Furniture1, is one of the leading pure play furniture e-commerce businesses in Europe. According to the founder, probably the biggest one when it comes to footprint. Pijus Makarevicius launched the company in Lithuania in 2008. Today they are present in 17 markets, stretching from Portugal to Estonia, and from Greece to the Netherlands. 'In some of those countries we are the biggest e-store in the furniture category, while in others we are new entrants. We offer tens of thousands of furniture SKUs, sourced from leading producers from Poland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Turkey, China and others.'
InteriorDaily interviewed the founder Pijus Makarevicius about his strategy for the European branches, the current economic challenges, his growth plans and more.
Founder Pijus Makarevicius.
What sets you apart from other similar retailers?
'Furniture1 has a strong entrepreneurial culture, on all levels of the organisation. This allowed us to quickly expand in recent years, both in terms of geography and catalogue. While all of our shops are independently operated to reflect the uniqueness of each local market, they follow the same values and high customer service standards.
We have a stock-light business model, where we rely on our expertise in logistics to quickly move goods from the suppliers to the customers. We operate over 20 cross-dock warehouses in Europe and we have our own last mile delivery in most of the markets where we are present.'
Online is becoming an increasingly larger market, do you see that in the furniture market too?
'When I started the business over 16 years ago, there were not many companies selling furniture online. E-commerce penetration was at a much lower level, digital payment methods were either not available or not flexible enough, there were no good logistics solutions for the fast delivery of heavy items cross border or even within a single market. Throughout the years this has changed and nowadays we cannot imagine a successful furniture retailer without a strong online presence. I believe that the trend is going to continue with brick and mortar shops eventually supporting online furniture retail, and not the other way around, across all of Europe.'
What challenges are you currently facing in a somewhat challenging economic market?
'The slow economic growth in Europe in the last few years, coupled with the war in Ukraine, has shifted the focus of the European consumer in many aspects. The slower growth last year allowed us to reflect more on our internal processes and to look for new growth opportunities and new markets. Our agile business model allows us to quickly adapt to changes in the economy, both positive and negative.'
You are present in 17 different countries in Europe, what's the biggest difference between the countries and how do you act in each local market?
'Our wide geographical presence gives us a fairly good view of the local trends in furniture and e-commerce across most of Europe. We were surprised to learn how similar customers from all of the markets are when it comes to tastes and preferences. Differences appear mostly in the logistics and payment infrastructure of the different parts of Europe. In some of our markets customers prefer to pay online as they order, while in other markets such as in South-Eastern Europe cash on delivery is still the standard. Customers from smaller European markets have higher expectations when it comes to the speed of delivery, while consumers in larger countries accept to wait a few days more on average.'
Is there one country that really stands out at the moment?
'The post-covid years, including 2024, have been strong for tourism in Europe, and we saw a strong demand from markets which have strong tourism sectors, mostly in the South-Western parts of the continent. Other countries, closer to the geopolitical tensions on the continent, were impacted negatively. Having operations in many markets puts us in a stronger position, when compared to more local players, which are more sensitive to local external influences.'
What are your expectations for the upcoming year for all your shops in Europe? Have you set any goals or are you planning to expand?
'We expect to continue our growth, both within our existing markets and into new ones. In 2024 so far we launched local operations in Switzerland and the Netherlands, soon to be followed by Luxembourg. We are preparing to launch into at least one more new market in Europe, and are evaluating options to expand beyond the continent. We are also looking into forming partnerships with new suppliers, as well as at different opportunities to grow our business through M&A.'
More information:
Furniture1
[email protected]
www.furniture1.eu