With the world moving online, a large number of physical stores and showrooms are being left behind. Many retailers are updating the model of their businesses to reflect today’s consumer’s needs for practicality when it comes to making any purchase. Added to other benefits such as generally lower prices, better customer support, and faster delivery times, online shopping has entirely changed the way we shop. And this does not only apply to apparels or electronics. Shoppers now prefer purchasing products such as kitchen worktops direct from a reputed online store rather having to go to a potentially outdated store, without the latest and widest range of products in the market.

While it might make sense for a lot of homeowners to simply visit a high-end showroom to pick a worktop after they actually see the worktop, the benefits offered by online portals make them a much better choice. Not only that they will be dealing directly with the specialist (as opposed to going to a showroom who will in turn, deal with the specialist and then get back to their clients which adds a channel increasing costs), but they can also access a whole world of different options from the comfort of their own homes. Kitchen worktops direct online can send as many samples as needed to their potential clients, and the clients can appreciate shades, colours and patterns against their walls, cabinets, etc in their own homes.

If you are planning to buy a stone worktop, we’ll give you a good few reasons why you should prefer buying these online instead.

1. Better prices

For most of the homeowners, a stone worktop is probably one of the most difficult things to buy. The number of choices available in the market can easily make the process daunting for the buyers. Worktops are now spread across a wide price range which can suit practically any budget. While there are several highly affordable options, there is no shortage of high-end materials that can easily cost hundreds of pounds per square meter.

Increasing number of households now prefer buying worktops online as the digital portals are known to offer a wider range of products and better prices as compared to physical showrooms. Brick-and-mortar showrooms have large overheads, such as rent, staff, business rates, and several other things which they need to balance out. On the other hand, online platforms have significantly lower overheads which allow them to offer worktops at better prices and with both more expertise, plus specialized team dedicated to the niche they cover.

2. More options

Your house says a lot about you. As a result, homeowners in the UK are careful when it comes to important and/or one-off purchases such as their kitchen worktops, since once these are installed, these will be in place for many years to come. While the availability of a large number of options might confuse you, it also enables you to pick a worktop that perfectly fits your requirements and budget. Irrespective of what your budget is and what kind of interiors you are aiming for, there is now something for everyone. Besides this, online stone stores have teams who are able to take appropriate time for allocating an expert consultant for your project.

Physical showrooms are limited due to their size,which results in only offering a limited number of options. But there are no such limitations for online stores. You can browse through thousands of materials from several top manufacturers and suppliers before picking one. With a detailed description of every product, including their technical information, it is easier for buyers to select the right worktop.

3. Easy selection

Online stores offer a wide range of worktop materials, such as Marble, Granite, Neolith, Dekton, Quartzite, Silestone, Caesarstone, Onyx, and more. To make the selection process simple and quick, these stores offer multiple filters on their websites which may include details such as colour, finish, thickness, type of materials, finishes, and price rating. With the help of these filters, you get to browse through only the worktop materials that suit your requirements. All of these are right there, at your fingertips, and can be done from your laptop, tablet or mobile phone.

No matter if you are looking for a grey worktop or a surface with a leather finish, these filters eliminates the need for you to browse through all the hundreds of options,ensuring you find what you are looking for, which results in a quicker selection of a potential material for your worktop material exactly as per your requirements and budget.

4. Receive exactly what you order

The best online stores that sell stone worktops offer images of all the products listed on their website. This enables you to visualise the material better. They allow you to see the available slab sizes, tile size, finish of any given material, etc. in order to help you purchase a worktop exactly as per your needs and wishes.

Most Companies that sell kitchen worktops direct, source the materials from the same manufacturers and suppliers as the ones from the high-end showrooms, to make sure that you get the exact same quality. On branded products, you would find that you are purchasing the same on or off-line. Another point to note is that stone suppliers that have a good online set up, are likely to be more technology-friendly that those that don’t which means they can probably source special and exotic materials from any corner of the planet.

Just like going into physical stores, online stores take your custom order and deliver the worktop exactly as per your requirement. Once you have ordered, either of these Companies would arrange for a professional templater to measure up, fabricate in a workshop and return with an installation team with your bespoke worktops.

There is very little difference what showrooms and online stores do with the latter, offering a host of additional benefits.

5. It Saves time

With buying worktops direct, you don’t have to physically visit multiple showrooms in order to pick the right worktop for your home. With most showrooms only offering a limited number of options, you might end up spending days and weeks in order to select a worktop as per your needs and budget. But with online stores, the process is highly time-efficient as their structure enables them to interoperate with their suppliers immediately.

As online stores are open 24×7, you can easily browse through hundreds of options any time. No matter whether you are travelling, are at home, or office, you can go through the latest worktops in an instant. It is not always easy for working professionals to take some time of their schedule to visit multiple showrooms. Online stores are a perfect alternative in such circumstances.

