Chair King Backyard Store embraces e-commerce with new website

Chair King Backyard Store, the nation’s largest outdoor furniture specialty retailer, went live Wednesday with a new website that will support both its brands, Chair King Backyard Store and Fortunoff Backyard Store.

The site, which can be found at www.chairking.com  and www.fortunoffbys.com, is intended to provide an enhanced customer experience throughout its market areas in the Southwest and Northeast, according to a prepared statement from the retailer.

With the launch of the new websites, the entire assortment of outdoor and patio furniture and accessories will be available online. The website may also be used to expand assortments to test new categories and items that may eventually make their way into the stores in the future.

E-commerce and retail at Chair King

E-commerce isn’t a new undertaking for Chair King, which has 21 locations throughout Texas under its Chair King brand, and 29 locations in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and Pennsylvania under the Fortunoff brand.

The store first launched online retail capabilities on its websites in 2017 and has continued to invest in the technology each year. But when COVID-19 shut down brick-and-mortar retailers in early 2020, it became obvious that leadership in digital retail needs to be a continuing priority,

John Hunewill, vice president of marketing and e-commerce for the Houston-based retailer, says that Chair King recognizes that a strong digital experience is key to sales growth, whether online or in the stores. As shopping behavior evolves, the retailer intends to be out front as more and more customers adopt a digital-first approach when beginning to shop for furniture.

“The last two years have revealed to us that the customer journey generally starts with the digital experience,” Hunewill says. “COVID-19 really accelerated the need for us to re-evaluate the service and experience we were giving to our customers. Our data shows that improved experiences online translate to improved sales performance both in showrooms and online.”

Bringing in additional expertise and a new hire

Chair King has been working with BigCommerce for the past several months to update its e-commerce capabilities. The e-commerce platform provides software as a service (SAAS) technology for many of the nation’s leading retailers, including Ben & Jerry’s Gift Shop, American Leather and Gildan.

Working with BigCommerce represents a significant step forward for Chair King, Hunewill says.

Kristen Brown, director of e-commerce for Chair King, joined the retailer in late 2021 to lead the digital transformation, and she says re-platforming to BigCommerce was the first step in an ongoing, iterative process to enhance the customer experience.

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“Right out of the gate, our customers will experience much-needed improvements in navigation, product information and a seamless one-page checkout experience, she says. “This is a complete re-design that takes a customer-first approach to making it easier for our customers to find what they want and to check out hassle-free.”

The effort toward enhancing e-commerce is worthwhile from a sales and customer service standpoint, according to David Barish, president of both Chair King Backyard Store and Fortunoff Backyard Store.

“Our mission is to make it easier for people to spend more time in their backyard and we are fortunate to be in a position where we have two much-improved websites that will allow customers to find the right product for them while removing barriers in the online shopping experience,” Barish says. “We remain committed to serving our customers by providing an outstanding selection and great value across all channels of the shopping experience.”