Why so many online stores like madedotcom are failing? What about Diiiz?

London- Brussels

Wednesday, October the 26^th 2022

Roberto Mongiovi

Diiiz.com CEO

In recent months, we’ve seen a number of online furniture stores such as Madedotcom going bankrupt as the sector as a whole has been slowing down after Covid 19 and its supply chain crisis, while dealing with soaring business costs due to higher import taxes, higher shipping costs and increased tariffs. This has led some of our competitors, such as made.com to filing for bankruptcy or closing shop entirely.

Diiiz.com has also gone through very hard times these last 2 years but despite strong difficulties we have managed to stay afloat. We dont take it for granted. Online shopping has gone down due to the economic crisis and inflation. We are sad for Made.com but we still believe in us. This is the reason why we would like to reassure our customers. We still take orders and all the orders will be delivered to our customers!

As a smaller company, we believe that Diiiz should take the current economic crisis as an opportunity to reorient its business model and invest in a more local and European supply chain.

What makes Diiiz different from Made.com, even in such a tough industry?

One of the things that makes us different, even in such a tough industry, is our commitment to providing quality products at affordable prices. As a smaller company, we've always been focused on building long-term relationships with our customers and suppliers. To maintain this focus, we work diligently with the manufacturers and suppliers who produce our goods in order to provide the best product possible.

Long terms relations with our suppliers and stakeholders have so far helped us to stay afloat despite Margins erosions. Reorienting our business model in Europe will also be key in this long terme strategy.

How Diiiz survived the lockout?

The Covid 19 lockdown was a major supply chain crisis and we were worried that our business would be affected. Thanks to some successful predictions, we have startedto reorient our business model in 2020. We have not been able to change our production plans as quickly as we thought but in 2021 we had already many contacts in the European continent to reorient our production from Asia to Europe.

2023, will be the year during which we will fully implement this strategy and significantly increase our sourcing in Europe. Diiiz new focus is the sourcing of new suppliers in Europe who can provide us quality materials and furnitures.

How we survived the cargo container price hikes?

At Diiiz, we have been using cargo containers to ship our products in for a long time. When the price of these containers started to soar, we realized that it was time to find an alternative. We had been researching the possibility of developing a warehouse and land just outside of the United Kingdom.

Diiiz founders are originally from Belgium. The 3 founders have decided in 2022 to reorient Diiiz business model in Europe, look for new suppliers in Europe, and develop a logistic center in Belgium, in order to deliver its customers fasters and at lower cost. Brexit and Covid 19 have both accelerated this strategy. During this period, Diiiz has also decided to stop the production of vintage and replicas furniture’s. The new product strategy is to promote and source original European design only.

Still a lot need to be done: Diiiz is constantly looking for new affordable european designers and producers. Europe is full of very expensive and luxury furnitures brands. But, according to Roberto Mongiovi, (Diiiz CEO), “we need to bring back affordable and middle range furnitures suppliers in Europe as well”. With the current economic crisis, “we are convinced, that now more than ever, Diiiz should continue to supply affordable furnitures to all”.

What Diiiz future looks like?

The future of furniture supply chains looks promising. The industry leaders in the UK and Europe still need to improve their logistics and retail know-how. Supply chain has to be optimized and ideas found to decrease delivery costs in Europe. Furniture retailers need to be able to operate both offline and online, which requires a diverse set of skillsets. The furniture industry has always been about making beautiful things for the home, but now it's also about using technology for efficiency and sustainability.