As the CEO of Life Interiors, an online and brick and mortar destination for fine furnishings, Basil Karam had the vision to make designer furniture accessible to the Australian public.
In the ten years since he first launched his business via eBay, Karam has evolved Life Interiors to become one of the leading marketplaces to purchase designer furniture. With showrooms in Sydney and Melbourne and a thriving online business, Karam has plenty of advice to offer our Bricks & Clicks retailers.
Originally launching his website via a $79 a month plan. Lifeinteriors.com.au has evolved to become a gorgeous destination for the nation’s furniture lovers. Easy to navigate and crammed with fabulous images that provoke a buyer’s aspirations and inspirations, it’s little wonder the brand has become such a success.
Kram tells KBB as much as he is a lover of digital technology he soon understood for Life Interiors to succeed, he needed a blended approach with digital supporting a brick and mortar store.
“As soon as we opened up the retail store, online sales shot through the roof. And retail shot through the roof. It went up by about 400 per cent in about three months.
“And it was at that point that we realised it wasn’t really online and it wasn’t really retail, for us in our industry being furniture and homewares, we needed a combination of both. It was at that point that we really worked hard to transition and have both channels working closely together to grow the business.”
Karam says he used the data he was gathering via his online channel to discover who his customers where and where they came from, soon identifying a hot spot in Melbourne. The findings resulted in the opening of a second showroom.
“The beauty of having a digital channel is you’ve got access to all this information you wouldn’t otherwise have access to if you stayed local and didn’t take advantage of that platform.”
You can find out more about the Life Interior’s retail success story on episode 3 of Bricks & Clicks, where Karam appears as a mentor for our retailers. Missed the episode, don’t worry you can catch up on Youtube or 7Plus
Bricks & Clicks is made possible thanks to our wonderful partners at International Towers, Xero and Netregistry. Find out more wwww.bricksclicks.com.au
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