Sofa Club co-founder Louis Rose discusses the importance of moving at speed, agility and innovation

RTIH talks social media, physical retail, online opportunities, and Covid challenges with Louis Rose, co-founder of Sofa Club.

RTIH: Tell us about yourself and Sofa Club

LR: I am co-founder of Sofa Club, alongside Tom O’Neill.

Our journey began in 2012 when we started selling sofas in the middle of shopping centres. We would travel around London moving from shopping mall to shopping mall promoting and selling our products.

Fast forward 12 years and we are the fastest growing sofa retailer in the UK with sales forecast to hit 40 million this year. Our mission is to make sofa shopping a stress free and enjoyable experience whilst inspiring everyone to create a beautiful home.  

RTIH: You recently opened a new branch in Liverpool. How important is a physical presence to your business strategy?

LR: Whilst we still have three shopping centre locations in Lakeside, Manchester and Newcastle, opening a physical store of the magnitude of Liverpool is a new and significant milestone for us.

Whilst social media and our online presence has been the backbone of our business, having this physical presence allows us to connect with our customers in a more tangible way.

It provides opportunity for customers that were maybe on the fence about buying from us to come and see the quality of our products first hand and get a true sense of our brand in person.

RTIH: How was the business affected by the Covid-19 outbreak and how did you adapt to challenging times?

LR: Initially there was disruption to our supply chain which caused issues with our stock levels.

We were able to pivot really easily once our shopping centre locations were closed. All of our efforts were focused online and in fact it made us improve our online experience, creating a smoother and more user-friendly shopping experience.

We used social media to engage with our audience, showcase our products, and offer virtual consultations. This not only helped maintain our sales but also strengthened our community. In fact, we delivered some of our most creative work during this period.

The pandemic taught us the importance of moving at speed, agility and innovation and these are all lessons that made us stronger and more resilient in business today.

RTIH: You mentioned the importance of your social media presence to the business. You have, for instance, a sizeable following on Instagram and TikTok. Could you talk some more about that?

LR: Social media has always been an instrumental part of our business strategy.

We were one of the first furniture brands on social media and have always tried to be trailblazers within our industry. We were accidentally doing influencer marketing before there was a name for it and we have always had a strong following.

We now work with some of the biggest content creators in the UK and our customers enjoy tagging us in their homes.

We also try to provide as much value as possible back to our followers in terms of styling tips and inspiration. It’s a big deal purchasing a new sofa, so we try to help people as much as possible. 

RTIH: What sort of online opportunities and challenges are you facing right now?

LR: Although customers are getting a lot more comfortable ordering online, there is definitely an increase in the number of people that would like to touch and feel the product given the choice.

This is difficult when we only have a small number of offline locations.

Therefore, we invest a lot of resource into improving our e-commerce experience with things like AR technology, product detail videos and really clear to read measurements and specifications.

RTIH: What else can we expect to see from Sofa Club during 2024 and into 2025?

LR: All focus now is on Q4 and to deliver our biggest period to date. We have spent the last few months ensuring the foundations are in place.

We have increased the number of ranges we offer, giving us our best ever product selection, increased our stock hold to make sure we can deliver on our promise of next day delivery and we have introduced some senior members into the team to add a bit of experience. 

Overall, we are excited about the future, our team are all locked into the mission and our customers seem to be loving it.