One Kings Lane Alum Britt Caputo Launches Hamlet, Offering Home Décor Shopping From Your Phone

Hamlet is a new, free text messaging service allowing users to shop for home décor from the comfort of their phone. The company was founded by Britt Caputo and a team of former employees from One Kings Lane and Elle Décor who act as stylish friends giving users excellent décor advice. Looking for a new dining room table? Hamlet will scour the market to find you a new table within your price range and style, text you photos of options, and arrange the shipping to your door. Investors in the company include Box Group as well as Forerunner Ventures, the people behind Birchbox, Bonobos and Dollar Shave Club.

Vivienne Decker , WOMEN@FORBES
I cover female Millennial entrepreneurs and luxury lifestyle brands

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
Hamlet is a new, free text messaging service allowing users to shop for home décor from the comfort of their phone. The company was founded by Britt Caputo and a team of former employees from One Kings Lane and Elle Décor who act as stylish friends giving users excellent décor advice. Looking for a new dining room table? Hamlet will scour the market to find you a new table within your price range and style, text you photos of options, and arrange the shipping to your door. Investors in the company include Box Group as well as Forerunner Ventures, the people behind Birchbox, Bonobos and Dollar Shave Club.

Britt_new4
Hamlet offers a texting service allowing users to shop for home decor from their phones

“Our objective is to create convenient – and ideally delightful – home shopping experiences,” Caputo said. “Our customers are already on their phones discovering product and texting with friends, and we want to be there with them.”

“When I was working at One Kings Lane, I was struck by how many friends texted or emailed me asking for pretty basic advice or second opinions about where to find rugs, whether or not a dining table could work,” Caputo said. “After business school, when a critical mass of friends moved into new apartments, those questions came in spades. I realized that most people have a great sense of personal style – they just don’t have the time or motivation to figure out how to implement it. By chatting quickly with a home décor junkie (in the early days, me) they could discover and buy faster and with more confidence.”

Caputo set up a test run to see how her concept would appeal to customers.

“When we set up a Google Voice number earlier this year to experiment with the idea of Hamlet, we processed over $30,000 in gross revenue in the first four weeks and we thought…we are on to something!” Caputo said. “We’ve been learning how to improve the experience and having fun with it ever since.”

Hamlet allows shoppers to access design companies usually reserved for interior designers only. Hamlet features several brands ranging from Serena & Lily, Rebecca Atwood, to Jonathan Adler among dozens more.

“Most of our customers have an idea of what they need and are looking for help finding it,” Caputo said. “They don’t need a complete roadmap from a decorator, but they don’t have time to wade through every SKU on the internet either. We’ve found that people often furnish or update one item at a time – first a rug, then a throw; first a headboard, then new sheets – rather than all at once. Whether the need is a sectional or a set of mugs – across styles and budgets, we help our customer find the piece they are looking for. As opposed to designing the entire room or home, customers can inquire about that specific item they’ve been looking for to find a product that is the most unique, interesting, or beautiful.”

Caputo has plans to grow Hamlet in the year to come.

“Right now, we’re focused on the customer experience – how can we make it more efficient, how can we gain more trust, how can we make it magical,” Caputo said. “We learn so much about peoples’ style and preferences and have already started to glean insights that help us get better at making recommendations faster and more precisely. We’re excited about how we’ll be able to get smarter systematically from data – and, in turn – offer a better experience.”

“Our first priority is getting really good at the service we’re offering now,” Caputo said. “But we’re always keeping our eyes on the bigger picture – a better furniture experience – which includes all kinds of possibilities, from a simple desktop chat to a more holistic in-person showroom.”

“I love how seamlessly someone can share photos she’s saved from Pinterest or snapped of her room, and how much it feels like chatting with a friend who is recommending a product in response,” Caputo said. “We’ve had customers explore dining table options on the treadmill at the gym or finalize a purchase in between meetings. Text message is such an easy, casual touch point – and it also allows us to offer personalized service at scale.”

Britt Caputo previously worked at One Kings Lane and launched Hamlet after graduating from Stanford Business School. Caputo was inspired after constantly receiving texts from friends asking for home décor advice.

[Source:-Forbes]