With its store closed during lockdown and its website fronting much of the demand, furniture retailer Glenkeen Furnishings has been working closely with Deko to develop new ways of leveraging retail finance to cast its net further and attract a broader customer base online.
While partnering with Deko the business has seen 40% increases in month-on-month revenue. We explore the strategy with marketing and business development manager, Caroline Wilson.
How is Covid-19 impacting business at Glenkeen Furnishings?
We are both and online business and a physical store, and during lockdown we have had to close the shop. This has pushed all the demand towards our website.
Demand is high, I think this is a time when people realise they want to improve their home and in particular the furniture that they are spending more time sitting on! We have been attracting customers on social media, and generally been busy since lockdown started again.
At the minute we are finding social media is really helping us, and we are doing daily promotions on social media. Lots of retailers can’t actually get stock into the country so we are focused on just advertising the items we can actually deliver.
Will this have a long-term impact on the business?
I think, like many retailers during this time, we have had to focus on how our website is being used by customers, and where that traffic is being generated from. Social media, for instance, is a driver for us.
There is still a lot for us to do with the website, but it’s more of a focus for us today.
How are you working with Deko?
For a number of years we have had in place a 0% APR offer over 12 months which has been successful and helped drive revenue both in-store and online. However, we are looking to broaden our customer base now and meet the demands of a larger audience that our online activity is driving.
For the business now, the focus is on increasing the acceptance rates for those customers, which means we need to include longer term options.
A multi-lender approach?
Yes, to do this we are integrating a Tier 2 offering from Deko which will help us to get more approved loans. Some people are put off immediately if they are declined. We want to capture additional sales with those who might not get approved by the first lender.
If we are able to offer finance over a longer term those with lower income might start to consider buying. With our FCA approval we can offer additional terms and additional APRs. For instance, at the end of December added 9.9% APR over a 24-month term.
What role has Deko played in supporting this?
The partnership with Deko has been vital. From understanding the data to ensure multi-lender is the right approach, all the way to helping us get our FCA approval. The Deko team have held our hand all the way through.
Any questions we have had, have been addressed – it’s been a good process for us.
And, that quality of partnership is vital. I wouldn’t be confident advertising and offering a finance solution to our customers if I wasn’t personally comfortable working with the company myself.
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Could a multi-lender approach be right for your business to increase acceptance rates and handle increases in demand? Read more about our retail finance offering and request a call from one of the experts at Deko.