Special orders have traditionally accounted for a large portion of business in the outdoor industry. Although special orders have slowed for some retailers, Group Bayport is betting big on customized products with a new e-commerce platform called PatioHQ.
The company owns Covers For All, a custom furniture cover business, as well as NorthCape, which offers custom cushions. These brands are an essential part of the PatioHQ business, as everything is made in America and delivered within just 14 days.
“We are, by DNA, a custom company,” Nishant Shah, Group Bayport founder and CEO, told Casual News Now. “We have been looking at gaps in the outdoor space and are impressed by its growth. Every year, it grows more than 5% CAGR. This is the time for a transformation, and it’s a big step forward for us.”
Through the PatioHQ website, customers will be able to pick the size of the furniture and customize everything from the side handles, cushion firmness and the Sunbrella fabrics the company uses.
“We are focusing on what customers are looking for and what their pain points are in that process,” Shah said. “We carry more than 45 design options from Sunbrella, which people want, and we have launched six different furniture collections. We are in the process of adding four more.”
Offerings on the site range from $100 custom cushions to $12,000 full-scale furniture collections.
“This platform can transform the way that people are buying outdoor furniture online,” Shah said. “We do think that there will be a learning phase in figuring out how we can communicate that information better. We are working on making things easier to use so the customer has a better experience in designing and visualizing what they are getting. We are excited that this will be a different buying experience than anything they have seen.”
Group Bayport’s acquisition of NorthCape back in October was a significant step in the company’s journey in the outdoor space. Since then, the company’s capacity to produce cushions has increased four times. And while tariffs bottlenecked a few things, now customers’ deliveries are there within three to four weeks of ordering. “We’re going to reduce this lead time as much as we can for our NorthCape dealers and our customers,” Shah said.
With the launch of PatioHQ, the company is continuing to invest in the outdoor industry while serving its dealers and customers. Next up, Shah and a team from Group Bayport will be at the Casual Market Atlanta next month in the NorthCape showroom to discuss the future of the company.
