We have endeavoured to maintain and extend that trust by only showing product on the website that is in stock and available for immediate, next day delivery and offering exemplary customer service with a no quibble returns policy and guarantee. Once we had launched online shopping, people kept turning up to our building saying “We know you’re really online but couldn’t you just get one out of the warehouse for us to look at?” so we opened our showroom in 2006. It’s not enormous but it is friendly, informal and does the job very well.

Online retailers are often accused of ‘piling it high and selling it cheap’ making it difficult for the more traditional retailer to survive. What is your view on this?

Opening our showroom meant that we went from shifting boxes to being experts in everything we sell, just like a traditional retailer! We also understand as well as anyone the joys of demonstrating product for an hour and a half only to have the customer leave saying that they are going to buy it on xxx.com where they’ve seen it cheaper. We have tried to counter this by sticking with premium brands where price slashing is less prevalent, offering superb service and by refusing to indulge in price matching. We’re also happy to help other independents out by despatching direct from our warehouse to their customers and sharing the margin.

How successful is your website as a source of revenue?

We have a different business model to anyone else because we earn from advertising and promotions on babyworld.co.uk. This revenue accounts for about 48% of our gross margin, with ecommerce responsible for around 37% and the showroom 15%. 

Do you have a lot of visitors to your showroom or do most of your customers buy online?

80 – 85% of our sales are online but we have a steady stream of showroom customers which more often than not turns into a torrent on Saturdays.

What services do you offer in the showroom that are not are not available online?

Above all, courteous and knowledgeable face to face interaction for as long as the customer wants. Also we fit a lot of car seats.

Describe your customer base and how you compete with the multiples?

As far as the showroom is concerned, we sit in a relatively affluent area and our local customers recommend us to their friends on the back of the welcome they have received. We also have people who drive from miles away because they know and trust the website, maybe have friends who have already been to us and have perhaps read the customer testimonials on our site as well as other reviews. Online, they are from all over the UK and Republic of Ireland. We compete with the multiples by being faster, more approachable, more responsive and controlling stock really tightly.

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