How to create an online furniture store in 2020

Not so long ago, creating an online furniture store seemed like a dubious kind of business, as entrepreneurs did not understand whether customers would buy furniture online. The advantage of offline stores was the opportunity to see live color and feel the material, talk to a consultant and, in the end, load oversized furniture onto car and take it home immediately. But today selling furniture over the Internet is more profitable than offline, and here's why:

1. The need to rent space is automatically eliminated, and the entire assortment can be displayed in the online store.

2. A ready-made online furniture store can work throughout the country and even beyond its borders.

3. You can make purchases in the online furniture store at any time of the day. It is also more convenient to study information about materials and sizes on the site.

4. Searching for products through the search bar or filters saves a lot of time.

5. For business a lot of costs are reduced: for logistics (delivery of furniture to retail stores), including salaries for drivers, for the maintenance of administration in stores, for paying utility bills, security, alarm systems, decoration of stores, signs, etc.

6. For online stores there is a huge advantage in free advertising through word of mouth by "sharing" links. All the user does is share a link to the product, and, as a rule, satisfied customers do it with great willingness, especially when it comes to furnishing their home.

How to create an online furniture store. Where to start

If you are starting your business from scratch, then the first thing you need to think about is registration, choosing a legal form and a tax system. In our article “Do I need to legally register an online store. What are the options. Registration procedure. And a little about a settlement registrar for online stores ” we talked in detail about which form of registration is better to choose for an online store in Ukraine.

Registration of a company gives another significant advantage for your business - the ability to provide an installment plan for clients, especially since furniture is a rather expensive type of goods. There are many advantages: an increase in the average check, and an increase in sales up to 70%.

Before cooperating, carefully read the offers of banks, including the size of the commission for acquiring. On the websites of banks there are online calculators, or you can simply contact the bank manager to clarify the conditions.

Domain name

Before you create an online furniture store, think about what to call it. Here are some tips on how to name your company:

 • company name / domain name should be short and memorable;

 • to check if the name is really remembered, write it to your family and friends, and after a few days ask if they remember the name;

 • the name may evoke associations with your products, although this is not required; the furniture store may well be called "Orange";

 • conduct a brainstorm with your friends or employees to find associations; also for this purpose, the mind mapping method or creating a mood board is suitable;

 • use a name generator, perhaps it will give you an idea.

Design

What should be the design of an online furniture store in 2020:

 • An online furniture store can be created as laconic as possible, since the product card will already have many options. If you do not distract the attention of the user from his goal to make a purchase, then this will happen much faster;

 • actual colors: white, beige; large pictures and "Buy" buttons; product images and website design in the same style;

 • You can also try the dark theme, an online store in a dark theme, especially if your online store sells premium furniture;

 • understandable, large, stylish, light fonts that do not tire the eyes; the text on the site should be easy and quick to read, for this it is better to choose sans serif fonts;

 • beautiful images, animation elements, high-quality illustrations on banners.

On the last point, after loading all the elements, you need to test the site's loading speed, since "heavy" elements can slow it down. Our experts will help you check the website loading speed and give recommendations for improvement.

You can test a demo version of the design of an online furniture store for free. This is how your OS might look like.

SEO experts do not recommend adding many categories at once, but start promoting an online furniture store from a narrow niche. For example, you can start with just kitchen furniture, or selling chairs and tables, for example. You can add categories as you progress. The Google search engine ranks highly specialized sites better, since it is believed that this way the business works more professionally in its niche and pays attention to quality service.

Categories can be designed in several ways:

1. According to the classification of goods

2. According to the classification of the premises in the house

At this stage, it is better to consult with an SEO specialist who will create a "wireframe" for further promotion. You need to analyze search queries and understand how users search for products. Also, no one canceled the principle of "like competitors". Just pick a few top sites and look at the structure.

Filters

The creation of an online furniture store involves the development of filters by which the search for goods will be even more convenient and faster for the user. What filters can be added: by price, brand, discounts and promotions, color of material and fabric, style. These filters will not be enough to tire customers with long sorting. Filters are compiled on the basis of the semantic core of the site, or more precisely, based on the clustering of the CL, so it is very important to consult with an SEO wizard.

A very long list of options pushes back the purchase time. And since most purchases are emotional, it's best to keep the middle ground. After developing filters and launching an online store, it is important to track the points of exit of users from the site throughout the year.

Example of a long filter list

Target audience of a furniture selling business

The target audience of the online furniture store: men and women aged 25-50 with an average income (if you sell furniture of the mass market level), and the latter are much more, since the fair half is usually engaged in home improvement.

Among the TA groups, there will most likely be young parents 25-35 years old who choose furniture for the nursery; office workers; and couples who have recently purchased an apartment. Approximate Interest Group: Motherhood and everything related to childcare, Real Estate, Interior Design, Business, Travel, Food, Automotive. It would be logical to target advertisements to those who have recently been interested in apartment prices on the primary market. There is no point in setting up advertising for people who are interested in renting, since, as a rule, there is already furniture in a rented apartment. It also makes sense to set up targeted advertising for those who have recently been interested in buying building materials and repairing. It is logical that the furniture is also renewed after the renovation.

