On September 15, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released the latest data report on the furniture industry. According to the report, in August, seasonally adjusted sales of furniture and household goods were $11.783 billion, down 1.3% from $11.936 billion in July and down 1.6% from $11.971 billion in August last year.
Among them, the furniture and household goods industry reported a month-on-month decline in total sales in May, and it has experienced a month-on-month decline for four consecutive months in August.
The furniture and homewares sector posted a month-on-month and year-on-year decline in August, making it one of the worst-performing retail sectors tracked by the government. Many furniture and homeware retailers report that while the Labor Day weekend sales that begin in September may bring a boost to revenue, August's performance has made the two months uneven.
Apart from the poorer performance of the furniture and household goods industry, the only other industry with negative growth was the electronics and electrical appliances industry. In August, the industry's sales were $7.589 billion, down 5.7% from $8.047 billion a year earlier.
Overall, the total sales of the U.S. retail industry climbed to $683.291 billion in August, a slight increase of 0.3% from the total sales of $681.3 billion in July, and a sharp increase of 9.1% from the $626.026 billion in August last year.
Can't sell The US port warehouse is full!
Reuters reported that as major U.S. retailers issued warnings that sales of furniture and electronics, as well as other goods, had slowed, goods stored at distribution centers east of Los Angeles were piling up and "overwhelmed."
Today, the largest warehouse complex in the U.S. is almost occupied by inventory, and the entire warehouse has been "stuffed".
However, these goods are also pouring in from overseas, especially across the Pacific, and things are getting worse for the Inland Empire warehouse complex, the busiest warehouse hub in the United States.
Despite a downturn in the U.S. economy and reduced consumer spending, goods continued to flow in at near-record levels. Some of the items were ordered months ago by retailers, many of which were scheduled to be shipped to already overcrowded warehouses in the Inland Empire. Target and other major home furnishing retailers have previously warned companies to stockpile too much furniture, kitchen appliances and more.
U.S. supply chains will be hit by a "bullwhip effect" if businesses continue to panic order goods to keep inventories well-stocked, while goods from Asia continue to flood in, but the market continues to slump and demand suddenly slows, experts warn. critical hit.
The US home furnishing market has a wave of price reductions!
As freight rates and raw material prices have fallen sharply recently, U.S. furniture makers are slashing prices to stimulate the market, hoping to reverse the impact of slowing orders this year on their business.
According to US media reports, many furniture companies hope to reduce the price of products and offer discounts in order to move goods out of fully loaded warehouses to reserve space for new products to be launched in October. There are also businesses choosing to reduce or eliminate shipping surcharges for dealers because freight costs have fallen.
In either case, suppliers want to see the savings reflected in prices, easing the inflation problem that has affected the industry over the past 18 months.
Judging from the information obtained by the US media, many furniture companies have announced discounts and price cuts.