How Contract Furniture Distributors Can Grow in a More Customized Market

For a long time, the key strengths of furniture distributors and wholesalers were very clear: reliable factory partners, large purchasing volumes, and strong price advantages. Businesses that could buy chairs wholesale in bigger quantities usually got lower unit costs, and those with stable supply chains had an advantage in channel competition. This model worked well for many years and helped many importers, commercial seating chairs suppliers, and wholesalers grow their businesses.

However, in recent years—especially in mature markets like Europe—a clear change has started to appear. Even companies with experienced teams, stable operations, and loyal customers are finding it harder to grow. Orders are still there, but profit margins are getting smaller, inventory pressure is increasing, and cash flow is becoming tighter. For many dining chair suppliers, the traditional business model is no longer as easy to maintain as before.

High Information Transparency

With the maturation of B2B platforms, industry websites, social media, and cross-border procurement channels, information gaps in the furniture industry are rapidly disappearing. For end-users like restaurant groups, hotel investors, and contractors, the barriers to obtaining information have significantly lowered. They can easily compare price ranges, material specifications, and delivery cycles across different countries and suppliers, or even directly negotiate with multiple vendors using competitive quotes.

In this environment, the intermediary role of importers and wholesalers is steadily diminishing. Clients can instantly access multiple options and price comparisons, making it increasingly difficult to sustain profits long-term by relying solely on low prices or volume-based discounts. Without differentiation, many wholesalers are forced into endless rounds of price wars.

Rising Demand for Customization

Parallel to price transparency is a shift in end-user demand structures. Whether for hotel projects or chain restaurant brands, customers no longer focus solely on product availability. Instead, they prioritize whether items align with spatial positioning, match brand aesthetics, and suit diverse usage scenarios.

Frequently requested specifications include color, fabric, structure, indoor/outdoor adaptability, usage frequency, and durability standards. These demands directly clash with the traditional wholesale model centered on stocking standardized bulk inventory. To meet project demands, wholesalers are compelled to expand their product range. To mitigate stockout risks, inventory levels rise passively. Consequently, inventory turnover cycles lengthen, and the risk of slow-moving stock increases significantly. Inventory gradually evolves into an operational burden. Substantial capital becomes tied up in warehouses, compressing cash flow flexibility. Should market momentum slow, risks are rapidly amplified.

The Current Situation of Major Importers

In today’s highly mature OEM industry, product similarity has become very common. For large importers that depend on scale to stay competitive, this is no longer the best path forward.

Upstream, more and more factories are able to produce similar products. The gap in manufacturing ability and technology is getting smaller. As a result, many products look alike, and prices are becoming more transparent. This naturally reduces the profit space for importers. Downstream, customers now have more options and compare suppliers more carefully. They are less willing to accept high prices, and their bargaining power has clearly increased. Orders still exist, but orders with good profit margins are becoming fewer.

What really creates pressure for many companies is the middle stage of operations. To meet project needs, they often need to prepare and store products in advance. This leads to growing inventory and a large amount of money tied up in stock. At the same time, project timelines are getting longer, payment cycles are slower, and cash flow pressure continues to increase. In many cases, it looks like there are many orders, but the available cash is always limited.

Because of this, many companies are not lacking opportunities, but they feel that doing business is becoming more difficult and tiring. If companies do not actively adjust their product mix and the way they work with suppliers, they may slowly fall behind in the market.

Why Wholesale Project Business Is a Safer Choice Today

More and more distributors and importers are starting to accept the wholesale project model. This is not because it is aggressive, but because it is a more practical and easier way to operate in the current market.

For traditional wholesalers who have not fully transformed yet, moving from a large import model to project-based wholesale still follows the same core logic: scale, efficiency, and cost control. The main difference is that the customers are no longer only channel buyers, but also contractors, hotel projects, and restaurant chains. By shifting from OEM to ODM cooperation with a best chair manufacturer, the sales team can join the project discussion earlier, instead of entering only during the price comparison stage. This adjustment does not require rebuilding the whole team or supply chain, so the risk is relatively low and the learning curve is manageable.

For companies that have already started transforming, the challenges may look like growing customization needs and higher inventory pressure. But the deeper issue is actually cash flow. The real value of wholesale project business is not only about large orders, but about replacing uncertain inventory risks with clearer and more predictable project demand.

Wholesale project suppliers usually have two key characteristics. On one hand, they keep a moderate level of inventory to meet customer needs within a certain period of time. On the other hand, they often have a small workshop or factory that can quickly adjust styles, fabrics, or simple components based on project requirements. This business model continues the traditional sales approach while adding a small level of project customization, mostly in fabric selection or minor changes. Because of this, it is easier for the sales team to adapt. At the same time, working on projects helps them gain stronger pricing power and better profit margins compared with normal trading. Many successful wholesale chair suppliers are already using this approach.

The real challenge lies in execution

For numerous furniture distributors, importers, and project clients, the current predicament is strikingly similar: inventory pressures continue to mount, customer demands grow increasingly personalized, and project timelines become ever more unpredictable. If companies cling to outdated models—importing finished goods in bulk and relying on traditional sales approaches—they risk being trapped by stagnant inventory or products that fail to align with project requirements.

