Most consumers are familiar with white-labeled products, produced in volume by a single manufacturer and relabeled and sold through various retailers. Laundry detergent, olive oil, pasta, and spices are products sold in grocery stores under the house brand that are identical or nearly identical to the national brands. Big box, hardware, and retail electronics stores follow the formula. However, some products, such as computers, have slightly different or renamed components, making it more difficult for consumers to price shop and price match.
In the furniture industry, a similar process takes place.
However, furniture stores rarely purchase in the volumes necessary to justify manufacturers creating slightly different products for each retailer. Instead, they source the same products from countries like China or Vietnam and then apply different names, home settings, and photographic techniques to create the illusion of uniqueness. One advantage for consumers is that retailers are required to disclose the country of origin of furniture, providing a starting point for comparison shopping.
Once the country of origin is confirmed, you can compare the dimensions, weight, and materials to verify that a product sold by furniture stores is identical to the products on other sites and other stores and is often much cheaper. So, consumers shopping for furniture should always comparison shop across retailers to save significant money.
