From the perspective of product categories, consumers with greater purchasing power are increasingly buying living room furniture, including sofas, sectional sofas, tables, and tabletops. Furniture that is particularly favored by consumers also includes convertible sofas and chairs designed specifically for porches and lawns, and other outdoor spaces.

 

In addition, the popularity of multifunctional furniture such as folding tables, entryway tables, camping tables, and three-in-one tables is on the rise in the United States.

 

Consumer preferences mainly lean towards furniture like stools, sofas, and chairs. The direction of household shopping is also increasing demand for stools and chairs in various sculptural shapes, such as lines and pyramids, which is expected to provide new opportunities for market growth.

 

The inherent threat of the repurposed furniture market may hinder the growth of the furniture market. Millennials are increasingly inclined to reuse or refurbish furniture. They opt for more affordable second-hand refurbished furniture, which in turn affects the sales volume of furniture sellers.

 

Furniture is no longer seen as a one-time investment, as new styles are quickly introduced frequently, making previously purchased items outdated. This has led to a slowdown in the market in recent years. Moreover, discarded furniture finds a new home by being resold to new buyers, further reducing the demand for modern furniture. These factors are expected to pose challenges to market growth during the forecast period.

 

Most of the refurbished second-hand furniture involves replacing hardware such as sofa legs, furniture legs, chair legs, handles, hinges, and furniture frames; and changing the appearance of the furniture includes: painting the furniture surface, replacing sofa covers, changing the color of the table, etc.

 

As China exports to foreign furniture enterprises, solving the logistics and transportation issues is key. Currently, many sellers are facing logistics challenges and high costs associated with product returns.

 

Large home products and a large number of furniture hardware products are themselves custom-made, with large volume and high weight. The costs of both the initial air transport and the final delivery are very high, and the additional fees for exceeding the service provider's size and weight limits are very expensive.

 

Especially when selling on cross-border platforms, in order to achieve higher ratings, sellers need to consider the timeliness of logistics, the stability of inventory, and the cost of returns and exchanges.

 

Overall, using overseas warehouses is a more appropriate choice.

 

Although overseas warehouses require storage fees, furniture sellers can regard them as "transit stations" - goods are first shipped by sea to the overseas warehouse to avoid the risk of running out of stock during the peak season or inaccurate stock predictions. And through overseas warehouses, "local shipping" can be realized, which can further stimulate consumers' desire to purchase.

 

At the same time, overseas warehouses can become the "overseas local after-sales service system" for sellers, because overseas warehouses can integrate procurement, warehousing, returns, and supply chain as a new type of logistics center, which can not only help sellers solve after-sales problems, but also help sellers avoid risks encountered in operations.

 

However, before sending furniture to overseas warehouses, sellers need to understand and comply with relevant laws and customs regulations. Here are some aspects to pay attention to:

 

1. Materials and Standards: When exporting sofa legs, it is necessary to ensure that the materials and safety standards of the exporting country are met. Furniture hardware should use materials that meet environmental protection and ergonomic requirements, and meet consumer product standards.

 

2. Cross-border Trade Agreements: According to trade agreements between countries, there may be some special regulations and restrictions. For example, the EU has very strict control over furniture products, and only those with mandatory CE certification can be circulated and sold in the EU market. Before choosing the mode of transportation and arranging transportation, sellers need to understand the standards and certification methods for furniture sales in different countries and regions around the world.

 

3. Appropriate Packaging Materials: Choose appropriate packaging materials, such as foam boards, bubble paper, and cardboard boxes, to protect sofa legs from the impact of vibration, collision, and moisture. The sea transport time is relatively long, and if the packaging protection is not good enough, it is easy to have collision and paint falling issues during the transportation process, and the products are easy to become substandard or need to be sold at a discount, which is a great loss to the seller.

 

4. Packaging Method: Properly disassemble and package the sofa legs to reduce volume and weight, and reduce transportation costs. At the same time, ensure that the packaging is firm to prevent shifting and damage during transportation.