Oak furniture retailer Oakea is set to launch a new sales system for customers ordering out of stock items online. From September a 10% discount will automatically be applied to all out of stock items sold on the company’s website.
Oakea designs and imports its own ranges of oak and pine furniture to sell online, and via a showroom in Hereford, Herefordshire. The company aims to bring desirable oak furniture to the public without long lead times or upfront deposits. "If something is out of stock, even if it is for a couple of days, we haven’t lived up to our promise," comments Oakea’s MD Henrik Pontoppidan.
Oakea uses a sophisticated forecasting system to order stock from Vietnam up to four months in advance. This forward planning looks at what has been sold in a given period, and what is likely to be sold in the next.
“99% of the time this system works perfectly and as items are sold they are replenished, with no waiting time for the customer,” continues Henrik.
The company imports four ranges of oak furniture, and a collection of pine bedroom furniture. “With this volume of items an oak bedside table sideboard or lamp table can prove more popular than we expected and can be out of stock for a couple of days, or in the worst case scenario a couple of weeks.”
The company has been working on a new system that will offer additional benefits to customers who, through no fault of their own, do have to wait for an out of stock item to arrive. The system will see a 10% reduction applied to all out of stock items. The ordering process will stay the same, the discount will be applied and a message will inform the customer. The website also shows real time stock data, as Henrik explains, “If an item is out of stock the website shows the date it is due, putting customers in complete control of their order.”
Oakea designs and imports four ranges of oak furniture and a range of pine bedroom furniture. The ranges cover the spectrum of popular designs, from modern to traditional. The Utah Oak collection is the company’s flagship range and comprises a neutral range of oak bedroom furniture, and an oak dining and lounge collection. The Utah Oak specializes in functional furniture with added features, such as oak TV units with DVD drawers, flexible shelving for the oak wardrobes and deep bookcases.
