Originally published in the June 2016 issue of Home Accents Today

Technology is becoming  increasingly important for specialty retailers, results of the 2016 Home Accents Today exclusive Retail Operations Survey show.

More of these retailers report using social media, email marketing and mobile marketing than they did in the last comparable survey, published in June 2014. Those increases are coming at the expense of direct mail and print and broadcast advertising, all of which showed a drop for the year.

The other key area of growth comes in the use of special events as a marketing tool – 80% of responding retailers now say they host events, compared with 69% in 2014.

Home Accents Today’s exclusive survey results are based on the responses of more than 100 home accent specialty stores. Stores answered an online survey in March and April of this year. Respondents include home accent stores, lamp and lighting specialists and rug specialists. Eighty-six percent of stores operate one location. Retail locations represent all regions of the country with 29% operating in the Northeast, 29% in the South, 28% in the West and 14% in the Midwest.

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