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140 Online Retail SUMMER 02 they would in a shop’. Rug Star’s realisation that the price ceiling doesn’t exist is revelatory for the future of online rug sales; but industry faith in ‘same-level’ experience between online and IRL is undergoing transformation. Jaipur’s online retail aligns with its showrooms. Both o er ‘product quality, storytelling, digital marketing, customer engagement, user experience, customisation, and operational e ciency’, says Yogesh Chaudhary, director. They also reflect the heritage of India, the multi-generational family company, and the renowned craftsmanship of its Rajasthani weavers. Chaudharys ‘holistic approach’ attracts new customers while retaining a loyal clientele. He says this ‘creates a compelling and sustainable business model and fosters long-term success’. Chaudhary’s term ‘holistic’ also describes his company’s successful collaboration between online and IRL shopping. Digital experiential elements include Jaipur Rugs’ personalised video updates for customorder clients. Weavers making the client’s rug are interviewed at the loom. Translations are provided for non-Hindi speakers. As Chaudhary explains, this type of personalised service ‘makes customers feel valued and involved’. Chaudhary uses the word ‘e ciency’ to describe how Jaipur Rugs eliminates pain points for online customers that can mar or ruin the rug purchase experience with other brands. Pain points conquered include poor customer service (chatbots, scripted ‘conversations’, and long wait times to engage), digital performance and website reliability, and unreliable thirdparty shipping. The rise in digital-first companies opening showrooms is epitomised by Beni Rugs. Co-founded by Robert Wright and Tiberio Lobo-Navia in 2019, the company recently pivoted from online-only to experiential showrooms in Marrakech and New York City. Its indoor-outdoor Marrakech studio showroom includes a lush garden where customers can play boules, a ‘Milan-style’ café, and Berber 03

05 02 The Beni Rugs showroom in Marrakech 03 Deco rug from a new collection Salon by Athena Calderone and Beni Rugs 04 One of Rug Star’s regular ‘Rug of the Week’ Instagram videos 05 The web tools on Jaipur Rugs’ website I S SUE 75 Online Retail 141 04 weavers working at fifty looms—a 21st-century version of an educational ‘living history’ immersive environment. The ability to watch weavers at work reflects the fact ‘our customers care where their rugs are made and how the team making them is treated and compensated’, says Wright. ‘Placing these values at our core has translated to greater engagement and sales.’ For customers who can’t visit a store or showroom, the perennial problems of how websites represent rug colours accurately and show the quality of materials and weave are being addressed. More rug companies are offering samples so consumers can try before they buy. Beni Rugs’ swatch offer is titled ‘feeling is believing’. Its swatches include construction squares so consumers can see and feel the difference between flatweave and handknotted, and pom-pom colour references. UK online retailer Jane Clayton [see Q&A] says the steep rise in rug purchases on the company website means it will launch rug samples ‘soon’. ‘You can’t just stay online,’ said retail expert Warren Shoulberg of Business of Home recently, referring to the growing number of direct-to-consumer brands opening bricks-and-mortar stores. The brand narratives of Rug Star, Jaipur Rugs and Beni Rugs are units of measure for online success, but all rug brands should consider what the recent pivot made by two major US home furnishing retailers means for the future of online sales. In 2023 HomeGoods (part of the TJX brands empire with some 1,000 bricks-and-mortar stores) closed the e-commerce side of its business, while Wayfair—an online-only operation since 2002—opened its first bricks-andmortar store in May 2024. These significant shifts underscore the fact that consumers want it all. They want the ease of online shopping allied to IRL retail experiences. Looking to the future, it is not about either/or; it is a hybrid that will become known as ‘clicks-and-mortar’. www.rugstar.com www.jaipurrugs.com www.benirugs.com

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140 Online Retail SUMMER

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they would in a shop’. Rug Star’s realisation that the price ceiling doesn’t exist is revelatory for the future of online rug sales; but industry faith in ‘same-level’ experience between online and IRL is undergoing transformation.

Jaipur’s online retail aligns with its showrooms. Both o er ‘product quality, storytelling, digital marketing, customer engagement, user experience, customisation, and operational e ciency’, says Yogesh Chaudhary, director. They also reflect the heritage of India, the multi-generational family company, and the renowned craftsmanship of its Rajasthani weavers. Chaudharys ‘holistic approach’ attracts new customers while retaining a loyal clientele. He says this ‘creates a compelling and sustainable business model and fosters long-term success’. Chaudhary’s term ‘holistic’ also describes his company’s successful collaboration between online and IRL shopping.

Digital experiential elements include Jaipur Rugs’ personalised video updates for customorder clients. Weavers making the client’s rug are interviewed at the loom. Translations are provided for non-Hindi speakers. As Chaudhary explains, this type of personalised service ‘makes customers feel valued and involved’. Chaudhary uses the word ‘e ciency’ to describe how Jaipur Rugs eliminates pain points for online customers that can mar or ruin the rug purchase experience with other brands. Pain points conquered include poor customer service (chatbots, scripted ‘conversations’, and long wait times to engage), digital performance and website reliability, and unreliable thirdparty shipping.

The rise in digital-first companies opening showrooms is epitomised by Beni Rugs. Co-founded by Robert Wright and Tiberio Lobo-Navia in 2019, the company recently pivoted from online-only to experiential showrooms in Marrakech and New York City. Its indoor-outdoor Marrakech studio showroom includes a lush garden where customers can play boules, a ‘Milan-style’ café, and Berber

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