It's a White Christmas Online

Warren Shoulberg -- Home Textiles Today, 2/25/2011 2:14:45 AM

SEATTLE - Everyone knows that e-commerce will be one of the shining retail stars of this holiday season, but hardly anybody knows what home textiles products are actually selling online.
     Nobody, that is, except for Amazon ... and now us.
     Amazon posts lists of its best selling products in a variety of product classifications and the information on best-selling home textiles products confirms several anecdotal assumptions the industry has had about this channel:
     • Pillows and other white goods are a very strong online business. Four of the top 10 Amazon bed and bath sellers fall into the product category.
     • Specialized products that may be hard to find at conventional retail outlets sell well online. Silk and specialty bedding and pillows dot much of the list.
     • Fashion remains a tough sell through the internet. There is only one fashion bedding group to break into Amazon's top 10.
     • Brands really don't matter much in home textiles. Out of traditional home textiles brands, only Martex shows up in the Amazon rankings.
     By the time the holiday season is over, the actual final rankings may change, but as of late last week, the 10 best-selling home textiles products on Amazon showed that white is most certainly right online. The best-selling bed and bath product, according to Amazon, is the Spasilk Facial Beauty Pillow at $14.99. The Spasilk brand also turns up in the fifth spot with a silk crib sheet.
     Other pillows include a memory foam leg pillow at number four and a cervical pillow finishing at number ten.
     Other specialized products in the top rankings include an Aerobed, at No. 2, and the most expensive product on the list, an organic Hungarian down comforter from Downtown at $1,050, No. 9.
     Those looking for traditional home textiles brands will be disappointed. The Martex label shows up at No. 7 with a twopack towel at decidedly nonpromotional price of $59.99. The only other brand recognizable to those in the home business is a Rubbermaid rubber bath mat, from Ginsey, finishing third.
     No unit numbers for any products are posted but if you're curious, the top selling home product on the Amazon list is a Wagner steam cleaner.