Designer Carpet 2017 - The Year In Review

Hi everyone!

It’s nearly the end of the year, and this will be our last blog until 2018. We decided we’d like to share all the things that have changed in the business and how we have improved our service for customers - after all, it is all about you!

It’s also a time for us to give ourselves a bit of a pat on the back, and focus on what we’re going to do next...

The Warehouse - Image © Designer Carpet

Our New Warehouse

In late 2016, we decided to move to a warehouse which was much bigger and - instead of being a rented property - one we could buy. The move took a while, especially since the initial paperwork was completed just before Christmas - our busiest time of the year - but we managed not only to move the stock, make essential repairs and kit it out with all the mod-cons but deliver all our orders without any major issues.

Not a bad result - since then we have made further moves to improve the building, invested in a forklift (and training to use it!) and worked to make the best use of the space.

Now we can store three times as many remnants as we used to and we’re setting up a second area for bespoke rugs - not too soon either, since we are getting lots of requests for rugs these days!

Website Relaunch

Those with an eagle eye and a good memory will have noticed that back in April we had a website relaunch, rebranding in the process from ‘Designer Carpet Remnants’ to simply ‘Designer Carpet’.

This is because as well as selling high-quality remnants, we introduced the full ranges of our biggest-selling brands - Brintons, Alternative Flooring, Crucial Trading and Westex - to our website, all found in the carpets section.

Designer Carpet Website - Image © Designer Carpet

This was not the only change - in fact the whole site was built up from scratch.

Many of the changes that were made were purely ‘back-end’ and are not visible to the public, but they have helped us greatly improve our processes, from dealing with sample orders to managing the bespoke rug workflow. These updates mean more efficiency and better service, even if they are hidden from view.

There were some teething troubles - it took us a couple of months to get everything just the way we wanted, especially in terms of the code that manages deliveries (you can see all current delivery information on our FAQ) and we haven’t stopped since then - we are constantly developing our website both behind the scenes and in the public-facing areas to make things easier for us and our customers.

Delivery And Tracking

Since Spring, we have been steadily increasing the number of deliveries we manage ourselves, using our own vehicle and drivers rather than a courier.

This means we can now offer a great service which we have complete ownership of - we even had a tracker installed on the Designer Carpets van, so we can give real-time-updates on its location.

Designer Carpet Delivery Van - Image © Designer Carpet

We can currently only provide these deliveries in certain areas and on certain days, as we currently only have one van - we also tend to reserve the service for larger products, since smaller items can be sent far faster by courier, but we are very proud of what we have achieved so far.

And if these deliveries continue to be successful then - who knows? We may expand the service- no promises though!

Welcoming Kersaint Cobb To The Website

We are very proud to have good relationships with the best carpet manufacturers in the UK, and in September we thought it was high time to add another brand to our website - Kersaint Cobb.

We have sold their products in our remnants section for a long time, but now their full range of carpets is available to order as cuts - from their sumptuous Grandeur range to the bright, funky South Pacific and the elegant Sisal Linen, they are all there - and we are very happy to have them!

South Pacific Wool Vanuatu - Image © Kersaint Cobb

FAQ Updates and New Videos

We are always keen to keep our customers well-informed on everything from how the StainGuard process works to the best method of cleaning carpet - and so we have made several updates to our FAQ this past year, including dividing it into clear sections (such as Our Services and Our Products) and expanding and updating information on delivery, ordering carpet cuts and how to choose your carpet.

We have also added the first of what we hope will be many instructional videos on 'How To Measure For Carpet'.

You may remember the great videos which Kreative Orbit made for us back when we were Designer Carpet Remnants - we were very happy with them, but these are entirely our own work. With them you can find out how to measure for rooms, stairs and winders and how much carpet you’ll need for each.

We want to add more in 2018 so if you have any suggestions, please do let us know.

Learn About Our Services On The FAQ

Now With Added Accessories

One of the most recent changes we made to our website is to add some of the useful accessories which our customer often ask about - as well as increasing our range of underlay, we have added gripper rods and door bars, all of which have free deliverywhen ordered with any remnant or carpet cut - very useful if you intend on fitting underlay or carpet yourself!

What’s In Store For 2018…

You can be sure we’re making our big plans for next year - we like to keep some things close to our chest, but here are a few ideas we’re happy to share…

New Improved Rug Builder

For a while now we have been planning to make a fully-interactive rug builder which will allow customers even more flexibility and control in making their own bespoke rug. We are still working out the fine details as it will require a lot of very clever coding - in the meantime, if you want something that isn’t available via the website, you can use the old fashioned method and get in touch via phone or e-mail.

Crucial Trading Fabulous Diamond Rug - Image © Designer Carpet

More Videos

A lot of people find video far more easy to engage with than long blocks of text - and if that’s you, congratulations for getting this far! We want to expand our video library and give customers another way to access important information about our products and services, as well as more information about carpet in general. We may even be able to deliver some more creative content, as we currently do here. Speaking of which...

Lots More Blogs

Your humble writer is planning a lot of new posts for 2018 - whether its interior design suggestions, fascinating facts or detailed product information, there will be plenty to read here on the Designer Carpet Blog!

So, a lot done but still more to do - thanks for reading!

Just a note to say that our website can still be accessed throughout the festive period but there won’t be staff available in the office from 23rd December -1st January, so any orders (including sample orders) will not be processed during this time.

We will be back on the 2nd of January and our first delivery date will be the 3rd.

Until then, dear readers, have a fantastic Christmas and New Year!

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