How to sell furniture online

Earning money from selling furniture online depends on the right product range and a well-thought-out marketing strategy. A business plan will identify the strengths and weak­nesses of your idea before you start your business. Tra­di­tion­al online shops are not the only sales channels.

The furniture market is fiercely com­pet­it­ive and full of potential

Anyone looking for furniture online will quickly come across the top dogs who seem to dominate the entire market. These furniture companies have a large online presence and a network of shops so that in­ter­ested customers can look at the sofa or bed, feel it, and sit or lie on it before buying. While the market is highly com­pet­it­ive, it’s not saturated. You’ll need the right niche and a perfect online service to be com­pet­it­ive in this industry. Find out what that means in our step-by-step guide.

Ad­vant­ages of selling your furniture online

Selling your furniture online has some ad­vant­ages over an offline startup:

• You can start small and you don’t have to fill a space from the beginning. This not only saves time, but also costs.
• You will reach a larger target group geo­graph­ic­ally than if you were only rep­res­en­ted by one shop in a specific area.
• You can try out new things more easily. This applies to the in­tro­duc­tion of a new product as well as marketing strategies or services.
• You have flex­ib­il­ity with how much time you invest in your business and where you work from.

Re­quire­ments when selling furniture online

As with any startup, you must complete some form­al­it­ies when selling furniture online. For example, you should register your business and decide on a legal structure for your online shop prior to going live. It is also advisable to inform yourself about business in­sur­ances as well as ac­count­ing and taxes.

A step-by-step guide for how to sell furniture online

How can you have a suc­cess­ful start in the furniture business? We’ll tell you step by step how to hit the ground running. The points we have outlined do not ne­ces­sar­ily have to be completed in order; they are mutually dependent. Once you have looked into each point, you should create a business plan. Your business plan is the master plan which compares your idea with reality. It documents op­por­tun­it­ies and risks which you may be planning to use or avoid. They are also used when present­ing your idea to investors and possible trading partners.

Step 1: Product planning

You should decide on the product range before starting your company. It is best to find a niche so as not to be in com­pet­i­tion with well-known furniture shops. For example, your spe­ci­al­ity could be used furniture, self-made unique pieces or par­tic­u­larly elegant seats and tables.

You should also consider where the furniture comes from. Do you man­u­fac­ture the furniture yourself or do you buy it in? This affects pricing, delivery times, the need for a warehouse, the type of shipping and marketing.

Step 2: Market and target group analysis

Examine the entire furniture market and your niche. What suppliers are there online and offline? How do they com­mu­nic­ate? What is the pricing like? Carry out a detailed market analysis and figure out where there is still untapped potential and where you could have an advantage over your com­pet­it­ors.

The target audience is closely related to the market. Decide which audience you want to reach. Important char­ac­ter­ist­ics are age, financial situation, and values.

Step 3: Company profile

When you know who you want to sell furniture to, it’s time to get started with the business aspect. Firstly, you should look at your com­pet­en­cies, strengths, and weak­nesses. This will determine the business structure, i.e. whether you work alone, or whether you need to hire staff or find trade partners. Secondly, you should think about the type of com­mu­nic­a­tion, whether you want an online service and your image.

Step 4: Marketing

Having your own online shop is a good idea if you want to sell furniture online. However, there are al­tern­at­ives to an online shop, for example, selling on Instagram, other social networks or es­tab­lished online mar­ket­places. We’ll discuss the ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages of these sales channels in detail below.

Think about where you want to sell products online and how you want to sell them. You need to promote your website. It may be worth­while to implement targeted online marketing. For example, place ads on Google, send news­let­ters or launch campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.

Step 5: Logistics

Logistics should be well thought out since furniture is usually a large product. If you want to store and ship the furniture yourself, you need a lot of space, know-how and manpower. It is often easier to use a drop­ship­ping provider, who will take over storage and shipping.

Step 6: Costs and financing

You will need capital to starting an online furniture business. There are different types of costs:

The initial costs required for a startup may range from the fees for re­gis­ter­ing your business to the expenses for setting up your online shop with WordPress or another system. The operating costs include the expenses for running the shop. This can be hosting fees, fees for product pho­to­graphy and uploading new products to the system.

The expenses are offset by revenues. You can calculate prices for in­di­vidu­al items and project future sales. A profit forecast high­lights how and when you will generate profits from your furniture shop.

There may be a financing re­quire­ment depending on the capital re­quire­ments and the available equity capital. You may need an investor, or you may have to take out a loan from a bank. This makes the business plan in­ter­est­ing for outsiders.

Where to sell furniture online

There are three ways to sell your furniture online. You do not have to choose one; combining several channels usually leads to more success.

Your own online shop offers the greatest flex­ib­il­ity in terms of present­a­tion and sale. However, there is more effort required and the like­li­hood of errors increases if you do not have suf­fi­cient technical and design un­der­stand­ing.

Online sales platforms are a good al­tern­at­ive. The in­fra­struc­ture is already in place and there are pro­fes­sion­als who can support you in case any problems arise. However, there are creative limits, and you must pay a com­mis­sion for each sale. The largest online selling platforms include Amazon and eBay.

The third option for selling furniture online is social selling. This involves selling directly on Facebook, Instagram, etc. There are also creative limits on social media, but it’s easier to engage with the target group and build branding and brand loyalty.

Ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages of different sales channels

Content is king when selling furniture online

Selling furniture is not just about the facts, it’s also about a lifestyle and a feeling. There is no option to touch a table or lie down on the sofa to try it out when shopping online, therefore, high-quality images and de­script­ive texts are critical to your success.

When it comes to product pho­to­graphy, don’t just provide basic images, include soft fur­nish­ings and ambience, i.e. a decorated table or a freshly made bed. You can also optimise SEO for images. Facts are important, prefer­ably listed, but the mood and feeling should also be conveyed. In your own online shop, you can use product de­scrip­tions, as well as category pages for in­form­a­tion. This content is also suitable for targeted search engine op­tim­isa­tion.

Con­clu­sion on selling furniture online

You need the right product to be suc­cess­ful in the online market for furniture. It is a good business move to have a niche spe­cial­isa­tion or product. It may be difficult to compete with the furniture giants and their product range otherwise. A carefully prepared business plan high­lights the op­por­tun­it­ies in the market, which target group is most prof­it­able and how you should design your furniture business. Central topics are logistics, sales, and marketing. An online shop offers the most flex­ib­il­ity and freedom. It is possible for new entrants to sell furniture online thanks to website builders and other tools. Social selling and selling on online mar­ket­places can also be be­ne­fi­cial.