subject: Shape of the online furniture industry [print this page] Shape of the online furniture industry Shape of the online furniture industry
The current UK furniture market is thought to be worth a staggering 2.2 billion to the UK economy and with a total revenue from internet sales including furniture worth a huge 100 billion why are there so many reports of poor service throughout the internet furniture industry?
It seems that there is a direct correlation between the amount of items displayed on a company web site over the amount of bad press the company gets. Perhaps there's a logical explanation and as one of the UKs largest and perhaps newest online retailer of furniture for the home and garden, Osborne & Brown have investigated several paths that might explain this strange attitude toward us. Perhaps they are simply bigger and carry more stock? Certainly not! We display some 6,000 items and to be fair to everyone we cannot possibly stock those amounts of furniture but there are some companies that stock many thousand more items and here, we think, is where the mute point is. Suppliers, like the summer breeze, change design and stock all the time and this isn't always passed on to the retailer. The result... No stock... The outcome... Upset customer! There's surely nothing more infuriating to the average Joe than to see something they really want to buy and at the usual unbeatable ONLINE price only to find that when they have parted with their hard earned cash the item, simply put, is not in stock. The customer then faces the sales call "we can exchange this for something else (sic: maybe nothing like what you actually wanted of course)". The outcome usually is the customer wants their money back and to be honest that is exactly what they should do! But this you see takes time. There's often several days between paying and refunding the customer. In the meantime the furniture company has releaved poor Joe of his or her cash for a few days. Fair enough it's returned but what's the real cost? An upset customer.
So where can us online furniture retailers go to learn these new skills in handling our customers better? Simply it's a case of respecting our customers money. Don't take cash for items we don't have! It ain't rocket science... Osborne & Brown has built up a steady customer base many of which just will not shop elsewhere. Our business model is both just and fair without being uneconomical and unusable. How we do this is of course our secret BUT it's really just common sense! As we develop all our front line business systems from the web site back ourselves we have opened a door to a way of dealing with our clients that allows us to move through the market like a hot knife carving a slice of the net 2.2 billion less many, many naughts.
So you, the consumer, what do you need to know about the items you buy online? Firstly the average internet retailer uses all sorts of tricks to make that sale. The biggest is the hidden cost. Yes that sofa at 399 suddenly sprouts like a weed on a sunny day when you checkout to 499 including delivery or even more if VAT wasn't shown to begin with! Crazy? It's all so very and sadly true! So golden rule one - The price you see should be the price you pay! If it's free delivery then it means FREE delivery unless the company, as many do, apply surcharges for certain areas. If your basket starts adding extras - leave the site alone! They seem to have enticed you in on a false promise so what else is this company likely to do?!?!
Second golden rule when buying furniture online is quite simply WHEN will you get the piece delivered? If they do not show an estimated delivery time then the chances are you aren't going to get it for quite sometime and here's why. Suppliers prefer the high street and much of the stock is only given to the high street. This is why many online companies are vague about delivery times because they themselves aren't too sure when they can deliver or even get the item in stock.
Third golden rule is to ring the company. Yes, there's lots of furniture companies operating form their bedsit so beware! Ring during the day and try ring on an 0800 number. A big company will have a free phone number that's manned during the day. For us it's 0800 6 123 120 (10am to 6pm Monday to Friday). If a company has staff in during the day there's a possibility they are a genuine company but really only a possibility! Here's one sure fire way to confirm the company you are dealing with. Does it have a company registration number (maybe supplied in the foot of the page) and also does it have a VAT number? Both can be checked online but both represent the viability of the company and worth checking.
Last golden rule is the quality of the web site. If it looks cheap then it probably is going to be rough and ready in the way in which it deals with its customers. A well designed web site takes both time and money so the better quality retailers will have a reliable and well designed web site.
One last thing... If possible... Only pay buy CREDIT card when paying online if you can. There's more protection when it comes to charge backs.
Above all else, common sense prevails! Offers too good to be true are most likely to be NOT true.
