Covid Update
Latest Update on 12 July 2021
Our Action Plan
- Our manufacturers are experiencing a tremendous increase in demands and items are selling out quicker than ever before.
- This means that your favorite chosen item may no longer be in stock. In this case, we will always reach out on the same working day via email to either cancel your order upon agreement, ask you if you are willing to wait until the next batch arrives, or recommend alternative items, ensuring that you are given plenty of choice and satisfaction.
- When sending a request by email, please be patient when awaiting a response. We will always aim to reply to you within 1-2 days but in the unfortunate event that we take longer to respond, please be assured that we will never ignore your emails. We put a lot of resources in making our customer care agreeable and satisfying. Please avoid sending multiple emails as our ticker queuing system takes your most recent email on the back of the queue. But, please be assured that we dedicate a unique agent to solve your entire case to avoid wasting time in going back and forth with several operators.
- Due to an increase in demand, the current pandemic has significantly contributed to a global shipping crisis. Not only are our couriers experiencing a huge increase in demands when delivering the item to you, but the arrival of our batches has been considerably delayed. Please refer to the next paragraph below to know more about it.
Why May My Furniture Delivery Be Taking So Long? How COVID-19 Is Affecting Furniture Store and Causing Furniture Delivery Delay
More and more consumers are shopping online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which means store owners — particularly online-only retailers- face an upturn in online shoppers. Chances are, your online store is open 24/7, which means you're seeing more online shoppers than ever before.
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting virtually every aspect of the economy, including furniture delivery. Businesses and consumers have been scrambling to find new ways to do business and to adjust to new ways of doing things. Delivery and assembly services are still up and running, but the number of people coming to pick up furniture decreases.
Furniture businesses have been forced to readjust their operating models. Some choose to pick the furniture up from warehouse locations, others send shipments directly to clients, while others offer curbside delivery.
One of the biggest problems the furniture industry is currently facing is that of delayed and incomplete deliveries. Furniture store owners and purchasers alike need to understand how COVID-19 regulations impact the furniture industry and how it will affect their buying and selling strategies.
Let's discuss what delivery barriers luxury furniture stores face, why it's such a problem, and what solutions might be offered in the future.
Production setbacks
The coronavirus outbreak has completely disrupted furniture manufacturing. With the coronavirus outbreak, factory shutdowns, and pandemic-related shipping delays, some retailers have had trouble moving furniture from warehouses to stores, and it can happen even to the most prominent retailers — Walmart and Wayfair, in particular.
COVID pandemic has also pushed British retailers' supply chain into overdrive, causing many to scramble for alternative warehouse space. But the industry supply chain isn't out of the woods yet. High demand for furniture, combined with social distancing guidelines, has strained production plants and retailers alike.
Many plants have closed, leaving retailers scrambling to find replacement manufacturers. Plants and factories have been closed for months, and many are returning to full production with social distancing guidelines in place. This has made it difficult for furniture manufacturers to quickly ramp up production and meet the growing demand for their goods.
Some plants are now starting to restart, but this has not been an easy process. First, the shutdown and restart of a production plant is complex and takes time in itself. Furthermore, many workers feel uncomfortable returning to work right now.
As social distancing guidelines are eased, these factories will have to ramp up production quickly. However, this will require additional staffing and plant space, which many companies are not currently equipped to provide.
For furniture manufacturers, this has meant significant delays in the shipment of their products.
Retailers and manufacturers have been turning to a variety of workarounds, including store pickup and curbside delivery.
Changes in consumer shopping habits
The Furniture Industry is currently facing the highest demand in over five decades, and consumers are shopping differently than before. No longer are they rushing out to stores to purchase furniture; they shop from home. The industry must keep up with the increased demand yet offer it at a fair price.
At this point, COVID-19 is causing a perfect storm for the furniture industry. Demand is increasing, and consumers are shopping online, and all of this is happening quickly during a traditionally slow season. The way the industry used to do business is changing.
Targeting your audience is imperative if you are to make any significant progress online. The majority of the furniture retailing sector is currently shifting their focus towards multi-channel strategies, using it to improve brand awareness and increase footfall to their stores. This includes investing in online advertising, setting up dedicated e-commerce platforms, and offering convenient return policies through their website or mobile app.
Surge in demand
In a world where people are spending more time in their homes than ever before, it's an excellent time for you to invest in a new sofa, entertainment center, or bedroom set. Furniture stores have been struggling to keep up with demand these days.
The furniture industry has experienced a revival, especially in vinyl item delivery. This is occurring all across the country due to popular retail chains both online and in-store, local furniture retailers, and the rapidly growing need for home renovation projects. The industry is experiencing a massive increase in demand, which leads to slow order fulfillment times for furniture retailers that cannot keep up with the increased volume of products available for sale. The result is that delivery will take longer.
Delivery delays
At the beginning of the pandemic, many furniture manufacturers and suppliers cut production to almost nothing for a few months to focus their efforts on COVID safety guidelines. As a result, the few factories still making furniture struggled with keeping up with orders for everyday items before the summer furniture sales started.
A sluggish industry-wide response to the current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in severe delays in supplying furniture to major retailers. Due to limited manufacturing capability, few new furniture products are rolling off assembly lines. Similarly, limited warehouse capacity at major retail outlets slows down product delivery or makes it impossible altogether.
Delivery delays by major furniture businesses
Ikea
According to a statement from IKEA, IKEA delivery has been a source of frustration for numerous customers, but the store is not at fault. It delivers furniture via truck and rail and can't be driven and flown as quickly as completed cars and airplane parts. Since the virus first appeared, IKEA has seen a slowdown of products at many distribution centers. It's also had trouble getting trucks with full loads delivered to stores for customer deliveries.
Amazon
Amazon, the world's largest retailer, acknowledged that deliveries are taking longer than expected.
In the blog post, the online retailer said that its Fulfillment by Amazon program, which allows third-party retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and others to sell products on Amazon, is experiencing delays.
"We've been working hard since early March to redeploy our distribution centers, our sortation facilities, and our delivery fleet to support the demand," a spokesperson wrote. "Unfortunately, we now face escalating congestion in our networks."
Amazon said it's working to "simplify" its shipping process and minimize delivery timelines and shipping costs.
"We know you want your orders as soon as possible, and we're working as quickly as we can," He wrote. "We're also working to control costs where possible."