Sales at online homewares retailer Cox & Cox have more than doubled since the coronavirus outbreak as consumers are forced to spend more time at home.
The Frome-based firm, which sells a range of lighting, rugs, textiles and indoor and outdoor furniture, has also chalked up record traffic to its website. 
Substantial growth was already underway at the firm before the Covid-19 lockdown with sales up by 64% year-on-year in the first three months of 2020.
However, they have been well over 100% since mid-March with a triple-digit rise in online traffic to record levels.
CEO Richard Bell credited the success to “range expansions, smart marketing, and a growing reputation for quality and service”.
The brand ethos was to create a hand-picked collection of homeware products that cannot be found in traditional catalogues, he said, with customers encouraged to find their own style, shunning trends and fads in favour of timeless pieces and impeccable taste.
Mr Bell, pictured, who was formerly a marketing director with Boden and Charles Tyrwhitt before joining Cox & Cox in 2018, said: “We completely overhauled our dispatch operations following an extremely busy and challenging Christmas, and it has thankfully put us in a very good position.
“We switched to remote working weeks ahead of the lockdown to protect the warehouse and have been able to stay fully functional and delivering within our time promises. As a result, service scores are at a 12-month high.” 
The recent hot weather has also meant strong sales of Cox & Cox’s outdoor living range – the firm had earlier made a conscious effort to increase its outdoor furniture offering. Its outdoor category is more than 170% up on the season to date.
Mr Bell added: “Having backed the buys with direct containers to secure our supply chain, making them all own brand and exclusive in the UK market gave us a definite edge over other retailers.
“We significantly grew our outdoor furniture range, and expanded into new outdoor areas for the first time, including water features, sunshades and parasols.”
Cox & Cox expanded its indoor furniture offering, resulting in a 55% increase, particularly stools and desks given the new trend for home offices.
