to mitigate the increasing costs of UK-sourced products – by no means are we moving away from primarily UK manufacturing, but more as a potential blend to help with rising costs
Steve Pickering (Sussex Beds): It’s become more data-driven, more flexible, and more focused on partnerships than transactions. Gut instinct still plays a role – but now it works alongside a dashboard
Ian Priestley (Furntech): Over more recent years I have learnt to take a more detailed look at the factory itself and their supporting infrastructure – product pricing and quality should not be sole considerations. I can see this off-product expectation is growing YoY with buyers, and now look to ready-build the answers into any tendering
This article featured October's issue.