Because of this, many businesses understand that change is necessary, but without a practical system, it is difficult to actually move forward.

In real operations, a more workable model is becoming common: semi-finished inventory + project customization. Instead of stocking large quantities of finished chairs, distributors keep base products such as frames or popular models in inventory. When a project confirms its requirements, the final configuration can be completed based on the project style.

For example, once a client chooses a chair model, they can select different fabrics or finishes to match the project design. Colors and small details can also be adjusted. This approach helps maintain relatively fast delivery while still meeting different project needs.

From an operational perspective, this model has several clear advantages. First, inventory risk becomes more controllable because the stock is based on versatile products rather than fixed finished items. Second, it is easier to match different projects because the same base model can be adapted for multiple customers. Third, distributors can stay flexible when handling several projects at the same time without restarting the whole purchasing process.

For clients in projects such as hotels, restaurants, and senior care facilities, this system offers enhanced practicality. In numerous projects, design plans may undergo changes during construction. If the supply chain possesses flexibility—such as the ability to replace fabrics or adjust configurations on stable structures—it becomes easier to align with project timelines and avoid delays.

In today’s market, the real question is not simply whether companies should transform, but how to build a system that controls inventory risk, supports project customization, and keeps supply stable. When this kind of model works in daily operations, transformation becomes a real business capability rather than just an idea.

Yumeya's Transformation Approach

After analyzing numerous wholesale projects and hotel cases, Yumeya chose not to focus on increasing the number of styles. Instead, it redesigned a safer, more controllable product logic by rethinking the product structure and combination methods themselves.

M+:

M+ does not pursue numerous new chair designs, but rather achieves differentiation primarily through varied structural combinations. Based on this approach, Yumeya's M+ system generates multiple appearances and styles through the flexible pairing of different upper frames, lower frames, backrests, and seat cushions. These components can be freely assembled or disassembled according to project requirements, creating what appear to be entirely new styles while fundamentally originating from the same core system. For you, this means eliminating the need to stock separate inventory for each style, maximizing utilization of existing resources. The same base frame can adapt to diverse settings like restaurants, banquet halls, and cafes, reducing lost orders due to style mismatches. With inventory pressure effectively alleviated, you gain greater initiative in project proposals and design comparisons, confidently offering clients multiple options without worrying about unsold stock piling up.

Semi-Customized:

Full customization appears flexible, but in practice often leads to uncontrolled costs, unpredictable delivery times, and exponentially amplified risks to inventory and cash flow. Conversely, relying solely on standard models struggles to truly meet the style and detail requirements of engineering projects. The logic of Semi-Customized lies in finding a safer balance between these extremes: while maintaining fully stable structure and performance, variations are concentrated in more controllable areas—such as surface finishes, color selections, upholstery combinations, and localized detail adjustments. This approach allows core structures to be pre-planned and produced consistently, ensuring predictable inventory and delivery schedules, while enabling rapid responses to project-specific aesthetic variations. For wholesale contractors, this approach means no longer being dictated by project demands. Instead, they serve clients within predictable, manageable parameters—meeting project requirements while maintaining profitability.

Out & In:

In real-world projects, indoor and outdoor spaces often coexist—think restaurants with patios, banquet halls with foyers, public areas with transitional zones. Yet conventional approaches typically involve purchasing distinct furniture types for each setting, resulting in increasingly fragmented styles. A single project might require managing multiple structural configurations, varied materials, and differing maintenance needs, exponentially increasing inventory and upkeep challenges. The Out & In approach anticipates usage environments during product design, ensuring structural integrity, surface treatments, and material selection meet both indoor and semi-outdoor requirements. This enables a single product to be safely used across diverse settings. A single chair, for instance, can serve stably in indoor dining or banquet spaces while seamlessly extending into semi-outdoor areas—eliminating the need to purchase new models for different scenarios. For you, this design significantly reduces product categories while increasing the reuse rate of individual items across projects and scenarios. Without expanding inventory, product coverage actually broadens. For downstream end-users, procurement decisions become simpler, post-purchase maintenance standards more unified, and overall operational costs and management complexity decrease accordingly.

Breaking Through Challenges Without Changing Tracks

Continuing to rely on large inventories for price advantages will only amplify risks, while blindly pursuing full customization poses significant challenges for sales teams. A secure transformation doesn't mean completely overhauling the existing system or severing ties with past experience. Instead, it involves rationally upgrading product structure, inventory management, and project participation methods while preserving the core wholesale DNA. This approach enables a more controllable structure to navigate increasingly complex markets.

For distributors and wholesalers, Yumeya can help chart a path back to predictable, sustainable business operations. In 2026, we will engage with more partners through multiple domestic and international trade shows to discuss these real market shifts and practical solutions face-to-face. From hotel banquets to catering projects, from wholesale engineering models to semi-custom and structured product applications, we aim to share more project-validated expertise with clients currently undergoing or preparing for transformation.