Sarah Crombie, Operations Director at Papaya, highlights the case for consolidation in furniture wholesaling.
Every January, the furniture industry sees product ranges swell with new lines: more choice for the retailer in an ever-competitive market for that elusive floor space. Does this always result in an improved commercial proposition for the retailer? Or by October are they full of slow movers with the wholesaler struggling to supply in time and with service levels under pressure?
At Papaya they chose consolidation for 2025. “Thanks to the loyalty of our customers we’d achieved a remarkable 25% growth in wholesale stock orders in 2024”, says Sarah Crombie, Operations Director at Papaya, continuing, “what that enabled us to do was to reinvest in our stock holding and back-up services.”
The idea of consolidation is often viewed negatively in business, especially in an industry so focused on searching for that new range that will yield more sales. This is only natural in these days of constant pressure on the retailer in terms of rising costs, pressure from online direct-to-consumer competitors and economic stagnation.
However, this regular supply of “newness” from a wholesaler can result in a confusion of ranges on the shop floor, an unwelcome complexity in stock management and pricing, and from the wholesaler: slow supply and poor service levels as resources of production, cashflow and logistics come under pressure.
A period of consolidation in which the wholesaler focuses on the key elements of their business: production, product, stock and back-up services, enables the business to improve on their commitment to the retailer customer before moving on to the next period of growth and development.
“At Papaya, we are known for our product quality and our back-up service; in order to maintain these at a high level the business needs periods of focus, discussion with our partners: agents, suppliers and customers, and then review. It is this process which enables us to bring the “newness” into the business on a stable footing.”
Consolidation for the wholesaler involves:
- In depth audit of existing ranges, including sales performance, returns, lead time and feedback.
- Inventory action: a focus on those “hero” products and key sellers, with a trim and tidy of those poor performers.
- Deepen support and sharpen service: a review of imagery, marketing and POS materials, stock holding, improvement of lead times and after-sales processes.
These periods of focus for a wholesaler can bring many benefits for the retailer:
- Better product-market fit: existing ranges are kept due to good commercial viability and new ranges are introduced after discussion with valued partners.
- Improved availability and reliability: consolidation ensures that there is less unnecessary spread in inventory. This results in better stock on key lines, and fewer backorders and broken promises.
- Stronger stories on the shop floor: retail teams can be confident in existing proven sellers and know that new ranges have been well thought out with their customer in mind.
For the wholesaler, does this consolidation mean contraction? “For Papaya, consolidation has brought us year on year growth of over 20% on wholesale interior furniture orders in 2025 because of our improved inventory; but more importantly it has given us a dedicated year to work on our “newness” for 2026 ensuring that we are bringing two new ranges to market that are not only fresh but are of the quality, price and style that we know will work for our customers.”
