Co-founded in 2015 by Monty George (now MD) and Dan Beckles (now a director), both of whom were aged just 17, Furniturebox is one of the UK’s fastest-growing online stores, specialising in “luxury furniture styles at budget-friendly prices”. Offering vast choice, speedy delivery and seemingly boundless ambition, Furniturebox is already turning a profit of £2.4m profit (on sales amounting to £16.1m). Furniture News asked Monty and Dan to reveal the secret of their success …
Why visit your website?
Dan: Furniturebox is all about finding luxury furniture styles at budget-friendly prices, covering all the latest trending interior styles as well as more timeless pieces, so there’s something on our site for everyone.
Providing our customers with an exceptional experience is a cornerstone of our USPs – we’ve put a lot of love and time into our website and striving to make it the best customer experience it can be, from the moment anyone lands on our home page to the moment they check out (and beyond).
Our home page is dynamic and vibrant, and with a focus on easy navigation and visual storytelling. We also use Search Spring, a merchandising tool, to create a bespoke on-page experience for each user – Search Spring optimises our category pages and ordering of listings based on things like bestsellers, conversion rate, number of reviews and customer behaviour.
It’s all part of our ‘findwhat you need fast’ ethos. We aim to give our customers a tailored experience on-site and make sure they find what they want, at a great price, delivered at a time and date that suits, all with ease. No-one wants to get stressed buying and then trying to get bulky furniture home, and no-one wants to waste time sitting around waiting for furniture deliveries – Furniturebox is all about solving those problems.
Dan and Monty in the Furniturebox warehouse
How did you enter this industry?
Monty: When I was 12, I sold my first few items online. My eyes were opened to the realisation that I had a virtually unlimited market at my fingertips. By the time I was 17 and deciding whether to pursue university, I could see the untapped potential for online furniture retail.
I decided it was time to really invest into that idea, and roped my best friend Dan into joining me on this venture. We’d been friends for years, through school, and we share the same passion for success, and strive to be the best we can.
That’s something we also shared in the sports teams we played for. Our competitive nature has driven us forward, and we’re always looking to do something different and to innovate.
Furniturebox has been a product of this passion. We saw a gap in the market back then, and worked tirelessly to exploit it. Seeing the potential of where the business could grow and how hard we were both working acted as a constant source of inspiration for us. The furniture sector is not only large, but also allows you to be innovative and creative – this really excited me.
Who is your ecommerce hero?
Monty: There are so many hard-working and inspiring people doing amazing things in ecommerce, but I suppose if I had to pick one standout that really made an impression on me, that would probably be Nick Jenkins.
Nick is a former Dragon’s Den star and founder of Moonpig, the online greetings card retailer. We met Nick a few years ago in the early days of Furniturebox. Nick was kind enough to give Dan and I some amazing advice and support as we embarked on this life-changing journey starting up Furniturebox.
Nick is also an inspiration to me on balance in life. It’s all too easy to get consumed in reaching for the next thing, never being satisfied with your achievements, and neglecting other aspects of our life. Nick seems to get this right, and that’s something I want to emulate.
When we opened our new warehouse in September 2022, we actually reached out to Nick to see if he’d be up for cutting the ribbon on the grand opening day. He agreed, came along, cut the ribbon, gave a speech, and really helped us mark the occasion of growing into a bigger and better home.
Read the rest of our interview in January's Furniture News, here.
