How an SG furniture retailer grew 6x during the pandemic

Visit the abode of a new homeowner in Singapore, and there’s a high chance that they own something from online furniture retailer Castlery – whether it’s a coffee table, dining chair, or a sofa pouf.

Founded in 2013, the furniture retailer offers tasteful, modern designs at affordable price points, making its products a staple in many of the city-state’s millennial homes.

Castlery co-founder Declan Ee / Photo credit: Castlery

For Castlery co-founder and president Declan Ee, the Covid-19 pandemic has fast-tracked “what we would have waited five to six years” into two years. In the thick of the global health crisis, Castlery has grown its revenues sixfold, driven largely by an aggressive expansion effort into the US in late 2019.

As the pandemic ravaged the world, Castlery rode a shift in spending patterns that saw consumers veering away from services like travel and gravitating towards high-ticket items like furniture. Confined to their homes, many people were also forced to become comfortable making these purchases online, a trend that has been a boon for firms like gaming-chair company Secretlab.

Where you live “now means so much more than a place you go home to,” Ee tells Tech in Asia.

A model like Castlery’s isn’t new. Online-only retailers like Singapore-based FortyTwo and HipVan are banking on customers prioritizing convenience and ease of purchase over the need to touch and see their furniture before purchasing. Unlike ordering a dress online, receiving a bulky sofa only to realize it doesn’t fit in your living room can be a nightmare.

Abroad, Vancouver-based Article, also designs and builds its own furniture, sells a highly curated catalog of items via an online-only channel. Like Castlery, the direct-to-consumer firm has seen significant traction in Canada and the US in recent years.

Castlery also sells to consumers in Australia and the US. But unlike in Singapore, the company does not have physical showrooms or stores overseas. Instead, it employs a purely digital strategy, tapping online channels and social media influencers to market products, which are then shipped off directly to homes from its production base in Asia.

With a recession looming, Castlery is now banking on further growth in the US – its fastest-growing market – and betting that the pandemic-cultivated habits of online shopping will persist.

Sixfold increase in revenue

Castlery’s target customers are between the ages of 25 and 45 – those making major life decisions, such as moving in with a partner or having their first child, and who might require new furniture.

“We want to furnish all your milestones,” Ee says. “Imagine that every two to three years, with that big change in your life, you go to 25 furniture shops to try to find what fits. It’s just such a hassle.”

Castlery’s 11,000-square foot showroom in Singapore / Photo credit: Castlery

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