Parachute Expands to Furniture in Bid to Own the Home

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) lifestyle brand Parachute is entering the furniture category with the launch of its first line of bed frames, as the company tries to take market share from bigger merchants in order to grow its business and become a part of every room in consumers’ homes.

The handcrafted bed frames are currently available online and in Parachute’s 12 stores across the U.S. The company said additional furniture items, including benches and nightstands, will become available early next year.

Ariel Kaye, founder and CEO of Parachute, said the expansion into furniture “is a natural category addition to our growing product assortment as we continue to grow as a multi-category home company.” Parachute already sells bedding and mattresses, meaning that with the addition of bed frames, consumers will be able to outfit their bedrooms without going elsewhere.

“Our vision is to help people create comfortable spaces for themselves and their families by offering high-quality, comfort-inspired products for every room in the home — and by continually listening to our customers to identify new areas of growth,” Kaye said.

By entering the furniture category, Parachute is setting itself up against some established big-league players, including Wayfair and RH, as well as marketplaces such as Chairish, which have spent a substantial amount of time establishing themselves as the go-to places to find furniture online.

However, Kaye believes that Parachute can stand out in the furniture category based on the quality of its products “and its comfort-inspired designs.” And unlike Wayfair, Parachute is able to lean on its stores to build relationships with customers and let them test products.

Parachute, which was founded in 2014, is also banking on strong momentum across the home goods industry and its own accelerated growth over the past months to carry the company forward. Active customers have more than quadrupled since 2017, and its customer repeat rate over the last three years is 90%.

This is the sixth category Parachute has entered in the last three years. In 2019, the brand began selling mattresses and rugs, followed by window coverings and loungewear in 2020 and baby items earlier this year.

“We’re growing quickly, but we pride ourselves on innovating with purpose,” Kaye told PYMNTS. “Ultimately, we have expanded to multiple categories quickly because we are listening to our customers. Every new product and category is considered, and we use meaningful data to determine where there is existing consumer interest and whether it’s the right fit for our brand.”

A Growing Market

Parachute’s entrance into furniture comes at a time when consumers are increasingly interested in buying furniture online after years of sales trapped in showrooms. Chairish CEO Gregg Brockway told PYMNTS in an interview that prior to the pandemic, home furnishings “had very low online penetration relative to other consumer categories … but COVID has accelerated that dramatically. It’s been a massive wave of online adoption.”

Related news: Chairish CEO Says European Acquisition Provides ‘Next Big Step’ for International Expansion

And as has been seen in other sectors, Brockway noted that once consumers adopt digital capabilities, “it never goes back.” Last year, for example, Amazon took a four-percentage-point lead over Walmart in the sale of furnishings and furniture.

Source: PYMNTS Data

“Online is a much bigger, more important channel for the buyers and sellers of home furnishings,” he said. “We expect the online market to continue to grow from here.”

Read more: Home Furnishings Remain Sore Spot for Walmart Despite Gap Collaboration

And while Parachute is likely relying on this continued demand for online furniture sales, the brand is also getting ready to open three new stores by the end of the year; by the end of 2022, Kaye expects to have 30 stores.

“The pandemic made the home the center of activity, and heightened appreciation of the home,” she said. “And based on Parachute’s performance, we anticipate this trend to continue.”