For the furniture industry, the months around the turn of the year are usually the strongest in terms of sales - and therefore the most important. However, furniture retailers had to prepare for shop closures in December 2020 instead of a rush of customers.
Then a ray of hope at the beginning of March: shopping was made possible again with appointments and linked to seven-day incidence values. However, this is where the first problems begin in practice. While this regulation applies at regional level in some federal states, in others the incidence value is decisive for the entire federal state.
How do retailers advertise when the opening steps are so opaque? "Our customers pursue different strategies here. While one furniture company relies on regional leaflet advertising, another client pursues a national communication strategy," reveals Kerstin Schneider from MEDIA Central. "We evaluate the situation every day in close dialogue with our customers and the local distribution companies in order to achieve the best possible advertising success."
The logistics processes and the distribution rhythm behind the direct mail items are also suffering from the current regulations. For example, furniture retailers are sometimes still distributing leaflets in mid-March that should have been distributed in December because the remaining offers and promotions at the beginning of the year are still relevant in the leaflet due to the long closures. This also affects printers and distribution companies. There is not enough storage space to store leaflets for such a long time and, despite outstanding logistics processes, capacity limits are often reached.
Essentials or non-essentials, that is the question here
Other sectors are also struggling with problems caused by the non-transparent opening steps. For example, an internationally active non-food discounter. In order to be able to open in Germany, the product range has to be divided into "essentials" and "non-essentials", i.e. everyday products, and those that are not. At the non-food discounter, these essentials are household goods, for example - but sales are largely generated by decorative and electrical items, which have had to be removed from the shelves.
But here too, the decisions on how to categorise items differ from state to state, and sometimes even within individual municipalities. "We are all endeavouring to pull together and actively implement the current measures - but it is not always clear which measures apply where. This is unsettling not only for retailers, but also for end consumers," explains Nikolas Hamacher from MEDIA Central.
Advertising more flexibly and reacting to current developments? Adverts!
Adverts in daily or weekly newspapers, which can be managed both nationally and regionally, are one way of supplementing the communication of offers at short notice. In the current situation, booking adverts brings great advantages for retailers. "Adverts can be planned and booked quickly and flexibly. We don't have to factor in long logistics chains as there are no haptic logistics - we send the print data digitally at short notice," explains Tilo Neikes, who is responsible for the advertising business at MEDIA Central, among other things. "Flexibility is required when booking adverts. We can respond to changes on a daily basis." The adverts can be planned and controlled very individually and location-specifically on the basis of our geodata.
The use of digital channels in combination with the haptic leaflet or radio advertising can also help to react flexibly to changes in the current situation. Our experts at MEDIA Central will be happy to find a customised solution for you - as a reliable partner during the crisis.