The furniture e-commerce business is booming worldwide. It has a market size of around $257 billion and is forecasted to skyrocket to $430 billion in revenue by 2029. Castlery furniture is one of the leading brands in the segment today, making sure that their sofas, sectionals, and other products are more accessible to consumers.
“The customer journey was frustrating and time-consuming. We visited multiple stores across the city and dealt with inconsistent discounting practices–which made us question if we were getting a fair price," said Castlery co-founder Declan EE.
Castlery has a fantastic website. Their professional display and excellent filtering options make it a breeze to find a couch you love. They also have wonderful images and videos that help you get a great sense of each couch before you buy. Overall the website really impresses me, especially for the price point of their couches.
Castlery’s Ease of Navigation
- This is a very professional website, especially for couches at this price point. You’d think you were shopping at a high end retailer as you click through the pages. Very impressive and likely a reason Castlery became so popular.
- Menus are clean and simple and easy to navigate, though the spacing between columns is a bit wide.
- Category pages have amazing filtering options. Perhaps the best I’ve ever seen. There are sliders to select width, seat comfort, seat depth, seat height, and seat softness. These are options I always wish companies would include and I’m thrilled to see them here on Castlery. The only odd omission is a way to filter by best-selling or trending.
- Product pages are wonderful. They’re extremely clear and precise. The photography is good and the carousel of photos is easy to scroll through. Customization options are easy to decipher, extended warranty info is right above the Add to Cart button, shipping and delivery info is just below that. A simple scroll reveals the dropdowns for specific product information. And right below that is the Reviews section.
- I needed to create an account or use a Google/Facebook/Apple account in order to checkout. I didn’t love this aspect and would have preferred to be able to checkout as a guest (or at least not have to make an account).
Castlery’s Information Available “At-A-Glance”
- On category pages you’re shown the couch name, the price, the sale price, the fabric options, and there’s a tag if an item is on Clearance or on Sale or New. This is a good amount of info.
- Many competitors show the star rating/number of reviews, as well as a way to highlight best sellers. I think Castlery could benefit from including these.
Castlery’s Product Images
- On category pages, couches are displaon a clean white backdrop. The color changes when you pick a different option. Hovering over the couch shows an alternate lifestyle image. It’s all clean and high quality. Unfortunately, Castlery almost exclusively sells beige and white/off-white couches so it’s all a bit colorless.
- On product pages, there are lots of fantastic photos to scroll through. They also often feature videos showcasing specific features or just a glamorous look at the collection in a real home. Dimensions are easy to access right from the images. There’s a healthy number of lifestyle images and often a 360 view to see the couch from any angle. It’s a very professional set of product images. The color/fabric also changes in all the photos to match your choice.
Castlery’s Quality of Product Information
- Castlery’s product information is hit or miss. They do a great job of outlining the major aspects of the materials, but their fabric information is particularly lacking. That being said, they do much better than other companies in terms of making it easy to find frame construction, cushion construction, and spring system info. Many companies bury this info or omit it completely.
- Castlery has an impressive “Product Dimensions” section that shows a diagram of the couch with measurements, a list of ALL the important dimensions, and they even have a scale from 1-5 that illustrates the seat comfort, depth, height, and softness. This is really excellent, especially at this price point.
- Warranty, return, and assembly information is clearly detailed and easy to find. This is fantastic.
- Customer Castlery furniture reviews are right beneath the main product information and easy to parse and filter.
Castlery’s Extra Bells & Whistles
- Castlery does have an AR feature to allow you to see their furniture in your own home.