Online charity shop is proving to be big hit with millenials

A charity shop chain is using its online site to attract cash-strapped millennials searching for furniture for their homes.

The Sue Ryder online shop. Picture: Sue Ryder

The Sue Ryder Online Shop offers brand new, stylish exclusive items including storage units, decorative furnishings such as chairs and lighting.

Items for sale include stone-coloured country-style chest of drawers for £129.99; pink or purple velvet “oyster” chairs selling at £79.99; a white wood storage unit for £29.99, Steinberg retro patchwork beside table for £69.99 and silver hurricane lamps for £19.99.

The online site, set up in 2013, also sells outdoor furniture for gardens and balconies and items for children’s rooms.

As well as offering express delivery and safe and secure payments, the online shop offers free delivery over £50 spent from its Northampton warehouse, a 30-day money back guarantee and a dedicated customer services team.

New research published by the Resolution Foundation reveals that UK millennials, born since 1981, are facing a bigger reversal in financial fortunes than their counterparts in every other developed country, excluding Greece.

The research shows that collective spending power shrank by 7 per cent between 2012 and 2017, meaning they need to be more selective and favour retailers which allow them to save money on furnishing their homes.

Home ownership rates have also fallen far faster in the UK than elsewhere but many millennials are flat-sharing or living with partners in rented accommodation which they want to make feel like a more permanent base with decent furnishings and accessories.

Clare Farthing, e-commerce marketing executive for the charity’s online shop said that

“For the younger segment of the millennial cohort it is important for brands and retailers like us to ensure our goods align with this limited spending capacity - good product at good prices whilst still being the kind of furniture young people want and need.

“Our range ticks all boxes in terms of style but also with a focus on value.”

Ms Farthing added: “With many family incomes under pressure, our furniture is a great way to furnish a home for less while helping millennials with their limited spending power.”

The social care charity, which has 18 walk-in shops in Scotland, and others UK-wide, provides hospice and neurological care. It provides over 2.7 million hours of expert medical, practical and emotional throughout its seven hospices; five neurological care centres and community-based services.