Accessories: Furnishing with Flair

Wire mesh pencil cups and letter trays may still be “staples” of the desk accessories category, but they are increasingly gaining company. As sales of office furniture for home use continue to rise, new opportunities are emerging for retailers to sell an increasingly wide range of products that enable consumers to customize their workspaces with stylish and creative offerings.

When shopping for a new desk, credenza or bookcase, many customers will now replace their old pencil cup or letter tray or lamp in the process, affording retailers a prime opportunity to achieve an add-on sale. Consumers are receptive to suggestive selling techniques, whether it is point of sale signage or cross-merchandising of accessories with office furniture, since the price of desk accessories tend to be incremental to the total cost of equipping a home office with new furniture.

In addition, retailers are only limited by their imagination in terms of the type of products that can be used to accessorize an office space. Picture frames, book ends, document organizers and globes are just the beginning. And, for those who decide to hang on to their existing furniture for a few more years, the clever presentation of products in a lifestyle setting can be enough to tempt them to upgrade their office space with some new accoutrements.