air shelf

»air shelf is a shelving system that addresses the requirements and challenges arising from online distribution in the furniture sector.«

the topic of e-commerce is omnipresent in todays society. numerous studies have shown that the use and consumption of products and services via online shops has increased rapidly in recent years. initially mainly successful within the book-, fashion- and consumer electronics sectors, it has now become clear that almost everything can be sold online. especially the furniture industry assumed for a long time that furniture are not very well suited for this distribution channel. contrary to this initial assumption, the turnover of furniture sold online already accounted for around 17% of the furniture industry‘s total turnover in 2018 - with rising tendency.

through an expandable framework construction and the use of hollow chamber panels, air shelf emerges as a lightweight and customizable flatpack shelving system that fulfills all the requirements of a shelf system optimized for sustainable e-commerce.

the drift towards e-commerce within the furniture industry describes only one trend among many. not only digitalization, but also other trends such as urbanization, the growing demand for individualization and sustainable consumption representmovements that directly influence today ́s furniture industry. the „fast fashion“ trend, which has been observed in the fashion industry for some time now, is also slowly but surely becoming present in the furniture sector. frequently changing collections arouse a steadily growing need to buy among a large proportion of consumers. as a result of the „fast furniture“ movement, vast quantities of discarded furniture end up in landfills every year.

however, the various trends may partly be in competition with each other. while the „fast furniture“ trend is based on frequently changing interior designs, causing tons of furniture waste, the sustainability trend aims to reduce these negative ecologicaleffects to a minimum.

when talking about sustainable furniture, it is usually particularly durable and made of materials from renewable resources. in the sustainability segment one often sees firmly glued solid wood pieces. these usually show heavy and bulky characteristics. nevertheless, today there are many attempts to transfer the concept of sustainability in form of solid wood pieces 1:1 into online trade. looking at the distribution channels within e-commerce, these pieces of furniture are obviously not particularly suitable for shipping due to their weight and dimensions.