Ruggable’s plans to wrap up the market

Ruggable wants to aggressively grow its business in Australia.

Ruggable, the direct-to-consumer business, has ambitious plans to continue to grow the washable rug market in Australia

Ruggable, the US business behind the washable rug trend, is stepping up its local business with new collaborations and product innovations as it “aggressively” chases growth.

The US business, which launched in Australia in 2022, reported 51 per cent growth year-on-year in 2024 and has ambitious growth plans to surge beyond its 100,000 customers, according to Ruggable Australia’s managing ­director Cam McNeil.

“We’re aggressively going after more (customers) in the coming year. I think it’s very achievable for us to do that,” he said.

The direct-to-consumer business employs a made-to-order model which leverages collaborations with designers and brands such as Iris Apfel, Morris & Co, Goop, Jonathan Adler and Pantone, among of host of others.

Ruggable invests heavily in social media and performance marketing to target customers and retains a loyal customer base of some 100,000 homes.

In a bid to drive greater engagement and take control of the entire customer experience, Ruggable is launching a local manufacturing operation. The move aims to minimise waste and carbon footprint from international shipping, as well as providing greater control of the customer experience and optimising the supply chain.

The local manufacturing operation will reduce costs and increase delivery speed, it also helps to bring the “brand to life with an Australian accent”.

Mr McNeil said that despite the category growth there was still a significant education job in terms of the product and the benefits. However, he said the focus would remain on digital performance-based marketing for some time yet.

“At the moment digital is our primary channel,” he said. “We’re a young team and our first job was to build the fundamentals and get our feet on the ground. Now it is time to start to look are those unique local opportunities. And if it is in other channels, what do they look like and how do we bring the brand to life in them?

“That’s the job to be done now. Customers are getting smarter and there’s so much available to people on their phones, wherever they are. I think the challenge for us is ensuring that the right message reaches the right person at the right time. We need to do the education job that’s ahead of us and keep bringing people along for the journey and just make sure that we do the digital stuff really well.”

Mr McNeil hints that physical stores may be in the brand’s future, whether standalone or as partnerships with existing retailers.

“I think that’s a really interesting opportunity,” he says.

“That’s an opportunity for people to be in person with your brand. One of the challenges for us to grow is finding the right places and times to interact with customers and making sure the right message gets to them.

“I think that being back in store and picking and choosing the right partners, and being really mindful of how we do that, is an opportunity.”

DANIELLE LONG