6. World-class customer support

Most of the reputed stone suppliers in the UK are also very popular for the customer support they offer. Whether you wish to know more about a particular surface, are looking for recommendations, or want to inquire about your order, the support department is always available to answer all your queries and help you select the best worktop for your home.

Top online portals hire experienced professionals to make sure that all your queries are correctly answered, and selection is a breeze for you. No matter how simple or complex your worktop requirement is, the assistance offered by online stores is sure to make the selection easier.

7. Installation service

Some of the online stone suppliers are a complete one-stop-solution for worktop shopping. You simply need to pick a worktop material, and they will source the material exactly as per your requirement. They will then provide a team of professional templaters, stonemasons, installers and project managers to complete your project and follow-ups afterwards to ensure that everything is just perfect.

While this might sound like a pretty straightforward process, not a lot of physical showrooms offer this level of service. Reputed online worktop suppliers are known to go that extra mile for customer satisfaction which unfortunately may not the case with offline showrooms. Rest assured that with online stores you cannot just pick a popular worktop material but also get the installation carried by professionals to ensure complete convenience and satisfaction. Besides this, online stone suppliers work in a very competitive environment which ensures you would receive a very quick turnaround from the time to measure to installation which in some cases is as little as 5 working days! Most kitchen showrooms would usually reply on a third party to carry out works, which increases the lead times between templates to installation.

8. Check samples before you buy

With products such as worktops, buyers usually prefer to first see the material before committing to a purchase. While an increasing number of homeowners are now completely comfortable with just buying worktops online, there are others why prefer physically checking the product before they place an order.

Due to this, some of the online stone suppliers let buyers check samples of their selected product before buying. They have stores and factories where can they invite such buyers to check actual samples of the selected worktop material and discuss their requirements. Such sellers are an ideal choice for homeowners who prefer buying products like worktops only after checking the material.

Having said the above, the most popular method for seeing materials is by requesting samples as this will allow you to check the shade, colour and pattern of the material against the colour scheme in the property. This is even more convenient when purchasing man-made materials such as quartz, porcelain and ceramics since what you see on your samples would be pretty much the same you would receive for worktops.

This may work slightly different when purchasing natural stone such as granite, marble of quartzite as these vary in shade, pattern and colour. If the  natural stone you are purchasing is not one with much variation (Absolute Black granite and Carrara marble are some examples of this), is it not necessary to view materials in person and a photograph of the slabs that are intended to be used should suffice for your approval.

With natural stones that have a higher degree of variation from block to block, it may be advisable for your stone supplier to arrange an appointment to see full slabs at their yard so you can select the exact pattern you would like to have in your worktops.

9. Help and advice

No matter if you are planning to buy a natural stone worktop or some of the latest technological materials such as Neolith, Caesarstone, or Dekton, it is very important first to understand the material, its performance characteristics, maintenance requirements, etc. thoroughly to ensure that the worktop product selected is the right choice for your needs. While you have the salesman to provide this information at showrooms, stone suppliers online too offer detailed information with the help of helpful articles, videos, and blogs besides having teams of expert consultants to assist you throughout the whole process.

Reputed surface suppliers in the UK have a separate ‘Help & Advice’ section on their websites, where buyers can find great information about all the latest worktop materials as well as information about different type of materials and what each of these do. No matter if you are struggling to pick the right worktop material, compare different materials, understand the edge types and finishes, or understand the maintenance requirements, you can find all the information here. With the help of this information, you can make a confident buying decision.

10. Check latest projects

You want your house to look as unique as you are. But with limited designing skills, it is often difficult for homeowners to add the right amount of uniqueness to their home. To help you out, some of the online stores also upload pictures of their recent projects. Before buying kitchen worktops direct, you can browse through these pictures to take inspiration for your home.

Copy the same design or create something with the help of a designing professional to make sure that your home is as beautiful as you’ve always wanted it to be.

Installation images by stone suppliers are also very helpful as they usually show the products without any CGI corrections but just natural pictures which allow you to see the quality of workmanship of your potential stone supplier.

While physical showrooms have been the go-to option for homeowners looking for stone worktops in the past, the dynamics have significantly changed with the advent of online shopping. While there are still several homeowners who prefer popping into a worktop showroom for their purchase, the number of homeowners who prefer buying worktops direct has increased significantly in the past few years.

Along with the standard benefits offered by online shopping, the online surface providers offer a host of add-on benefits and services to make online worktop shopping highly satisfying. If you are planning to buy a worktop, do consider these benefits of buying one online and you are sure to enjoy a unique and rewarding shopping experience. Just make sure that you pick a reputed stone surface supplier in the UK to experience these benefits at their best.

Published by Jesus Alberto Mouzo on April 5, 2018