Dazzling Promotions in Furniture Market

"Golden September and Silver October" is a traditional phrase in China, indicating the peak time for many businesses. But this year's season is turning out to be a sluggish¹ one for many sectors², such as real estate, which in turn is having an impact on furniture sales. Many furniture sellers in Beijing are racking their brains about how to improve sales that are suffering along with the dismal³ real estate market as fewer people buy apartments and furnish them.

Let's follow our reporter Liu Min to find out more.

 
The discounts on offer at many furniture malls are high with some sellers offering as much as 65 percent off. The merchants not only are posting discount posters everywhere in door, but also promoting second-kill auctions⁵ on their websites. This is the first time they have resorted to a dual-strategy by selling both on the spot and online. Some customers say they've managed to buy their favorite items at low prices by bidding online.

"I bid for the sofa and got it for only 1,500 yuan and the CD shelf for 40 yuan. This chair was only one yuan. I got by joining the second-kill auction⁴."

Furniture malls are promoting discounts on different brands at various times.

Song Hai, a sales manager at Juku Furniture Mall, says sellers are encouraging customers to do group purchases to get favorable deals.

"Every week we promote a certain furniture brand at the lowest price offered in the market. At the same time, furniture manufacturers and the mall need to give in profit for such campaigns."

High discounts can also be found for building and decoration materials.

Xu Hongsheng, a manager at Oulusha Bathroom Design Company, says his firm has had to cope with the dismal market situation. His company used to make a 20-percent net profit from sales, but now it gets only eight percent. Yet, the company must continue selling.

"Now fewer people need interior decoration because of weak sales in the property market. In order to maintain our market share, we've had to offer huge discounts, and hopefully we can sell more by doing this."

During the first six months of the year, both new and secondhand home sales remained sluggish. Take Beijing, for example. Its volume of real estate sales dropped 20 percent in August compared to the previous month. The situation has greatly affected⁶ furniture and building material sales.

Wang Linpeng is a market insider from Juranzhijia Furniture Company.

"The down performance of the property market has directly overshadowed our industry. The peak season this year won't set good sales records any more. We are now only hoping for a slight increase in sales volume."

But fierce competition among sellers has definitely benefited consumers. Many say they've been dazzled by all kinds of low-priced offers in the market.

"The deals are quite favorable now for us."

"It seems like the golden season is still a good time for us to hunt for economical products."

Market insiders remind consumers to make rational buying decisions when shopping during this period, not be blinded by discounts, and pay more attention to product quality and after-sales services.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.

1 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。

2 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

4 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

5 auctions   

n.拍卖，拍卖方式( auction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They picked up most of the furniture at auctions in country towns. 他们大部分的家具都是在乡村镇上的拍卖处买的。 来自辞典例句
• Our dealers didn't want these cars, so we had to dump them at auctions. 我们的承销商都不要这些车子，因此我们只好贱价拍卖。 来自辞典例句

6 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。