Flooring retailers reckoning on revival
Things are starting to get better after slow start to trade
After a sluggish start to 2023, retailers reckon things are just starting to pick up and have high hopes for the rest of the year.
According to our survey, taken in the third week of March, 47% said trade was starting to improve, though 38% had seen few signs of improvement.
More positively, an encouraging 62% expected growing consumer confidence to boost sales in the second half of 2023.
January and February have been slow months in the interiors industry with high infl ation and the cost-of-living crisis suppressing demand. 48% of our respondents said footfall had been poor, and only 19% said it had been good. The entry-level end of the market had suffered most said the majority of our readers.
"We are getting larger orders, so quality over quantity.
Wool sales are up, but synthetic is down," said one respondent
in the Midlands.
On the whole, retailers have been sitting tight in the first quarter. 47% said they had not been discounting to secure sales and only 28% admitted they had. 48% had kept their prices the same during the period but nearly a third (31%) had applied small increases.
"It is quiet but we are converting the vast majority of quotes – 98%. We are promoting the shop on social media weekly and adverts in the local paper. We can only remain positive and things will improve," said a West Country respondent.
A retailer in Kent summed it up:
"The retail disaster that was predicted for January by the
media failed to arrive, and this January was pretty much
like most Januarys - we got by but didn't put any fat on the
bone. February was an indifferent month too, poor footfall,
but those that were out and about, had money to spend.
So far March has been pretty good."
Staffing has been stable in two-thirds of our survey sample while 15% have taken on new people. 10% said they had had trouble recruiting people and a similar proportion had let people go.
About half of all our retailers still reckon their sales over the last two years are ahead of pre-pandemic trading levels though in our end of year survey in December, 43% said the pre-Christmas period was poor and 89% had seen margins decline.
Looking at supplier prices in the weeks and months ahead, most retailers are anticipating further increases with 44% bracing themselves for
significant rises. Only 5% thought supplier prices would start to fall back now.
"We really need more stability in pricing so that we can quote
reliable prices for our customers," said a reader in Wales.
One retailer in the North East mentioned a theme that
has been coming through more strongly in recent surveys:
"Wholesalers opening up to “all trades” is turning them
into the screwfix of flooring. Pretty much anyone is welcome
there now. This is a big problem for small retailers."
