Koala hasn’t been around forever. We’re a couple of years old, but during that time we’ve prided ourselves on taking all the experience we’ve garnered from creating Australia’s highest rated mattress on Yotpo, Product Review, and Google Reviews to making Australia’s comfiest sofa perfect for naps!
We’re a very data-driven organisation, and it’s important to us that we take input from our customers and roll it into future designs.
We gathered the people who would know exactly what Australians wanted, and needed in a sofa: Australians. With over the 85,000 customers, we sent out surveys, conducted home interviews, held focus groups, and undertook weeks of testing with various prototypes to find the perfect sofa. We conducted both quantitative, and qualitative research, and testing so while we love a good data set, we also did testing with real people to make sure everything feels just right.
It wasn’t easy. Everyone has different tastes, and varying needs but there were a few elements that we found had to be part of the Koala Sofa experience.
It had to be convenient
We live in a renters culture where 43.4% of Australians have moved homes in the past 5 years. Interestingly, 67.2% of those aged 20-29 having moved in the past 5 years, and a further 33.9% have moved within the past year.
We knew the Sofa had to be able to move easily when our customers moved homes so no extra hassle during an already stressful time. This is why our Sofa only takes 4 minutes to assemble, and requires absolutely no screws, or tools to assemble – goodbye Allen keys!
But not to worry Koala Sofa owners, because our Sofa also takes less than 4 minutes to disassemble too when you’re on another move! The pieces are very lightweight too (Box 1: 24Kg, box 2: 11.5 KG, box 3: 18KG, box 4: 8KG) so no reenacting the classic Friends ‘Pivot Scene’. Not right for you? Well we give all of our customers a 120 night trial so you just need to contact us for the return, and we’ll give you a full refund!
It had to be life proof
You remember when you’d go into some homes, and there’s plastic coverings over their sofas because they didn’t want to get it dirty? Well we believe that you shouldn’t walk on eggshells around your own furniture so we designed the Sofa built to withstand the messes of life.
The covers are made of polyester which is extremely strong, resistant to most chemicals, stretching, shrinking, wrinkle resistance, and abrasion resistant. Polyester is hydrophobic making it quick drying.
If you spill something on the Koala Sofa just remove the covers using the zip, chuck it in the washing machine, and leave it out to dry! The textiles we use ensure that there’s no shrinking or piling so you can keep vegging out on the Sofa without worrying about stains or spills.
We want you to have peace of mind so we also chucked on 5 year full warranty! Don’t worry, weight won’t be an issue either as the frame has been tested with impact loads of over 300Kg so it would take some serious larrikin behaviour before these puppies give out.
It had to have a timeless design
Our Product team worked tirelessly to create a timeless, minimalistic design that wouldn’t go out of style, and in colours that are not restricted to seasonal trends.
Don’t worry about the beautiful colour fading either as our textile is light fast rated Level 5 which is described as Best or Excellent as there is no change in the fabrics appearance during the testing process. Your fabric will not be prone to fading, however it is best to remember that your sofa should not be placed in direct or harsh sunlight. Having nice curtains or blinds can help minimise the risk of sun exposure to your sofa.
It has to be comfortable
We know our mattress is freaking fantastic (check out our thousands of 5 star reviews from real customers), so we knew our Sofa had to be comfy too!
Our Australian made foam provides a comfortable area to nap throughout the day, or binge watch the latest show on Netflix. Just remove one of the back cushions, and ta-da you now have a comfy pillow to rest your head.
But there’s plenty of room for the whole family too! We designed the Koala Sofa so it’s wide enough for 2 people to snuggle comfortably, 3 people to sit with plenty of room in between, and even for our tallest of friends to stretch out.
It had to be environmentally friendly
Here at Koala, we genuinely care about how our products, manufacturing, and afterlife of our products affects the environment. At our very core of the business, we believe that we should leave the Earth a better place than when we arrived.
This is why we created our Sofa with the environmental in mind. The wood used is all FSC certified timber, and the frames are completely recyclable steel made in a screened, and audited factory in Vietnam.
The polyester covers are recyclable, and we are working to achieve a 100-percent closed-loop practice with our textile producer so all reclaimed textiles are spun back into polyester yarn, and used all over again!
If you’d like to buy a Koala Sofa, just click here to be redirected to the product page.
About the writer
Bernice is the Growth Marketer for Australia at Koala. Here for over 1.5 years at Koala, she manages the affiliate program, referral program, influencer campaigns, content strategy, and bedroom growth initiatives.
Email: b.abuan@koala.com
IG: @bunnybernice
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