Choosing an Online Sales Platform

Selling furniture online is an excellent business opportunity, allowing you to reach a much wider audience of customers beyond just your local area. With some strategic planning and the right tools, anyone can start an online furniture store.

In this comprehensive guide, we will walk through the entire process of setting up an online furniture store from start to finish.

The first step is deciding where you want to sell your furniture online. You have a few options:

Your Own Website

Creating your own independent website gives you full control over the design, features, and how you run your online store. However, it also requires more technical skill and maintenance.

Popular ecommerce platforms like WooCommerce allow you to build a custom online store that‘s optimized for selling products. With the right theme and plugins, you can create a fully-featured furniture website.

The major benefit of your own site is you‘re not locked into anyone else‘s rules or fees. The downside is you have to handle all the hosting, security, marketing, SEO, and other technical aspects yourself.

Furniture Marketplaces

Rather than create an entirely new website, you can also list your products on existing furniture marketplaces like Houzz, Overstock, and Wayfair.

These sites already have an established base of customers looking for furniture. You simply create a seller profile and upload your products. The platform handles payments, order fulfillment, customer service, and all the technical details.

Marketplaces make it easy to get started selling quickly, but they do charge commissions and fees. You‘re also stuck with their policies, terms, and design restrictions.

Hybrid Approach

An ideal solution for many furniture sellers is a hybrid approach. You create your own independent website as the hub for your brand, then also list products across multiple marketplaces for added exposure.

This gives you control over your website experience while also tapping into marketplace traffic and customers. Just make sure your pricing stays consistent across channels.

If you‘ve opted to create your own website, the next step is choosing a platform and designing your online store. Here are some tips:

Choose a Domain Name

Your domain name will act as the address for your website that customers type in to find your store.

Some tips for choosing a domain:

• Make it short, memorable, and easy to spell
• Use keywords relevant to furniture or your specific products
• Add your business name if you have an existing brand
• Consider including your location if you plan to sell locally

Once you‘ve brainstormed some ideas, check domain name registrars like GoDaddy or Bluehost to see if your preferred name is available.

Select Web Hosting

In order for your website to be accessible online, you‘ll need web hosting. This is where all your site‘s data is stored on remote servers.

Some popular hosting providers include Bluehost, SiteGround, and HostGator. Look for a plan that offers ample storage space, bandwidth, and speed.

Managed WordPress hosting is ideal, as it streamlines installation and optimizes performance for WordPress sites.

Install WordPress

Now you‘re ready to setup the CMS that will power your furniture website. We recommend using WordPress since it‘s very SEO-friendly and has ecommerce functionality available.

Most web hosts offer a simple one-click install for WordPress. From your admin dashboard, you can start building pages and adding features.

Choose a Theme

WordPress themes control the appearance and layout of your site. There are thousands to choose from, but look for ones designed specifically for WooCommerce stores.

Popular multipurpose ecommerce themes include Astra, Storefront, Divi, Flatsome, and Avada. Or browse the "WooCommerce" category in the WordPress theme directory.

Look for responsive design, furniture product galleries, and flexibility to customize the design.

Configure WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress ecommerce plugin. It provides everything you need to add products, accept payments, calculate taxes and shipping, and fulfill orders.

Install WooCommerce from your WordPress dashboard. The setup wizard will guide you through configuring basic store settings and connecting payment processors.

Optimize for SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) will be crucial for helping customers find your new furniture website.

Use an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO to handle technical optimizations. Create quality product descriptions, meta descriptions, alt text, etc. Producing blog content can help build authority on furniture over time.

Now it‘s time to start adding your actual furniture products into the online store.

Organize Categories and Tags

To make browsing and discovering products intuitive for customers, you need a clear taxonomy system.

Set up logical product categories and subcategories. Common ones for furniture include living room, bedroom, dining room, office, outdoor, etc. Add tags for styles like modern, traditional, industrial, mid-century, etc.

Add Products

In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Products > Add New to manually create each product.

For each one, you‘ll need:

• Title
• Description
• Product images and gallery
• Category and tags
• Available variations (size, color, material, etc.)
• Weight and dimensions
• Price and sales price if applicable
• Inventory stock keeping units (SKUs)

Product Reviews

Product reviews lend credibility and social proof to purchases. Allow customers to leave reviews on product pages.

Display them using a plugin like WooCommerce Product Reviews Pro or Yotpo. Moderating poor reviews will be important.

Refine and Expand

Continue adding new products and refining existing ones. Produce buying guides, "best of" content, and other resources to expand your offerings.

Promote best selling items, new arrivals, and sales on your homepage using WooCommerce shortcodes.

Once your products are listed, it‘s time to get your new business online and operational.

Calculate Taxes

You‘ll need to charge any required state taxes at checkout. WooCommerce integrates with automated tax plugins to handle tax calculations for you.

Setup Shipping

Carefully research shipping options and carriers best suited for furniture items. Integrate these options with WooCommerce at checkout.

Provide accurate shipping estimates. Offer free shipping or discounts to incentivize bigger purchases.

Accept Payments

Activate payment gateways through WooCommerce to accept debit/credit transactions. Popular options include PayPal, Stripe, and Authorize.net.

Also consider alternate payment methods – Accept bank/wire transfers for very large orders. Offer PayPal Credit to finance purchases.

Build Trust

Clearly display policies around shipping, returns, warranties, and guarantees. This reassures customers that purchasing furniture online is safe.

Tools like SSL encryption, Trust Badges, and security plugins help build credibility.

Market Your Store

Now comes the ongoing work of driving traffic and sales to your new online furniture store through marketing and promotion.

• SEO to improve keyword rankings
• PPC ads to get your products in front of searchers
• Email marketing sequences and newsletters to existing customers
• Social media engagement on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
• Retargeting campaigns to reconnect with visitors
• Affiliate or influencer marketing to expand reach

Selling furniture online does take effort to do well, but following these best practices will set you up for success:

• Focus on quality products and inventory depth rather than going overly broad
• Make mobile user experience seamless
• Offer free shipping or bundle pricing discounts to incentivize bigger orders
• Create dedicated landing pages for advertising campaigns
• Share company values and craftsmanship stories to connect with customers
• Prioritize 5-star customer service and swift issue resolution
• Stay on top of furniture and interior design trends
• Experiment with emerging augmented reality technology as it evolves

Selling furniture online opens up a world of possibilities and customers beyond just your local area. With the right tools and strategy tailored to your products, anyone can build a thriving online furniture store and brand.