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The Future of Rug Businesses: Why Digital Tools Are No Longer Optional Opinion by Tom Strachan, from the blog of Service Buddy
T he rug is still hand-knotted. But the system around it is stuck in 1998. For decades, the rug and carpet business has been built on reputation, relationships, and repeat customers. Walk into any established showroom and you’ll likely find a business passed down through generations. What you might also find is a system of whiteboards, spreadsheets, and outdated tools that no longer serve the pace or demands of today’s market. That worked—until it didn’t. Today, customers expect faster quotes, clear communication, online payments, and real-time updates. And while the qual- ity of the rugs may be the same, the buying experience has changed. If you’re not modernizing the way you operate, you’re creating friction for your customers and for your team. The shift isn’t theoretical anymore. We’re seeing it play out across the industry. MANUAL TOOLS ARE COSTING YOU There’s a cost to operating the old way. When inventory lives in someone’s head, when quotes require PDFs that no one can sign or pay digitally, when jobs are tracked on a white- board—you’re building in delay. That delay slows down sales, frustrates your team, and leaves customers waiting. That’s where good businesses start losing business. Legacy tools weren’t built for the complexity of today’s oper- ations. A single project can involve a showroom consultation, warehouse pickup, cleaning, repair, delivery, and install—and you’re trying to track that with Excel? It doesn’t work. Modern software isn’t a luxury. It’s foundational. Service Buddy, for example, is used by many of the top retailers in the space to unify every part of their workflow. Quotes, job tracking, customer communication, payments—it’s all in one place. FORWARD-LOOKING RETAILERS ARE MOVING FASTER Forward-thinking rug businesses aren’t waiting for the indus- try to change. They’re leading the change. Take Persian Rug Gallery. Like many others, they were jug- gling separate tools for quotes, job tracking, and customer communication. Kathryn, one of the managers, described the challenge this way: "We were managing sales, cleaning, and repairs with separate tools. It created confusion inter- nally, and delays for customers." They implemented a unified operating system that brought all of those workflows together—quotes, jobs, inventory, invoicing, even client communication. The result? Better
internal coordination, faster turnaround times, and a smoother experience for their customers. The rug didn’t change. The experience did. They run on Service Buddy now, joining a growing list of businesses moving off paper and onto modern, industry- specific platforms. SPEED WINS. MANUAL LOSES. When your competitors are stuck using PDFs and sticky notes, modernizing the backend of your business becomes a competitive edge. You can quote faster. Get paid faster. Track your jobs more accurately. Communicate with customers proactively, not reactively. That level of visibility changes how you operate— and how your business is perceived. It’s not about chasing trends. It’s about removing friction from the business. Your team spends less time chasing down updates and more time serving customers. Your customers know exactly what’s happening with their rug or flooring project. You can grow without doubling your admin. That’s exactly why so many businesses are switching to Service Buddy—it gives them that edge without overhauling what already works. STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS ARE RESHAPING THE INDUSTRY What we’re also seeing is alignment across different parts of the industry. Product reps, agencies, and software platforms are beginning to work together. One example is the recent partnership between Concord Imports and Service Buddy. Concord has long been a trusted name in luxury carpets and rugs. Service Buddy is a modern platform built to manage showroom and service operations. By working together, they’re helping retailers not just source better product, but run a better business. It reflects a broader shift: digital tools are becoming part of the product conversation. Retailers want to know what’s in stock, how fast it ships, and how to manage that within their system. The expectation isn’t just product availability—it’s operational efficiency. WHERE TO START, WITHOUT BREAKING WHAT WORKS If you’re running a flooring or rug business today, and you’re still relying on manual processes, you’re behind. The good news: the path forward is clear. Start by identifying where the most time is wasted. Is it building quotes? Scheduling pickups? Following up on
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