For many years, it has been a personal dream of mine, but also for us here at Subscrybe, to not own anything at all. Instead, to subscribe. To be free from ownership and instead enjoy the freedom and flexibility of renting access to the products and services that I and we need exactly when we need them.
It has become quite natural to think this way when it comes to all sorts of digital products, but also for items like cars, bikes, computers, and glasses, which I and we subscribe to instead of owning. But one area has been lacking opportunities. And that is when it comes to furniture. When we moved the company to our current premises six or seven years ago, we had to fill the office with purchased furniture. However, now that we are facing another move to new offices (yes, the subscription movement is well underway), things look different! Now, you can subscribe to office furniture instead of buying it. So, naturally, that’s what we’ve chosen to do.
NORNORM offers full flexibility and payment per square meter.
After many years at Store Kongensgade in the heart of Copenhagen, it’s time for new surroundings. So, after the summer break, we’ll be moving just a few hundred meters to brand-new premises at Bredgade. And the supplier of office furniture will be NORNORM, a Scandinavian startup that has commercialized office furniture in a subscription model, which truly understands how to meet companies’ challenges with office furniture by creating a flexible and attractive model. Furniture-as-a-Service has arrived!
Let’s take a closer look at how the model actually works.
NORNORM’s subscription concept is naturally built around a monthly subscription fee. But you don’t pay based on which and how many pieces of furniture you need in your premises. Instead, you pay a fixed amount based on the number of square meters furnished, which means NORNORM finds a suitable solution for the amount of space you have in your office. The price is currently €3 per square meter per month. So, if you have, for example, 300 square meters, you just pay €900 per month for a fully furnished office.
How do you ensure that you get the furniture you want? Well, included in the package is a personal interior designer who, in close dialogue with the customer, designs the layout of your new office. At the same time, you choose the interior style. Whether you prefer light, Nordic furniture or desire a more dramatic effect in black and white. And it works. I’ve experienced it myself in connection with the layout of our upcoming offices, where I now have a very nice 3D visualization of what we’re looking forward to moving into.
I don’t choose the furniture myself. That’s part of the circular concept, which I’ll come back to in a moment. But that doesn’t matter so much because the flexibility in the subscription is high, so I can continuously replace and add furniture as our needs change. Practically from day to day.
It’s all about circularity.
The strategy behind NORNORM also revolves around sustainability. That’s why NORNORM delivers high-quality furniture that can last a long time. So, the furniture we receive isn’t necessarily brand new. But if they’re used, they’ve gone through NORNORM’s workshop, where they are thoroughly inspected and, if necessary, refurbished. Because NORNORM’s goal is for their furniture to last for 30 years, whereas office furniture is typically discarded after just seven years on average. That was also an important factor for us when choosing a new supplier of office furniture.
That’s also the reason why the Swedish furniture giant, IKEA, is a co-founder of NORNORM, which launched in 2020. IKEA itself has an overarching strategy to be circular and sustainable by 2030. Quite a departure from the buy-and-throw-away culture that otherwise characterizes our consumption patterns today, and in which IKEA itself has been a very active player. So now, it’s about IKEA moving into a completely new and more sustainable world. Here, NORNORM is a key player for the Swedish giant.
(Now you might be thinking, are the furniture delivered as part of NORNORM’s concept IKEA furniture? No, they’re not. Not yet, at least. With all due respect, IKEA’s furniture doesn’t have that level of quality yet.)
In the company of businesses like Netflix, Klarna, and Booking.com
With the choice of NORNORM, Subscrybe also joins a host of the biggest and most successful companies in the world. Companies like Netflix, Klarna, Booking.com, and many more. Of course, said with a twinkle in the eye! But NORNORM’s flexible subscription model seems to resonate with both large and small companies. So, I hope that it can help to encourage even more product companies to think about subscription-based and circular solutions. Hopefully, NORNORM can inspire not only B2B companies to consider such solutions.
We’re looking forward to an exciting process in our new premises, and as a loyal reader of my newsletter, you’re very welcome to drop by after the summer in the new Subscrybe offices and see the solution for yourself.
Thanks to my colleague, Niels Vestergaard, who has also extensively covered NORNORM in our latest strategy report, Subscription Cases 2024, which you can find here. It contains 10 exciting subscription cases from around the world. There’s plenty of inspiration to be found.
PS. Are there no downsides to choosing such a subscription model from NORNORM then? Well, right now I find myself with a full set of office furniture suitable for an office with 24 employees that I need to dispose of. So if you’re in need of good, used furniture and aren’t quite ready for a subscription yet, please feel free to reach out to me! Fortunately, it’s a challenge I won’t face next time we move premises.
