Q1 is behind you. The question is — did your store keep pace with the rest of the industry?
This week we’re dropping the Q1 2026 Benchmark Report. Furniture and mattress, side by side — traffic, revenue, conversion, average ticket, be-backs, and more. We also pulled some context from NRF’s freshly released Top 50 Global Retailers list, because what’s happening at the top of the industry has a direct effect on what’s happening in your store.
This week’s blog connects the dots. Improvisation gets you through the early days, but at some point the workaround has to become the workflow — and if your data isn’t clean, you’re not really managing, you’re guessing.
Today's Rundown
Here's a quick glimpse of what is in this week's newsletter.
Global Retail Trends: See what the world’s biggest retailers are telling us about where the industry is headed — and what it means for your furniture or mattress store.
Brick-and-mortar: New store openings now outpace closures as retailers rethink the role of physical locations in a post-digital-first world.
Case Study: See how this furniture retailer gained 5 conversion points in a down market.
Notable News
Trakwell Q1 2026 Home furnishing Benchmark Report
The numbers are in — and Q1 2026 told two very different stories depending on which department you’re looking at.
On the furniture side, foot traffic continued its slide, with daily opportunities down 16% from this time last year. But here’s what’s interesting: sales teams didn’t blink. Conversion held at 39.5% — actually up 2% year-over-year — and average ticket stayed firm at $2,271. Fewer ups, same close rate. The floor is doing its job.
Mattress told a different story altogether. Daily opportunities were up 31% versus Q1 2025, daily revenue climbed 12%, and average ticket jumped nearly 11% from last quarter alone. The prospecting activity driving those numbers is hard to ignore — new prospects more than doubled year-over-year, and over half of all customer interactions were prospecting-focused.
Two industries, two different challenges. One working to squeeze more out of less traffic, the other managing a surge in opportunity while keeping conversion sharp.
We broke it all down — traffic, revenue, average ticket, conversion rate, be-backs, and more — in the full Q1 2026 Benchmark Report.
Notable News
Trakwell's Most Accurate Model Is Here
Our latest tracking model is here — and it’s a big upgrade.
The new upgrade eliminates shadow interference and duplicate counts entirely, pushing counting accuracy up to 100%. That means cleaner data, truer conversion rates, and fewer question marks in your reporting.
If you’re interested in upgrading your store, email us at support@trakwell.ai and we’ll take it from there.
🛍️ From Marketplace to Showroom—and a Surprise
NRF just dropped its 2026 Top 50 Global Retailers list — and a few things stand out if you’re in the furniture or mattress business.
Home Depot ranked 9th with $162 billion in revenue, but posted slower growth in 2025 due to softness in the U.S. and Canadian housing markets. That’s not a coincidence for your world — fewer home sales means fewer people shopping for new furniture and mattresses. It’s one of the clearest explanations for why foot traffic has been under pressure industry-wide.
Ikea held its Top 10 spot at $49 billion, and their strategy hasn’t changed: focus on shoppers in life transitions — new movers, newlyweds, homeowners downsizing.
Sound familiar? That’s your customer too.
The broader takeaway from the list: small discount formats outperformed large ones globally, and shoppers are being more selective about where they spend. With traffic down across the category, the stores winning right now are the ones converting at a higher rate — not just getting more people through the door.
Retail Snippets
Luxury Reset: Saks Global is set to exit bankruptcy this summer with $500M in new financing, after closing underperforming stores and cutting costs to rebuild profitability.
Furniture Slowdown: Furniture sales have now declined for four straight months, down 4.8% year-to-date, as housing softness and cautious consumer spending continue to pressure the category.
Expansion Despite Pressure: Goodwill is opening new locations and planning 100 more in 2026 after processing 300M transactions last year, showing value-driven retail continues to gain momentum.
