Marketing for kids’ furniture
Nowadays kids know what they want, and if they don’t have the money for it themselves, they just ask an adult to buy it for them. More and more decisions by kids are happening in stores. Families shop together in an effort to save and share time , which allows for kids to see and ask for new things. With online education becoming prevalent during the pandemic, the demand for kids’ furniture has increased.
Kids are impulsive shoppers because they do not rationalize price. Theirs is a world of instant gratification. Kids today want cool-looking bedrooms, which means that home furnishing is also a kid business. For kids and tweens today, their rooms should express who they are. This trend has led companies like Ikea, Pottery Barn, and West Elm to set up shop in the children’s furniture marketspace. Crate and Barrel rebranded its children’s business under Crate and Kids in 2018, and integrated its child-focused assortment of products into its mainstream stores. Given below are strategies that can be adopted to effectively market children’s furniture.
1) Safety as an essential component – When it comes to choosing furniture for kids, adults always have safety in mind. Hence, it is effective to emphasize the safety of the furniture. The focus should be on the furniture’s lack of sharp edges, and on its rounded corners, soft surfaces, and child-friendly materials. The marketing message should also state that the furniture conforms to present day safety standards.
2) Use contests – Contests drive brand awareness without direct promotion. Ikea understood this when they got tweens and teens to design their ideal bedrooms for a contest. The winners won their rooms and got to see their designs displayed in the stores. IKEA understands the dynamics of family today. They also recognized that the tween market provided a niche opportunity to drive new sales and to attract families to IKEA.
3) Color and themes – No furniture business owner should discount the huge effect that color and theme have on kids’ purchasing behavior. Children normally choose furniture whose color is close to their preferred color. Children are also beginning to question traditionally gendered hues. With gender nonconformity issues becoming significant, it is important to use simple but cheerful color palettes. Themes such as cowboys, pirates, and fairy tales are also popular among children.
4) Connect with influencers in the parenting sphere – Finding influencers in the parenting sphere to promote kids’ furniture is easy. Most parents love to get free children’s products, and would be happy to endorse those products on social media platforms. Parenting-related hashtags can be looked up. They lead to popular parents on Instagram who can act as influencers for the brand.. The website for Pottery Barn Kids has a separate section where influencers share designs and offer tips for makeovers for kids’ rooms.
