Business-to-business (B2B) transactions are often painfully slow for both buyers and sellers. Corporate buyers are forced to undergo many steps, such as placing orders by phone or from paper catalogues, then waiting for invoices in the mail. Sellers suffer, too, frequently undergoing long waits to...
Furniture is helping to build a larger retail ecosystem, with the value proposition of Oliver Space centered around providing furnishings, along with design help, to consumers who are moving. The company, for its part, provides furniture to customers in exchange for monthly fees from customers. And in technology rentals,...
Brick-and-mortar retailers are reinventing their business models amid changes in consumer preferences and the emergence of the sharing economy. IKEA, which is known for selling flat-packed furniture from 276 locations in 25 countries, is experimenting with a subscription offering in Switzerland. The pilot, which is...
Michael Barlow has called several places home: He has moved five times in seven years and lived with different roommates. But through his experiences, he didn’t have the furnishings that he wanted. “I never actually bought nice furniture,” Barlow, CEO and co-founder of Fernish, told...
October 30, 2017
Millennials move often, between jobs, locales and apartments. They’re used to flexibility when it comes to all manner of goods and services – from renting textbooks to a ride in someone else’s car. So, why should quality furniture should be any different? That’s what Feather’s CEO Jay Reno tells us is the latest trend as Millennials feather their transient nests in this week’s Topic TBD.
July 23, 2018
Marking a departure from its do-it-yourself business model, IKEA plans to have a 150-person assembly team for its first store in India, located in Hyderabad. The company decided to create the team after research showed that many consumers in the local market would not want to assemble furniture on their own, The Wall Street Journal reported. Beyond […]
June 19, 2018
Rent-A-Center‘s decision to sell itself to Vintage Capital comes amid a continuing expansion of so-called “alt lending” options for consumers, which could make it more difficult for the chain to...
February 01, 2018
To reach more consumers and foster more eco-friendly operations, IKEA is testing out renting its furniture offerings in Japan, Curbed reported Wednesday (Jan. 31). The furniture rentals will be geared toward...