When analyzing site visits, it should be borne in mind that your hot audience are those who have visited the site several times. Those visitors who have visited once may have random traffic.

The most optimal option that will bring maximum efficiency is to hire a professional targeting specialist. The specialist will not only identify several target audience groups to which different creative will be directed, but will also be able to rationally distribute the advertising campaign budget. Perhaps at the initial stage of acquaintanceing with the concept of target audience our article How to make a portrait of the target audience will help you.

Product Card Registration

Selling furniture through an online store should be more convenient than selling in an offline store. To do this, you need to tell the user about the product in as much detail as possible. Use photos and videos instead of a thousand words. What media content should be used in order to replace the user viewing the product live:

 • professional photographs in the interior;

 • schematic photographs with detailed indications of dimensions;

 • photographs in different colors and materials;

 • live product photos;

 • video review of the product.

Prompt. Clients themselves can help you with video reviews. Motivate them to create custom content and provide discounts for video reviews and bonuses.

In the product description, you need to specify so many characteristics that the user does not have any questions. To understand what characteristics need to be added, draw on your experience in the field and remember what customers most often ask you. Make a checklist of questions, and then a checklist of characteristics. You can also just look at the product description from competitors.

If you sell furniture through an online store, then the delivery terms should also be indicated in the product card: terms, cost, types of courier services. Add an assembly wizard with a price tag. It is also necessary to indicate the timing of the manufacture of furniture to order.

Connecting a wish list will be a significant advantage, since it will be convenient for the user to create a wish list instead of saving long links. The block “Recommended products” will contribute to the increase in the average check.

If you have added the possibility of issuing an installment plan, then on a separate page the terms of lending should be spelled out, indicating the terms and interest rate.

Blog

To expand the semantic core and cover the keywords that define the theme of the site, you need to periodically write blog articles. The main requirements of search engines for text content in 2020:

1. Expert articles from 6 to 12 thousand characters

2. The usefulness for the user comes first, and then the SEO indicators of the text

3. To get into the block with an extended snippet, you need to include user questions in the articles and give clear answers to them.

4. Immersion in the subject is mandatory, write in simple language, but in such a way that the user will definitely benefit from it.

Here is a rough list of topics you can write articles on:

 • "In what style to design an apartment in 2020"

 • "How to choose a wardrobe, sofa, kitchen furniture, etc."

 • "Care and cleaning of furniture"

 • "Lifehacks"

 • "DIY furniture"

The quality of the content must be top notch, and this is not only about the benefits, but also about the beautiful design of the content: small paragraphs selling headings, tables and lists where necessary, organic links, etc. If we are talking about photos, then the size should be at least 600x300px and no floating or pixel images.

An SEO specialist will help you choose the hottest and most relevant topics. You can order SEO promotion from our experts.

Delivery

Successful furniture sales on the Internet also involve organizing delivery. The best option would be to open a small room in each city where the goods can be inspected and picked up independently. Many buyers are still deterred by the likelihood of getting a "pig in a poke" and these fears need to be neutralized.

Additional services

Additional services can include calling a measurer, lifting furniture to the floor and assembling, designer services. These items should be detailed with an indication of the cost. For example, how much does it cost to raise furniture to 1/2/3/4/5 floors, in high-rise buildings with an elevator, the price may be lower. You should also describe in detail the price for assembling furniture, since the price directly depends on the complexity and time spent.

For additional services, you can include an application to visit a showroom or shop window, so that the buyer can view the furniture live. It will be more convenient for users to calculate the cost of a product under the order without leaving the site, so the development of an online calculator is welcome. Add the ability to leave reviews, add video and photo reviews to them, and let customers generate unique content for you.

Promotion of an online furniture store

The online furniture store is promoted on the same principle as other ecommerce resources. What types of advertising can be run:

 • Contextual advertising;

 • Display advertising;

 • Targeted advertising on social networks.

SEO promotion remains the main method of organic promotion. If there are offline stores, you can launch a classic type of advertising through banners, flyers, leaflets, which can be placed in places of the greatest concentration of people.

You can also try Google Shopping. This is a great option for start-up sales, as your products will appear in the top SERPs.

Connect all channels of messengers and social networks, where you can also attract customers and make sales. Advertise with bloggers and opinion leaders, leave comments on forums and guest blogs, in a word, and share links to your resources wherever possible. Your best bet is to go to professional marketers who can:

1. Clearly define target audience groups

2. Write an ad copy with calls to action that will lead to high conversions

3. Create effective branding for your company

4. Lead groups on social networks

5. Create an auto sales funnel

6. Prepare an e-mail newsletter with a high response

7. Provide professional services and spend a little time.

If you do not have your own online store yet, we suggest creating an online furniture store in our company. Already at the initial stage, you can choose the functionality and capabilities of your site by choosing a tariff package. We also develop additional solutions if they are not on the standard list, but we assure that the basic list will be enough for a full-fledged furniture hypermarket.