Customer-Centric Furniture Design for Modern Living | Félix Robitaille from Cozey

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Félix from Cozey, director of marketing with them. How you doing today, Félix?

Félix Robitaille: Pretty good, thank you. Thanks for having me.

Ernesto: Great, great. Thank you so much for joining. Well, let’s kick it off. I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what Cozey is all about. So, in your own words, tell us a little bit more about Cozey.

Félix: Sure. We’re a Canadian company based in Montreal, and what we do is innovate in furniture to deliver the best customer experience in the furniture industry for our community. Our mission drives us to create products that meet and redefine modern living standards, making innovative, adaptable, and timeless furniture accessible to everyone. With our vision of becoming the leading global brand, we prioritize community, innovation, simplicity, and adaptability to ensure that every interaction, whether through design, dialogue, or delivery, resonates deeply with our customers. “Modern living made simple for you” is not just our tagline; it’s really the experience we promise at Cozey, inviting everyone to create their ideal home with designs embodying innovation and practicality. We were a digital-only company for the first three years, and now we’ve also expanded into having retail spaces to push the experience even further in real life. Overall, in a nutshell, that’s Cozey.

Ernesto: Where did you guys open up the store?

Félix: We opened our first store in Toronto.

Ernesto: Ah, so nearby?

Félix: Definitely. We’re also planning on opening multiple more. It’s doing fantastic so far. Being able to drive that extra bit of experience is really helping the brand.

Ernesto: Perfect. So that way, our listeners can get a good understanding of Cozey, what would you say are the key problems that Cozey addresses? Why do you exist today?

Félix: The idea came to Fred, our founder, when he was studying at McGill University in Montreal. In Montreal, everyone moves on July 1, and moving a massive sectional to the third floor of an apartment can be hectic. Fred thought there must be a better way to make getting a new sofa, setting it up, and installing it in a new home simpler. That’s where the idea came from—to create a modular sofa that ships in multiple boxes, easy to manipulate, assemble, and grow with your changing needs. For example, if you have a two-seater sofa in a small apartment now but plan to move to a house and need a big sectional, you can just add pieces to it and make it bigger.

Ernesto: When you were talking about how the founder started it, I was reminded of that episode from Friends where they’re trying to get a sofa up the stairs—it just makes total sense. So, your ICP, is it mainly families or couples living in cities? Or is there another segment you target as well?

Félix: We focus on creating the best customer experience for everyone who needs furniture, not just those in urban areas. For example, when we started during the pandemic, delivery times for furniture were extremely long—sometimes six to ten months. One of our promises is delivery within two to five working days across Canada and the USA. That appeals to customers who want furniture quickly.

Ernesto: That’s super important. Getting something like that quickly and easily is always a plus. How would someone usually find out about Cozey? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you?

Félix: Word-of-mouth is huge for us. When we go above and beyond expectations, people talk about their experience. For example, they’ll tell their friends, “I ordered a sofa from Cozey; the order process was simple, the delivery was quick, and I even configured my sofa using augmented reality in my living room.” Besides that, we also use digital marketing, including Meta, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok, as well as out-of-home campaigns like billboards, radio, and podcasts.

Ernesto: Okay, great to hear that. So, listeners can check you out at cozey.com. What role does the website play for you now?

Félix: The website is the core of our business. It’s where most people first interact with the brand, discover our products, and design their own sofa. It’s crucial across the customer journey, from discovery to conversion. We invest a lot of time optimizing it.

Ernesto: Definitely. Are there any tools or methods you’d recommend for website lead generation?

Félix: Drafting your customer journey is key. Put yourself in their shoes and think about how they’ll find you and interact with your brand. Optimize for quality traffic, not just quantity. Look at metrics like time spent on the site and focus on bringing in engaged users.

Ernesto: That’s insightful. Thanks, Félix. Let’s switch gears and talk about you as a leader. What are some key tasks you focus on daily?

Félix: Right now, I focus a lot on digital advertising—testing creatives, copy, and audiences. I’m also transitioning to our retail expansion strategy, identifying markets, and opening pop-ups to test locations before permanent stores.

Ernesto: And how do you stay up-to-date with trends and strategies?

Félix: We have great relationships with reps from platforms like Meta and Google, so we test beta programs to stay ahead. We also analyze competitors using tools like Facebook Ads Library to see what’s working.

Ernesto: Great insights. Let’s move to rapid-fire questions. Ready?

Félix: Yep!

Ernesto: What’s the last book you read?

Félix: Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull.

Ernesto: If there were no boundaries in technology, what would you fix as a marketer?

Félix: Attribution—cross-channel attribution to know exactly what converts on which channel.

Ernesto: If you could automate one repetitive task, what would it be?

Félix: Building cross-channel performance reports.

Ernesto: What advice would you give your younger self as a marketer?

Félix: Build a strong structure early to scale better. Test often, and don’t wait too long.

Ernesto: Fantastic advice. Finally, what’s the one thing listeners should remember about Cozey?

Félix: We’re revolutionizing the furniture shopping experience with customer-centric, affordable, adaptable products. We aim to be the next IKEA.

Ernesto: Amazing. Check them out at cozey.com. Félix, thank you for joining us today.

Félix: Thank you, Ernesto.