29 March 2024, 01:11
By Furniture News Nov 11, 2016

Charles Hunt, Soak&Sleep

Furniture News speaks to the CEO of Soak&Sleep, Charles Hunt, to explore the people, practices and philosophies behind the class-leading e-tail business. Fast-growing e-commerce bed and bath retailer Soak&Sleep offers aspirational products at a fraction of the high street price.

Why should I visit your website?

I started Soak&Sleep with one very clear aim – to bring excellent quality product to the UK consumer at high street-beating prices. That focus still stands today. I have a brilliant team who work extraordinarily hard to develop the best product, and as an online-only company, we are able to bring these directly to the customer without all of the overheads, meaning our prices are unbeaten.

In addition to our product range, we also offer jargon-free expert guidance for each and every product. We narrow down on what the customer wants to know in an informative and approachable manner – from what the product feels like to why we love it.

How did you enter this industry?
A previous career in shipping and import really paved the way for Soak&Sleep. I noticed that bedding products were getting more and more expensive but the quality didn’t seem to be increasing with it and this was really when the idea for Soak&Sleep – originally called Duvet & Pillow Warehouse – came about.

I knew I could source just as good, if not better, quality product, and, using my knowledge in shipping, could import the product at a much cheaper cost, resulting in a less expensive end product for the consumer. From there I made it my mission to make this a reality.

Who is your e-commerce hero?
My mother! She is an e-commerce shopaholic and is brutally honest with what she does and doesn’t like when shopping online.

Describe a typical working day
I’m an early riser – I’ll get up around 5am and spend a few solid hours working with a deep strategy focus. Around 8am I’ll head out for some form of exercise. The rest of my day is bound to be manic, so this is an opportunity to clear my head and firm up the morning’s planning.

After getting ready for work and having breakfast with my family, I’ll often cycle the few miles to the office. From there my day can really take any turn – from one-to-ones with my team to meeting with board members, planning and strategy meetings with various departments, and considering the next steps for the brand.

I start to wind down around 4pm and will always get home to spend time with my family in the evening – it’s a good balance and works well for me. I’ll then be in bed by 10pm.

What part of your job would you rather avoid?
I’ll be honest – there aren’t many areas of my job that I don’t enjoy. I’m fortunate to be involved in so many different areas that I love – from creative elements when signing off on new product designs, to the social interaction that comes from meeting with members of the press.

I suppose one aspect that can be rather bittersweet is anything to do with travel. Although I don’t visit factories as much as I used to, the long haul and spending time away from my wife and young children is never easy. On the other hand, I get to visit amazing countries and experience new cultures, for which I feel incredibly lucky.

What has been your greatest challenge?
My greatest challenge was the decision, and subsequent actions, to change the name from Duvet & Pillow Warehouse to Soak&Sleep. I knew where I wanted the brand to go and how I wanted it to be perceived, so getting the name and branding right was incredibly important. It took me 18 months to land on Soakandsleep.com, which delivers fabulous new brand emotions whilst keeping the core relevance on what we do.

How much do you invest in making your site more visible?
As an online-only business it’s incredibly important for us to exploit all channels in order to make our website, and therefore our product offering visible online. I’d be tempted to say that every single element of the business is geared towards this very goal – from creating beautiful, quality products to providing exceptional customer service, each element has a reaction.

What’s your take on how the relationship between online and physical retail might develop?
The online and physical retail worlds are already incredibly intertwined. The way the consumer lives, interacts and shops is forever evolving and brands need to look ahead to continue to be relevant.

It’s all about convenience, and focusing on making online shopping work for the consumer – there is no need to have a multi-channel in order to succeed. This is counter to much consensus in the industry but very much a Soak&Sleep view.

With fast and convenient deliveries and easy returns, we aim to make the customer’s home our store front! After all, why spend the time going to a store, paying more to cover overheads and staff and carrying bulky packages home when it can be done with the click of a button?

What are the growth plans for the business?
Soak&Sleep has already been through various growth spurts – from starting out as Duvet & Pillow Warehouse to changing our name in 2014. Since then we have introduced a successful furniture range, trend-led bed linen and accessories, a lighting range, bathroom accessories and rugs.

We ship around the world and will be extending into Australia later this year. In addition, we have a kids collection launching next season, with more furniture developments and a full website redesigning hitting in October. We’ve had double digit growth here in the UK and internationally and plan many significant step-ups over the next 18 months.

What advice would you offer an aspiring e-tailer?
Dont be fooled into thinking it is cheaper and easier than traditional retail. To develop online effectively you need significant and ongoing marketing spend otherwise you will never be seen online.

© 2013 - 2024 Gearing Media Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved.