Calculating your return on investment for commercial furniture can seem a bit abstract at first. Return on investment is usually a quantifiable number that’s derived from the profitability of a purchase, but furniture doesn’t come with performance tracking metrics. Or does it? We like to envision ROI on furniture with a three-pronged approach: We assess the interactability, durability and functionality of the furniture.
Interactability
Arguably the most important metric for measuring ROI on furniture is interactability. How are people reacting to and experiencing the furniture? Word-of-mouth is a crucial advertising tool for a business. According to a Nielsen study, 92% of people trust suggestions from friends & families over advertising. We live in a time where selfies, likes and shares on social media are essentially equivalent to dollar signs. When specifying furniture, try to think of what your end users’ customers would want to see. Who’s the target audience for the business? Millennials and Gen Z are very in-tune with the ambiance of their environments. Every coffee shop they go to they are snapping photos, posting stories to Instagram, tagging the restaurant in food pictures and taking selfies on elaborate banquettes. So, get fancy with custom designs, dream big and impress. People love a place with intentional, well-thought out interior design. Build something beyond cool and you will see the ROI on your hospitality furniture materialize overnight. And, if you do a really good job of designing “Instagram-worthy” furniture, you’ll have social media influencers clamoring to collaborate with you.
Durability
Another metric for determining ROI is the durability of the furniture. This is an important factor for any highly-trafficked hospitality business, restaurants and bars especially. Specifiers should ask questions like: How many double-rubs can this fabric withstand? How serviceable are these booths? Do these booths have spring seats or foam on board? Keep furniture in mint condition by following the cleaning guidelines for the fabric or vinyl. Bleach solutions are usually not your friend, stick with water and soap. Also, commercial furniture should come with at least a 5-year warranty. Things happen in hospitality settings and, inevitably, furniture will receive wear & tear over time. A warranty will protect the end-user from incurring expensive damages. Furniture that lasts is furniture that guarantees ROI.
Functionality
It should come as no surprise that functionality of furniture is often overlooked. Functionality plays into ROI in a few ways. Say you’re specifying furniture for a café, you would want to add power outlets to your booths or banquettes. This will ensure that your customers wouldn’t have to leave to charge their laptop or phone. Another example would be adding privacy panels to the backs of restaurant booths. This would serve the function of providing privacy for guests and lessening the noise in the restaurant. Restaurants that are too loud or too quiet, drive customers away. One last example of functionality would be using a mix of upholstered and un-upholstered chairs & bar stools in a hospitality setting. Elderly people are sensitive to seats that are too hard or too soft, so it’s nice to have options lest they walk out the door and take their business elsewhere. The key takeaway: Functional furniture will retain customers and build brand loyalty.
We like to design furniture that sparks conversations and inspires people. Creating photo-ops and seating simultaneously, we believe furniture can be works of art while still being functional and durable. Get your ROI with our furniture. Start a quote with us today.
Defining ROI on Commercial Furniture
Calculating your return on investment for commercial furniture can seem a bit abstract at first. Return on investment is usually a quantifiable number that’s derived from the profitability of a purchase, but furniture doesn’t come with performance tracking metrics. Or does it? We like to envision ROI on furniture with a three-pronged approach: We assess the interactability, durability and functionality of the furniture.
Interactability
Arguably the most important metric for measuring ROI on furniture is interactability. How are people reacting to and experiencing the furniture? Word-of-mouth is a crucial advertising tool for a business. According to a Nielsen study, 92% of people trust suggestions from friends & families over advertising. We live in a time where selfies, likes and shares on social media are essentially equivalent to dollar signs. When specifying furniture, try to think of what your end users’ customers would want to see. Who’s the target audience for the business? Millennials and Gen Z are very in-tune with the ambiance of their environments. Every coffee shop they go to they are snapping photos, posting stories to Instagram, tagging the restaurant in food pictures and taking selfies on elaborate banquettes. So, get fancy with custom designs, dream big and impress. People love a place with intentional, well-thought out interior design. Build something beyond cool and you will see the ROI on your hospitality furniture materialize overnight. And, if you do a really good job of designing “Instagram-worthy” furniture, you’ll have social media influencers clamoring to collaborate with you.
Durability
Another metric for determining ROI is the durability of the furniture. This is an important factor for any highly-trafficked hospitality business, restaurants and bars especially. Specifiers should ask questions like: How many double-rubs can this fabric withstand? How serviceable are these booths? Do these booths have spring seats or foam on board? Keep furniture in mint condition by following the cleaning guidelines for the fabric or vinyl. Bleach solutions are usually not your friend, stick with water and soap. Also, commercial furniture should come with at least a 5-year warranty. Things happen in hospitality settings and, inevitably, furniture will receive wear & tear over time. A warranty will protect the end-user from incurring expensive damages. Furniture that lasts is furniture that guarantees ROI.
Functionality
It should come as no surprise that functionality of furniture is often overlooked. Functionality plays into ROI in a few ways. Say you’re specifying furniture for a café, you would want to add power outlets to your booths or banquettes. This will ensure that your customers wouldn’t have to leave to charge their laptop or phone. Another example would be adding privacy panels to the backs of restaurant booths. This would serve the function of providing privacy for guests and lessening the noise in the restaurant. Restaurants that are too loud or too quiet, drive customers away. One last example of functionality would be using a mix of upholstered and un-upholstered chairs & bar stools in a hospitality setting. Elderly people are sensitive to seats that are too hard or too soft, so it’s nice to have options lest they walk out the door and take their business elsewhere. The key takeaway: Functional furniture will retain customers and build brand loyalty.
We like to design furniture that sparks conversations and inspires people. Creating photo-ops and seating simultaneously, we believe furniture can be works of art while still being functional and durable. Get your ROI with our furniture. Start a quote with us today.