The Biggest Pain Points in Furniture Retailing in Australia – and How Vivin Solves Them

Managing a furniture retail business in Australia is immensely challenging. Being a store owner or manager means facing immense pressure daily. You must shell out hefty amounts for commercial rent for your expansive showroom, control your sales force, finance expensive marketing activities locally and attract potential clients in.

 

Getting a customer into your showroom may seem like easy enough task, but it is far from being the biggest problem in the industry. From shipping delays and broken pieces to communicating with the factory in another continent, the entire process of supplying furniture is fraught with challenges that will kill your profits and taint your image among locals.

 

Luckily, you are not the only one who is fed up with all those issues. Most independent retailers in the country are having trouble with them as well. In our complete guide below, you will discover the key challenges associated with furniture retailing in Australia, their real impact on your profit, and how teaming up with Vivin Imports gets rid of all of them.

 

1. Uncertain Overseas Shipping Delays

There is one thing above everything else which is the most problematic for any furniture retailer, and that is the very long period of time between placing an order and receiving the product in stock because the products come from overseas manufacturing facilities.

 

A customer enters your store with the intention of purchasing. They have already taken measurements, agreed on a price range, and fallen in love with your displayed sofa. You are excited to make the sale, but then comes the disappointing truth: the production facilities are located in Asia, and your product is going to be delayed by four to five months. In this day and age, people simply do not want to be waiting for something like that.

 

Even worse, once the client agrees to wait, international logistics become an unreliable aspect of your business. A strike at the port, a shortage of containers, or bad weather on the route – all those things can easily add two more months to the wait. Calling your client and informing them about yet another delay results in frustration, angry demands for money back, and bad reviews online.

 

You cannot sell what you do not have. The solution to this problem is provided by Vivin Imports through its large quantities of stock on hand. Our company maintains large Distribution Centres located in Wetherill Park, NSW and Epping, VIC which occupy a huge area of 25,000 square meters and 15,000 square meters respectively.

Rather than waiting for several months for the arrival of a ship, you can place your order directly from our nearby warehouses and receive delivery within a few days. When it’s in stock, it’s an opportunity. We make sure you capitalize on this opportunity right away.

 

2. The Trap of Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs)

But what happens if you decide to bypass the local wholesalers by importing products straight from an overseas factory to save on expenses? Well, the first thing you will come across is the issue of minimum order quantities (MOQs).

 

They would never give you three sofas or five dining tables; instead, they will force you to buy the total amount contained in a 40-foot shipping container of their product. In essence, you will find yourself caught in a trap that will only work against individual sellers. The expense associated with buying the amount will require the locking up of tens of thousands of dollars worth of money.

 

In case you made an error in your estimates and found out that the specific sofa model was less favored locally than you had imagined, you will have tied up your capital in unsaleable stock at the back of your store. With no money flowing through your business operations, it would become impossible for you to do anything else, like advertise or procure new products for sale.

If you collaborate with one of the large wholesalers such as Vivin Imports, then you have no problems with cash flow since the responsibility is ours to pay for full containers. We assume that the entire burden of financing is ours since we are the ones who import the products in full containers. This means that you do not have to order thousands of similar products; you can 

simply order whatever quantity of items that you require at any time.

 

3. Getting Trapped in a Retail Price War

Consumers are highly educated at this point. As soon as they step into your showroom, chances are high that they already have a smartphone in hand browsing for prices.

 

In case you acquire your products from an ordinary open market supplier, chances are that you will eventually sell the same TV, the same bed frame, and the same outdoor lounge as three other stores in your nearby. Once your consumers discover that they could get the same product around the corner, they will ask for substantial price reductions.

 

The only way you would be able to convince them to purchase the product from you would be to reduce its price below that of your competitor’s. In turn, your competitor will go ahead to lower the price further to gain an upper hand. You end up in a bad price cut battle with no profits at all.

You require unique merchandise in order to protect your margins. We have an extremely knowledgeable procurement team that roams the world looking for exquisite designs of furniture. 

We provide an extensive array of unique merchandise in various categories including bedroom, living room, dining room, and outdoor furniture. With our unique product range that your rivals don’t have access to, you won’t be able to match prices. Your customers will simply be captivated by the designs and purchase at full retail price.

 

4. Dealing with Poor Quality and High Return Rates

Offering an inferior product is the surest way to end a retail operation. In Australia, the weather conditions are extremely harsh, and people’s houses are used for a lot of heavy duty on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, offering an inferior dining chair would mean that the legs are going to be wobbly, while selling an inferior sofa would lead to torn fabric and broken furniture within a very short period.

 

In terms of costs related to inferior products, you stand to incur substantial losses.

• First of all, you have to cope with one enraged client.
• Second of all, you need to pay the delivery driver a fee to take away the defective item from the client’s house. 
• Third of all, you need to offer either a refund or exchange for a new product. 
• Lastly, the consumer is likely to spread negative information about you amongst his family members and friends, which means no more sales in the future.

