Our advice for buying office furniture online

Whether you need furniture to kit out your office for the first time or you’re looking for a way to revamp your workspace, your first port of call is probably going to be an online search. 

Rather than heading to a store or showroom, buying office furniture online is convenient and offers a lot of benefits. From larger product ranges to cheaper prices, buying furniture online can make setting up your office less stressful, as well as save you money. 

But, when buying online, how do you ensure that the furniture you’re ordering is what is being advertised and is high quality?

To ensure you’re buying from a reputable company, who is prepared to guarantee the quality of your furniture, here’s our advice for buying your office furniture online:

Comparing prices

Unlike shopping in stores, searching for competitive prices online is quick and easy. Between different companies with similar ranges or multiple websites selling the same product, finding the right piece of office furniture for you and at the best price has never been so simple. 

Too often the mistake is made of solely looking at the price that is displayed big and bold next to the product. However, when comparing prices online, using only this display price to make your decision may not be the best option as each company may choose to display their prices differently.

To avoid being caught out, and to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your money, it is essential to check if the displayed price includes VAT, what delivery options and charges - if any - are offered and what the return cost could be for you if your office furniture isn’t right.

As you dig deeper, you will be able to understand exactly what you get for your money, how comparable the prices really are, and understand what charges may apply and how you are protected through each individual returns and replacement policy. This will give you a genuine price comparison overview of your office furniture.

Company reputation

Despite the ease of online shopping, it is important to remain cautious when searching for office furniture online. When shopping for everything from desks to storage, purchasing furniture for your office can soon become expensive so it is important to know that you are investing in quality furniture from a reputable company. 

When researching a company's reputation, it is good practice to check their customer reviews. Often these reviews are displayed on the company's website or can be found by doing a quick search online. Taking time to read through a selection of reviews and check the company's star rating will give you an insight into previous customers' experience, the company's ability to solve issues quickly and successfully, as well as their level of customer service.  

It can also be helpful to check their social media pages. A business’ Facebook page can be a mine of information with everything from customer photos, reviews and experiences, as well as letting you see how successfully the company is running and if they can stick to their promises. 

If you find a cheap office desk on a company website but see that the reviews are really bad and that the company is not responding to complaints, you need to weigh up whether the saving is worth the potential problems you could encounter after ordering.

How helpful the company is

As well as knowing their reputation, it is important to gather an understanding as to how helpful the company is likely to be if you have any questions or problems with your order. 

Speaking to their customer service team before placing your order can help you see how quickly they respond and if they are able to successfully answer your query. This interaction is likely to reassure you that even after you have received your office furniture, you will still be able to receive this good level of customer service. 

Knowing how helpful the company and customer service team is, can be especially reassuring for those planning to place big orders or those who may have to go through the returns process.  

Delivery 

The delivery options available when buying office furniture online can be a big perk to online shopping vs stores. Having your furniture delivered means you don’t have to deal with the hassle of trying to fit it in your car! However, due to office furniture being large, bulky and often heavy, delivery can soon become very expensive. Luckily, many online companies offer very reasonable delivery costs and many provide free delivery.

When buying online, it is important to make sure that the company is able to deliver on a date that is convenient for you. For your added convenience, it could be useful to know if the company can also offer you an accurate way to track your office furniture package once that it’s out for delivery so you know exactly when to expect it.

If you’re eager to get your office furniture in a hurry, it is also crucial to research how fast the company are able to deliver to you before committing to your purchase. Do they offer an express or next day delivery option? Although convenient for you, a  faster delivery option is likely to only be available with an additional charge and should be considered as part of your overall office furniture budget. 

Whilst researching the delivery options, it can be helpful to know if the company offers installation of your office furniture or not. Especially for big orders, an installation option can be a hassle-free way of making sure that your office furniture is set up quickly and correctly. Again, this installation may come at an extra cost and may need to be considered within your overall budget. 

Furniture guarantee

Due to office furniture often being a fairly reasonable financial investment that should last you a while, before buying online it’s important to understand what guarantee is offered by the company. 

A guarantee is usually a good way to gauge how long a piece of furniture is expected to last during the regular day-to-day office use. It will also tell you something about the quality of furniture you can expect. After all, if one company is offering a six-month guarantee on a desk but another is offering a 10-year guarantee, it is easy to see which furniture is built to last.  

Take a look at whether there is a standard guarantee across all of a company’s furniture, if different types of furniture have different guarantees or if guarantees vary for each item - which is usually due to lots of different suppliers. You also want to check what is covered under the guarantee and what would happen if you need replacement parts. 

Once again, this is something you need to consider as part of your overall price comparison. After all, it is probably the better option to pay slightly more for a desk that has a longer guarantee and is likely to be of better quality than pay less but risk a cheaply-constructed piece of furniture that you’ll have to replace much sooner.

Looking for more advice about buying your office furniture online?

If you’re still unsure on what to look out for when buying your office furniture online or you’re worried about what you can get for your budget, then our expert customer service team is available to answer your questions.

To get some advice on ordering online or to ask any other questions you might have, start a live chat now, send us an email at help@bluespotfurniture.co.uk or give us a call on 0800 804 4760.