Mega Group USA unveiled a new mattress gallery and several other new programs at its biannual convention here this month at the Louisville Downtown Marriott.
Mega Group USA members check out the new America's Mattress Gallery program, launched at the buying group's fall dealer convention.
The furniture, electronics and appliance buying group, in partnership with Serta, introduced The America's Mattress Gallery program, a 1,200-square-foot display featuring 16 Serta SKUs from Serta's iComfort and iSeries lines, Dreamhaven Elite Perfect Sleeper and other Dreamhaven bedding, as well as Serta's Sleep To Go top-of-bed products.
More than half the SKUs are exclusive to Mega Group USA dealers, "offering strong retail price points from $299 to $999, giving the members generous margins," the buying group said in a release.
Mega Group said it received overwhelming response to the gallery program at its convention, which drew more than 700 attendees, including about 400 dealers. The turnkey package included more than $35,000 of products and displays. Qualified dealers were to receive launch support, training, business analytics, advertising, local field support, and a $2,500 show special advertising bonus.
"This gallery program provides our members yet another competitive advantage in the marketplace," said Jerry Honea, the buying group's chief operating officer and furniture division manager. "We have already identified over 30 qualified candidates for the gallery and expect to start installing very soon."
Mega also added two new consumer electronics suppliers to its roster of more than 85 vendors, including Powerhouse Alliance.
Web marketing was another focus of the fall convention with the launch of a revamped merchandising application call Mega RetailDeck. This enables retailers to view multiple product images, detailed specifications, related colors and accessories and more product information from any Internet-enabled device. The app can also print price tags and QR codes.
The group also launched a new version of the Basic package for is WebFronts dealer websites program, including new designs, enhanced search engine optimization, free mobile site support, an upgraded product menu and an enhanced image gallery.
Mega Group USA said more than 1,000 of its dealer members already are using WebFronts basic sites and more than 250 members have premium sites.
Mega's business services division announced a product protection program for its furniture dealers, with increased coverage, easy claims process and value pricing, the group said.
In addition, the group announced Mega U, a four-part, low-cost online training module designed to improve sales, business management, customer service and personal development.
Other new business services launched at the show included a new program with Profit Management Promotions to assist dealers with long-term promotional events and specials; and "show only" deals with GE Capital, Why Not Lease It and others.
The fall convention in Louisville featured keynote speakers Don Hutson, co-author of "The One Minute Entrepreneur" and "The One Minute Negotiator," who shared techniques for maximizing retail sales performances in competitive times; and Stephen Happel, associate dean and professor at Arizona State University, who told what he believes the November elections will mean for the U.S. economy over the next two years.
Mega Group USA President Rick Bellows said he was pleased with the convention, adding that supplier partners "expressed that attendance and dealer participation was the best they had ever seen."
The group's spring show will be held in Dallas at the Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center, March 9-12.
Mega Group USA has 1,600 retail members with 3,000 stores.