Shoppers Are Delaying, Not Disappearing. Amazon's Sale Starts Tomorrow. Mortgages Hit 7.28%.

Back from the HFA board meeting in Atlanta. This week the news points one way: your customer still wants furniture, they're just taking longer to say yes. The stores that follow up, offer financing early and give a reason to buy now will get those sales.

Same rule as always: if it doesn't help you sell more, it didn't make the cut.

The 60-second version

1. Confidence hit a 12-year low. Furniture is still near the top of what people want to buy. The Conference Board index fell to 81.9, the lowest since 2014. But furniture and smartphones were still the top items consumers plan to buy in the next six months. Bassett's CEO: "Folks are taking longer to pull the trigger."

→ Do this: follow up with every customer who left without buying.

2. Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days start tomorrow, and young shoppers already buy sofas there. The sale runs Oct 6–7. In new research, 38% of Gen Z shoppers had bought a sofa on Amazon and 26% a mattress.

→ Do this: don't match prices. Show what Amazon doesn't include.

3. Mortgage rates jumped to 7.28%. Financing is now part of how you close the sale. The rate was 7.03% a week earlier. In a new survey, 36% of shoppers said financing makes them more confident buying furniture, and 37% have put off a purchase because they couldn't justify the price.

→ Do this: bring up financing in the first five minutes, not at the register.

Your week, in order

Now–Sat — National Furniture Safety Week. Post one tip-over or anchoring tip. HFA has free ready-made content you can use.

Tue–Wed — Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. Put one side-by-side comparison sign on your floor (details below).

Fri, Oct 9 — High Point new company applications close, 5 p.m. ET. This only matters if your store has never registered. There's no way to apply on site.

Sat–Mon — Columbus Day weekend (Oct 10–12). Make your offer short enough that a customer could repeat it in one sentence.

Wed, Oct 14 — High Point pre-registration closes, 6 p.m. ET. The buyer badge is free until then and $30 on site.

① The customer who hasn't decided yet

WHAT HAPPENED

Consumer confidence fell to 81.9 in September from 88.6, the lowest since 2014. The Conference Board said mentions of prices, and of gas prices in particular, "rose to new heights." Still, furniture and smartphones were the top things consumers planned to buy in the next six months.

Bassett's third quarter shows what that looks like in stores. Sales rose 3.4%, the four-week Labor Day event was up 9%, and e-commerce written sales were up 48%. CEO Rob Spilman: "I do feel that folks are taking longer to pull the trigger." Also: "The bigger ticket business was very good in the quarter."

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

These sales are delayed, not lost. A customer who walks out on Saturday is probably still shopping the next weekend. Whoever is still talking to them then has the best chance at the sale. Also notice Bassett's online number: the customer researching from home is a bigger share of the sale than it used to be, even for big-ticket pieces.

→ DO THIS: Follow up three times with every customer who leaves without buying.

• Same day: text a photo of the piece they sat in.
• Day 3: send the monthly payment number.
• Day 7: send an update on stock or delivery timing.

That's three short messages. Most stores never send even one.

② Amazon week

WHAT HAPPENED

Week 4 of the Consumer Insights Now study of Gen Z (ages 18–29) asked what they've bought on Amazon:

• Sofa: 38%
• Occasional & office furniture: 33%
• Primary bedroom furniture: 32%
• Mattress: 26%

The reasons they gave were convenience, selection and price, and they also called Amazon a retailer they trust. Amazon's Prime Big Deal Days run Tuesday and Wednesday. Adobe expects online furniture sales to reach $33.4B this holiday season (+7.3%), with an average furniture discount of about 18%. It also expects shopping traffic from AI assistants to grow 130%.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

Last week's study showed Gen Z believes store furniture is better quality. This week shows they buy online anyway. A shopper who thinks your piece is better still won't pay more unless you explain what the extra money gets them. And more of that research now starts with a question typed into an AI assistant.

→ DO THIS: Make one comparison sign for your best-selling sofa, and do the same online on that product's page. List what the online version leaves out: delivery, setup, taking away the old piece, a warranty you handle yourself, and someone who answers the phone in March. Those five things usually explain the price difference. Right now customers count them as worth nothing because nobody has told them otherwise.

③ When furniture feels "worth it"

WHAT HAPPENED

An Ipsos survey sponsored by Wells Fargo Retail Services asked shoppers what makes furniture worth the price:

• 51% said quality and durability are essential
• 44% said it's worth it when the piece is exactly what they want
• 37% have put off a purchase because they couldn't justify the price
• 36% said financing makes them more confident
• 26% said financing let them buy the version they actually wanted

Bob's Discount Furniture CEO Bill Barton put it in one line this week: "Value means price plus quality, style, experience, convenience and trust."

WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU

Many customers who say "let me think about it" have already decided they want the piece. What they haven't settled is whether they can justify the cost. A monthly payment helps answer that. Bringing it up at the register is too late, because they've already decided they can't afford it.

→ DO THIS: Put the monthly payment on the tag next to the price for your top 20 pieces, and on those product pages too. Ask your team to mention financing while the customer is still choosing, not after.

④ Three family stores, three different endings

Ideal Furniture, Birmingham, AL is closing after 83 years, with a sale running through Oct 31. Carlson's Furniture & Mattress, Klamath Falls, OR opened in 1958 with $3,500 in inventory and is closing because the owner is retiring: "I've been here 45 years, and it's time to move on." H.L. Stephens, Montour Falls, NY isn't closing. The founder is retiring and his son is taking over.

Clay Wahlquist, who runs store-closing sales for a living, said it plainly: "One of the primary reasons stores close today is the lack of a succession plan." Bo Stump at Home News Now described the wider trend: "The strong are getting stronger!" He also notes that family offices and search funds are now buying independent stores as private equity steps back.

→ DO THIS: If you don't have a written plan for who runs the store after you, start one this quarter. Your options are a family member, a manager or an outside buyer. Any of them is better than not deciding.

High Point is 12 days out (Oct 17–21)

• Bassett opens a new 44,000 sq ft showroom Oct 15. Kincaid has a ribbon cutting at its new 12,000 sq ft space on Oct 16 at 5:30 p.m.
• GigaCloud is tripling its space and adding drop-ship "extended aisle" programs outside furniture, like outdoor cooking, fitness and pet. "Big and bulky doesn't stop with furniture."
• Coaster is showing 60+ handmade pieces from India, worth a look if you want something your competitors won't carry.
• DeRucci, which says it has 45% of China's premium mattress market, is entering the U.S. with AI "smart" mattresses at 300 E. Green St. Pricing hasn't been announced yet.
• The HFA Retailer Resource Center is in Showroom 1-527, Plaza Suites, with free seminars on AI, marketing, logistics and customer experience.

Tariffs, briefly: furniture was left out of the new U.S.–China "30-for-30" tariff relief list, while home textiles, decor and housewares were included. The Section 232 furniture tariff is still 25%, with the increase scheduled for Jan 1, 2027.

The numbers, in plain English

• 30-yr mortgage: 7.28% ▲ (was 7.03%). Fewer people moving, so fewer new homes to furnish. Look for buyers among people staying put and fixing up.
• Consumer confidence: 81.9 ▼ (was 88.6). Worried, but furniture is still near the top of their wish list.
• Jobs (Sept): +29K (4.2% unemployed). Far below the 84K forecast. Hiring has slowed, but people still have jobs.
• Consumer spending (Aug): +0.9% ▲. People are still spending. Inflation was 3.4% over the past year.
• Fed hike odds, Oct 28: ~17% ▼. The weak jobs report made an October hike less likely. Markets still expect one by December.
• Diesel: $6.34 ▼ (record $6.53, 9/22). Down a bit from the record. Delivery costs are still high, so check your delivery fee.
• Gas (regular): $4.37 ▼ (was $4.48). September set a record for gas prices. Customers notice it every week.
• Container freight: $4,434 ▼ (per 40-ft, −1%). Shipping rates from Asia are easing during China's Golden Week holiday. No change to your costs yet.

Sources: Freddie Mac (Oct 1), Conference Board (Sept 29), BLS (Oct 2), BEA (Sept 30), CME FedWatch (Oct 2), AAA (Oct 4), Drewry (Oct 1).

Coming up

Oct 9 — University of Michigan consumer sentiment, first October reading

Oct 14 — September CPI (inflation)

Oct 15 — September retail sales, including furniture stores. August was up 1.9% from a year earlier, the first gain since last October.

Oct 17–21 — HIGH POINT FALL MARKET

Oct 28 — Fed rate decision

Nov 4 — Ethan Allen shareholder vote between two competing board slates. Wayfair reports Q3 the same morning.

One thing before Friday

Text every customer who left without buying in the last 30 days: one photo and one sentence. Most of them haven't bought anywhere yet. They're just taking longer to decide.

Reply with a question. The best one gets a full answer next week.

About us, briefly. DOVR has worked only in furniture since 2016. We run 1,000+ retail storefronts for independent furniture retailers across North America, with 100+ manufacturer catalogs integrated. We're the #1 Shopify Partner in home furnishings. We handle storefronts, catalog automation, local SEO and AI search, paid ads, and your real inventory on a tablet on your sales floor.

Free AI Visibility Audit. Adobe expects AI-assistant shopping traffic to grow 130% this season. We'll check where your store shows up when a shopper asks an AI assistant about the brands you carry. It's free and there's no sales pitch.

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Best, DOVR Intelligence