Recently relocated to Fort Greene, updating my lifestyle and, in the process, my furniture. What this has brought to my attention, was the experience absolutely baffling to do so – once you pass Ikea, where to go? If you're not the type to fall on the bevvy of offerings available from large companies like Raymour and Flanigan, Design Within Reach or Crate & Barrel, or alternatively consider Craigslist, eBay or a dumpster, StyleFactory is a potential answer.
Sitting somewhere between Etsy and Groupon, a Carpenter's old school, StyleFactory sources designed for furniture and furnishings from around the world and then puts them to the wisdom of the crowd for four weeks to see what will be made a reality. This is done through some nifty social analytics, as Sebastian Reichelt, co-founder and COO, explained:
It's really important vote because the votes have the most impact on the result of a product. However, when you click the Facebook ' like ' button on a product, which is where the magic begins.
Here's what happens: when you like a product you like basically a Facebook page for that product (which Facebook creates behind the curtain). Our API can then use that page to send updates to your stream on the status of your favorite product and the time it becomes available for purchase. You're spending a lot of time on Facebook every day, so why use old grumpy sn@ilma.il to make sure that you're not at the end of a period of voting or sale. You will see updates from that product directly on your wall. In this way, ' love ', actions and click-throughs from Facebook become part of what we call the social impact of a product.
In addition, every time you share a link shortened product, using the system. ly are used which help us to keep track of how far links are transported and where the clicks come from, what else is sharing them and how they impact changes over time. Since we are a design company, we use a custom domain like http://umade.it/flipo-clock fantasy.
One last thing to mention is our blog, which not only helps us to spread the word more easily, but also tells us about pingbacks (others picking up our content or writing to us) and the reactions to our content on other sites.
Everything flows together with a great Panel votes, where we look at the comments received and ' social impact ' products.
Once this is done, the company matches designers with manufacturers and begins the process of buying group in the past, the elements have required an average of about 20 buyers to get the go-ahead. This guarantees a minimum sale for producers make the product actually happen, making everybody happy.
"We do custom products with no inventory and no overstock – is very thin," said Reichelt. "We then pass along the savings to consumers that get new merchandise from cycles of production of small batches at a competitive price." Shipping is free, and goods are delivered and unpacked in the living room, much as the largest retailers of furniture Raymour and Flanigan – provides a similar service, for example.
Although some may have some sticker shock at the idea of paying $ 699 for a lamp, it is important to remember these are unique pieces, and an item must exist through several cycles of the purchase before it becomes available-take regularly watch Flipo, for example. StyleFactory allows artists retain ownership of their designs, licenses only their ideas to the company and pay a fee for industry-standard 4-7% on purchases. He stressed also that the majority of clients are women of college age between 25 and 44, and that 61% of all customers are women.
In a world dominated by vast industries of creations of cookie cutter, there can only be a place for companies like StyleFactory. And who doesn't want a sofa that have only 19 other people?
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