The letter below was received in response to our story on falling Internet furniture sales. If you haven't read this story, you can do so by following this link.

Dear sir,

I was interested to read your warning from Julian Field to anyone looking to invest in online furniture retailing because it’s incredibly tough.

Well it is. And so is general furniture retailing – or indeed any sort of retailing. Or manufacturing. It’s just tough whatever you do.

Now for the big BUT. Whatever line of business you are in, if you offer great value, great service, swift delivery and are backed by the strength of a known and established brand, then you will succeed.

It’s why the foundation stone of Your Department Store, the recently launched online trading concept for independent furniture retailers, is proving so successful. It capitalises on the strength of the retailers’ local brand because, almost uniquely in the retail trade, it is the furniture retailer rather than the product that is the trusted brand.

Yes there are lots of people selling furniture online and struggling to do so. But let’s just take a quick look at who they are: the supermarkets, outdoor furniture suppliers, High Street clothing stores, catalogue shops, bed retailers and so forth. Hardly people for whom furniture is the core offer.

For established independent, specialist furniture retailers who are well known and respected in their area, online trading is an obvious and critical next step to their future business. If they don’t establish a high level, transactional web presence they are quite simply going to lose out on the estimated 7 – 11% of furniture sales that will be done online.

Indeed they ignore online trading at their peril! It is the natural next step – and if they don’t do it, the multiples will mop up.

Your Department Store gives them the opportunity to capitalise on their brand strength for a fraction of the cost that it would take for them to establish an equivalent quality site. What’s more, they can do so without any of the back-office hassle, commitment to stock, warehousing or delivery headaches that a stand-alone site would entail.

Furniture 123 was indeed the original online furniture site and has won many plaudits for being such. But it doesn’t have the brand strength of an established retailer. So for Mr Field to discourage furniture retailers from entering the fray is a ploy to be questioned.

Any independent retailer who isn’t transacting online needs to get out there and do it now.

David Ruddiman
(Chairman, Your Department Store)

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