DFS is abandoning its everlasting sales and pushing the quality message. Is there a lesson here for the KBB industry? Retail expert Glynn Davis thinks so...

Sofa specialist DFS was founded 42 years ago in the village where my grandparents lived, called Carcroft, on the outskirts of Doncaster. And DFS is still located there today.

The DFS TV adverts and the company's never-ending sale have become a bit of an ongoing joke. It would be promoting the 'last days' of one sale, only for another sale to turn up on our screens the very next day.

Well, after many years, the furniture group has decided to scrap its strategy of advertising its seemingly endless promotions and has instead shifted the focus of its media spend on highlighting its manufacturing credentials.

After all these years, it still continues to make sofas in Yorkshire, as well as in factories in nearby Nottingham - and has in fact boosted the level of UK production from 20% to 30% since Kirkham sold the business to private equity firm Advent in 2010.

And it now wants to shout about this. But doesn't it seem rather strange to abandon a price-focused approach in the midst of a downturn when consumers are increasingly watching the pennies and big-ticket retailers are under great pressure?

Not really. It could be a rather clever move, because in these straitened times, shoppers prefer to buy goods with a high perception of value. And British craftsman-made products still thankfully hold just such a place in people's minds.

Increasing production levels within the UK is not unique to DFS, and we have seen some sanitaryware manufacturers turn back to the UK.

This is not only about benefiting from the reputation that the UK has for producing high quality goods, the move is also related to many other factors. For starters there is the rising cost of labour in many markets such as China, which has increased dramatically over recent years as these regions have become more affluent.

Secondly, the lead times between ordering goods and receiving them is so much longer than with UK-manufactured products. This reduces flexibility in the supply chain thereby limiting the ability to shift production from slow-selling lines to more popular products.
This enables companies to tap into the growing trend for constantly changing inventories, as customers are increasingly demanding new products, up to the minute innovations, and fashion-led merchandise.

DFS can take advantage of this because it is not just selling UK-manufactured goods, but is actually making them in its own factories. It can therefore dramatically shorten lead times by controlling a great chunk of the supply chain, including the design and production process.

Probably the only bit it does not control is the rearing of the cattle for the hides it uses on its leather sofas.