 

You have to make sure that the quality of the items supplied by your supplier is exceptionally durable. Being among the topmost reliable importers in Australia, We are  completely assured of the durability of all our products. 

We cooperate with our manufacturers abroad to make sure that only items which pass strict tests of quality assurance are shipped. We incorporate the use of extremely durable metals, timbers, and fabrics in our manufacturing process. You should rest assured that selling our furniture will lead to minimal returns.

 

5. The Nightmare of Missing Spare Parts

Even the smallest error can cost a huge sale in the furniture business. Most furniture pieces such as bed frames and dining tables need simple assembling at the client’s end.

 

Should the factory abroad inadvertently leave out a little bag of screws, or should there be even one missing bolt from the packaging, your client won’t be able to assemble his bed. He will contact your shop, very irritated that he cannot sleep on his newly acquired bed.

 

If you have sourced the furniture piece from the factory abroad, it may take weeks to source that one missing bolt. Should you keep the customer waiting, which irritates him more, or do you open up a whole new package of costly goods simply to use the screws, only to be left with one more unsaleable product?

Small things make a difference. We have a spare parts department specifically catering to local customers. Since we operate out of Australia itself, even in case of an unusual packaging mistake or your customer losing a bolt while moving, we will be able to send you the necessary spare parts within days. This will make sure  that the customer issue is sorted out within a few days, making your customer happy.

 

6. Managing the Lack of Warehouse Storage Space

The price of commercial property in Australia is very expensive. The most common situation is that all the furniture retailers will allocate large sums of money for the front showroom. As a result, the warehouse at the backroom is very small.

 

This creates one major problem. Where does the retailer keep bulky cargo shipments? In other words, such a retailer has no option but either stack up the boxes in high places, block the pathways, hire additional storage space, or simply let his goods spill over. Spilled-over goods cause many problems for the retailer, including damaged inventory, missing items, and frustrated staff.

 

We serve as your giant off-site warehouse. With 40,000 m2 of warehouse storage space in both Sydney and Melbourne, we serve as your giant warehouses where we hold your stock inventory. You will only need to order limited amounts of products to meet your current demands and fill your showcase display with furniture pieces.

 

7. Frustrating Communication and Time Zones

The running of any business calls for effective communication. The customer who is asking for exact measurements of a sofa set needs an answer right away. Similarly, when there is a delay in orders, one requires immediate response as well.

 

Communicating with foreign factories that manufacture your product poses its own challenges on a daily basis. Firstly, you will be faced with big time differences, hence waking up at odd hours of the day to get an answer on the phone. Secondly, there is a language barrier problem that could cause miscommunication. When ordering a light grey sofa set, one gets delivered a dark charcoal set after waiting for four months due to a misunderstanding in email messages.

 

We totally remove the barrier of communication. The Vivin Imports have offices in Sydney and Melbourne, with another in Auckland, New Zealand. 

For your assistance, you will be able to communicate with our well-trained customer service representatives at our Australian office during regular working hours in Australia. We give you prompt responses, up-to-date information, and easy order processes. No more concerns about time differences or mistakes due to translations.

 

Skip the Shipping Delays with Vivin Imports

Operating a retail furniture store without knowing for sure whether the wholesaler actually holds the products in his/her stock in Australia would be tough. You should work with a wholesaler who has products stored in his warehouse located in Australia and will deliver them to your store immediately after you request it.

 

And this is precisely what we at Vivin Imports do. Our company stores thousands of top quality furniture items in our huge warehouses located in Sydney and Melbourne. In addition, we offer you fast shipping within Australia, exclusive indoor and outdoor furniture designs that you will not find anywhere else, and a full customer support team located in Australia.

 

We manage all processes of negotiating with overseas factories, delivering goods by sea, clearing customs, and performing quality control ourselves.

 

If you are tired of losing sales because you cannot get stock on time, it is time to make a permanent change to your supply chain. Head over to the Vivin Imports today,open your wholesale B2B account, and fill your showroom with furniture your customers will love.

 

FAQs

1. Does Vivin Imports sell its furniture directly to consumers?

No, we solely function as a B2B wholesaler. We only sell our premium furniture to approved retail stores, businesses, and property stylers across Australia.

 

2. What are the locations of your major distribution centres?

We have two huge warehouses to make sure that we can satisfy our retail clients promptly. The NSW Distribution Centre is situated in Wetherill Park (25,000 sqm) while the Victoria Distribution Centre is in Epping (15,000 sqm).

 

3. What kind of furniture do you provide to the retailers?

We have a large variety of furniture for sale to enable you to fill your store. The types of furniture we supply include full bedroom sets, lounge, dining, occasional pieces, ultra-comfortable beds and outdoor settings.

 

4. How do I make an order for my retail store?

After applying for a wholesale account with us and being approved, it will be very easy for you to make an order. You simply go through our entire catalogue and get our live stock levels updated for your convenience.

 

5. How quickly can I get delivery of my stock?

Since the products you have ordered are physically stocked at our local warehouse instead of getting manufactured overseas, we make sure quick shipment and delivery. According to your location in Australia, your orders can even be dispatched within a few days.