By Alma Contract (Singapore) Pte Ltd

08/24/2015 So after a long deliberation with your love ones, you decided to make that purchase on that outdoor furniture for your home. However, before you plonk your hard earn money on that outdoor furniture, you may want to do a little research on that retailer that you have decided to choose.


Buying outdoor furniture from a good retailer need not be a scary proposition. Doing a proper research on the retailer that you are purchasing your outdoor furniture from, allows you make an informed and comfortable decision. Most of the time, local retailers might carry differing selection, quality and price of their outdoor furniture. Here are 6 tips that you might want to consider before choosing that local outdoor furniture retailer and parting with your hard earn cash.
1. Warranty

One of the most important things when buying an outdoor furniture from a local retailer is to look at the warranty that gives an assurance on their outdoor furniture. Outdoor furniture retailers that are worth our time will have a clear, concise and well written statement of their warranty on their outdoor furniture. If they do not give any warranty on their outdoor furniture, it would also be prudent for them to inform you before hand so that there wouldn’t be any disputes should there be any manufacturing defects after purchasing their outdoor furniture. It is also recommended, however, to consider patronizing retailers that are able to give warranty for their products for a certain period of time. Local outdoor furniture retailers in Singapore are normally able to give around 3-5 years of warranty on manufacturing defects and some might even extend their warranty to more than 5 years. Reason being is that should there be any manufacturing defects, besides the cost to replace the defective parts, there is also a possibility that having to acquire the same parts to replace are a challenge as well.
2. Return & Guarantee Policies

Whether if you are doing a bulk purchase or just buying a single outdoor furniture, having return and guarantee policies are just as important as having a warranty for your outdoor furniture. Buyers might tend to overlook this when they are purchasing less expensive items. Nevertheless, it is still prudent to have such policies in place to minimize any inconvenience for you. Local outdoor furniture retailers that take alot of effort to maintain their reputation will normally have such policies in place for their customers. Issues starts arising when you receive your shipment of your outdoor furniture and realize that it is not what you expected or it was damaged in the process of transportation. The return and money back guarantee policies suddenly becomes important. Discuss this with your local retailer before confirming an order to have a piece of mind.
Such policies can be seen on their website if you researching online or the fine print of your order. Checking through their terms and conditions there and then is highly recommended before you buy. Some local outdoor furniture retailer might charge a postage fee for transportation on your returns and it can be anywhere between 10-20 percent of your total price. So its good to be prepared, just in case. However there are also local outdoor furniture retailers that do not charge for returns and transportation so prudent research definitely makes you a happy and satisfied customer.
3. Shipping Policies and Charges
Nowadays, local outdoor furniture retailers are charging by the total box volume than the weight of each individual outdoor furniture that you purchase. Tactics they might employ are offering an affordable and cheap outdoor furniture during purchase but over-compensates it through the shipping charges to transport to your home. Be wary of such tactics. However some local outdoor furniture retailers are also giving free transport to entice you to purchase more or to advertise their services through word of mouth for them. These are great as it creates a win-win situation for both parties.
Outdoor furniture retailers are sometimes also upfront on their shipping costs and will normally either have their own transport personnel to send the outdoor furniture which can provide a lower cost to you or engaging a third party to do the job which might translate to a higher shipping cost. If you encounter the latter and also require an expedited shipping, costs will definitely be very expensive. So whichever way you may encounter, be prepared to face the costs.
4. Grammatically Correct Description with Quality Pictures


Description and the quality of the images that the local outdoor furniture retailers post on their website and social media sites also plays a part in their professionalism and image. Encountering those with low quality pictures and lots of grammatical error descriptions makes one wonder if they actually put in any effort to brand themselves. This might also translate to an indication of future customer service problems and may not be worth your time. Retailers who puts in effort to show what they are selling with good descriptions will definitely be more appealing.
5. Read the Feedbacks by Past Customers

Still unable to decide with local outdoor furniture retailer is good? Take a look at the feedbacks at their feedbacks section. Nothing beats people who have purchased and used the outdoor furnitures themselves. Whether if its the quality of the workmanship, the lead time to transport down to the customer service, they are bound to be customers to leave feedback on the website or review websites. Take a look at those feedbacks as it is one of the best ways to gauge their business practices and product quality. However, do not just look at the bad comments or good comments specifically as some reasoning are bound to be baseless or are just some useless comments. Thoroughly read through the comments section and see if there are more positive feedbacks then negative ones and if they would actually recommend to their friends and families. Such feedbacks would carry more weight than the others.
6. Clear contacts with fast response
Is the ‘Contact Us’ page at the website showing the full contact details? Most of the retailers should show their full contact details and their retail shop location. Are their calls always remain unanswered or transferred to a PABX machine that never gets answered by a real person? These are tell-tale signs that their response to new enquiries and businesses are not their priority (which actually is contradicting to the part when they decide to open a profit making company in the first place). You may not want to consider such company as one of your choices, instead look for retailers who take up their calls promptly and answers your enquiries in a timely fashion whether if its through phone call or via email. You being the customer, should always feel that you are the most important person to the retailer. Businesses who respond to businesses fast and gives a more human touch to their customer service are always highly recommended.
To sum it off, researching on a reliable local outdoor furniture retailer should not feel tedious as with the advent of the internet, researching for one is just a click away. With the abundance of review sites everywhere and social media sites advertising products and services, it is even easier now then before to do a research. Keeping the above tips in mind should be a satisfying experience for you with the right knowledge and right information when shopping for your outdoor furniture.

Alma Contract (Singapore) Pte Ltd

MONDECASA is a world class manufacturer for contract quality indoor and outdoor furniture in Singapore. Along with its home brand, MONDECASA also distributes other renowned world class outdoor furniture brands to provide vast complete line of contemporary contract furniture designed for commercial u…

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