Online furniture delivery is just not convenient

There’s a furniture war brewing as startups like Article, Burrow, Maiden Home, The Inside, and Interior Define all compete to sell you a sofa online and conveniently deliver it to your home. The thing is, in practice, the experience is often not that convenient. Most furniture brands partner with a third-party delivery company that will bring the sofa or coffee table into the room of your choice. Burrow and The Inside stand out because they sell pieces that are delivered by mail, which can also be a hassle if you live on a fourth-floor walkup.

Article is tackling this problem by creating its own final-mile delivery service, which debuts today in Los Angeles and New York. The idea is to have a team of staff who are well trained in customer service and familiar with every piece of furniture in Article’s line. Article says this new approach will allow it to deliver products to these markets two days more quickly than an outsourced delivery partner. In its pilot program, Article found an 83% decrease in the amount of negative feedback from customers. If a customer has issues, like needing to reschedule a delivery or ship a different product, Article’s delivery team will handle it on the spot.

This latest development shows that the furniture wars are heating up. Furniture is an expensive purchase that most people make infrequently. To win a customer’s business, brands need to stand out in every single way, from design to value to convenience. And if you’ve ever sat around for weeks waiting for your sofa to show up, the promise of an easy delivery may be enough to clinch the deal.