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Harden Furniture Invests Online to Market Brand

Furniture World Magazine

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Greg Harden, fifth-generation president and CEO of American full-line manufacturer Harden Furniture, announced that his company has directed additional funds to web site development for brand marketing, which includes an upholstery fabric preview function for consumers, search engine optimization and full-time staff.
 
The upholstery fabric preview function is set to launch next month and will allow web site visitors to search the entire Harden inventory of fabric, leather and trims, and to preview selections, suitable for any of the company’s 300 custom upholstered furniture frames.
 
In early 2009, Harden created the post of web site coordinator to oversee the project and appointed Ross Stoltz to that position. In part, Stoltz is responsible for directing consumer inquiries resulting from the preview function to the consumer’s nearest Harden dealer, to complete the sale. Additionally for consumers, fabric swatches will be available at no charge.
 
A 2008 market research project contracted by Harden and conducted by Strategic Decisions indicated that over 65 percent of Harden consumers had relied on the Internet for brand information prior to purchase, which is consistent with other independent consumer studies.
 
“We know from both market research and our own experience that consumers rely heavily on the Internet to pre-shop for home furnishings,” says Harden, who adds that website analytics conducted in-house indicate the dealer locator page is one most visited. “We also know that a favorable search position will deliver more qualified consumers to the Harden web site and ultimately to Harden retailers.”
 
Harden engaged a firm specializing in search engine optimization to provide support for the manufacturer’s web site, www.harden.com, which was redesigned for enhanced consumer navigation in 2008.
 
Online traffic results have increased by 32 percent since the beginning of the year, 66 percent of which represents new visitors to Harden’s web site.
 
“With SEO, our goal is to increase the rate of consumer inquiries online, and order conversion at retail,” says Stoltz. “We have a renewed commitment to Harden point of purchase merchandising as well, and want to help our dealers with effective product displays so that the consumer experience is consistent on the web and in stores.”
 
Given the Internet’s widely publicized ability to connect consumers with brands, Stolz is additionally responsible for Harden’s social network initiatives and related electronic brand development efforts.
 
Harden will exhibit at the fall High Point Market in the company’s 200 Steele showroom, space 133.
 
ABOUT HARDEN
Harden Furniture has employed craftspeople in its McConnellsville, New York manufacturing facility since the mid-19th century to produce fine, heirloom-quality furnishings, including case goods and upholstery.
 
As the only U.S. manufacturer of its kind still producing the majority of its furniture offering domestically, Harden benefits from a vertically-integrated operation conceived early in its history and well managed throughout the decades.
 
Greg Harden, president and fifth-generation family member, attributes the company’s success in part to his predecessors’ foresight regarding sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, as Harden continues to oversee over 20,000 acres of forested lands in New York State, where native black cherry hardwood is harvested.
 
For more information visit www.harden.com.