At Urban Natural, we know the decision to purchase heirloom quality, sustainably-focused furniture for your home is a significant one. After all, the pieces we curate from our exceptional roster of workshop partners are built to last and accompany you and your family for generations; why shouldn’t your experience shopping for them be equally as thorough and rewarding? We sat down with Maria Ovchinnikov, Chief Marketing Officer for Urban Natural Home, to find out how her team works to make shopping online as personal, approachable, and enjoyable as visiting us in person.
They may not be the first two things you think of in the same sentence, but technology has actually been a major driving force for change in the business of handcrafted, ethically sourced, organic, sustainable, and USA made furniture today. “If you’re in a major city,” Maria explains, “you may be able to find workshops like ours in person,” but during the Covid pandemic especially, even people in larger cities made the move to smaller towns, and rural areas. Maria’s own family moved to Black Mountain, North Carolina, and while she’s been thrilled with the decision to do so, she also realizes that so many people don’t always have in-store access to a wide range of quality furniture workshops and brands unless they’re big chain companies. “I’m a computer nerd with a background in start-ups and e-commerce,” Maria says, “but going to trade shows, I fell in love with the furniture industry! Seeing all the different styles of pieces and types of showrooms, learning to recognize the difference in quality between lower and higher price points” gave her an appreciation for the artistry and attention to detail required to make expertly crafted furniture. Over her eight years working exclusively for Urban Natural Home, she’s also felt fortunate to visit several of their workshop partners in person too: “They want us to come because they’re proud of their work and transparent practices. Copeland, for example, will actually let you work on the assembly line to experience how that’s done.” Having the opportunity to experience her industry in such a hands-on and personal way only affirmed Maria’s goal of creating an ecommerce experience for her customers that might match the in-person one.
Three pillars that Maria uses to elevate Urban Natural’s online capabilities are expanding the amount of online resources and education they offer, prioritizing customer care, and streamlining the entire shopping process. “Lots of our partners offer so many options, from types of wood to fabrics, and sometimes the ecommerce aspect can make it easier to see everything in one place,” she says. Incorporating style guides and useful education into their blog series and newsletters offers more value for their customers too. Using email marketing as a means of sharing useful how-tos and highlighting items specifically based on that customer’s taste and past purchases has proven to be more engaging than simply dropping coupons or hyping sales. “We want to give you as much info as possible on our website,” Maria says, because furniture “is a big purchase, and we get that– we want to make the purchase decision as easy and confident as possible.”
As they continue to enhance Urban Natural’s ecommerce capabilities, Maria and her team plan to roll out a customer portal for people to track their orders and get quick answers to questions. “We’ll still be on-hand,” she assures, because much like the high quality furniture they offer, their approach to marketing is also an intentional investment with timeless and long lasting returns. “When you shop online, we appear to be a big company,” she says, “but we’re a small and mighty team who all work really well together, and appreciate each other’s contributions.” She still advocates for the in-store experience if you happen to be near their Montclair, New Jersey showroom, and mentions the space “used to be an auto shop, and still has three big doors we like to roll up in summer!” Nevertheless, however you choose to shop Urban Natural, you can rest assured the experience will always be a welcoming one to remember.
Learn more about Urban Natural Home, and discover your next sustainable, ethically sourced, organic, handcrafted, and USA made furniture and home decor today.
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