Rick Curry
Oct 09, 2025
Oct 23, 2025
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Inside the Tech Stack of a Global Luxury Furniture Brand: An Interview with Rick Curry, Founder of House of Isabella and Tommy Franks

Learn how a global luxury furniture brand built its tech stack. In this interview, Rick Curry shares insights to inspire your own eCommerce growth.
September 9, 2025
October 23, 2025

eCommerce Tech: Rick, thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a bit about your business and the role tech plays?

Rick Curry: Absolutely. I’m the co-founder of two interior brands: House of Isabella, which operates in both the UK and Australia, and Tommy Franks, a newer design-led furniture brand focused on retail and wholesale. We’ve been building and scaling in the home sector for over 15 years now.

Tech underpins almost everything we do. From product discovery to inventory control and customer retention, we rely on a well-integrated stack to keep things running smoothly across both markets. For us, the goal has always been simplicity, scalability, and value for money. That’s how we’ve built something sustainable.

Our Tech Philosophy: Simple, Scalable, and Effective

eCommerce Tech: What principles guide the way you build your stack?

Rick: I keep it straightforward. Four main rules have guided us:

1. It must integrate well with Shopify Plus - we don’t have time to deal with patchwork systems.

2. It needs to be simple enough for the team to use confidently - training should be minimal.

3. Tools must deliver real ROI - if it doesn’t add value, we cut it.

4. It should scale with us - whether we're growing SKUs, channels, or regions.

Breaking Down the Stack

eCommerce Tech: Let’s talk tools. What’s currently powering your business?

Rick: Here's how we're set up today:

Shopify Plus

We upgraded to Shopify Plus for the improved B2B features, checkout customisation, and added stability. It's been worth the investment, especially as our wholesale and international operations have grown. The scalability is there, and the app ecosystem is still a massive win.

Shopify Payments + Clearpay

We run Shopify Payments for its ease of use and native reporting. Clearpay has been a valuable add-on - it’s helped increase conversion rates for customers buying higher-ticket items. Furniture is a considered purchase, and giving customers flexible payment options really helps.

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

We use Brevo for email, SMS, and push marketing. It’s cost-effective and allows us to keep everything in one place. Automations are easy to manage, and the integration with Shopify Plus makes it efficient to run personalised campaigns across the full customer lifecycle.

Zoho Desk + Sales iQ

 Zoho Desk handles our structured support tickets, especially for trade customers and post-sale service. Sales iQ is great for live chat on-site - simple and fast. Together, they help us maintain a responsive, friendly customer experience.

GA4 + Shopify Analytics

We use GA4 to track acquisition and user journeys, while Shopify’s own analytics give us instant visibility into sales, top-performing SKUs, and inventory movement. We try to keep reporting lean and actionable.

SKUSavvy (under trial)

Now that we’ve taken warehousing in-house, we’re testing SKUSavvy to manage barcoded inventory, location tracking, and inbound container shipments. Our setup needs to be intuitive - we're not Amazon, but we want accuracy and visibility.

SEMrush + Google Search Console

SEO has been a core strategy for us. SEMrush helps guide our content planning and monitor keyword rankings, and Search Console gives us the live organic data we need. Together they’ve helped drive solid, long-term growth - particularly in the UK.

What We've Learned

eCommerce Tech: Any lessons from your experience that other founders should hear?

Rick: Definitely.

  • Keep the stack lean. Too many tools get in the way.
  • Involve your team. If they don’t use it, it’s not worth having.
  • Revisit performance quarterly. If a tool’s not moving the needle, cut it.
  • Prioritise support. Tools with decent customer service can save you hours.

We’ve made mistakes - from overpaying for platforms we didn’t need, to relying too much on a single channel - but we’ve learned and streamlined.

What's Next?

eCommerce Tech: What does the future look like for your tech stack?

Rick: We’re working on a few exciting additions:

  • An AI-powered room visualiser so customers can see how our furniture looks in their space
  • Better fulfilment tracking that keeps customers updated automatically
  • Deeper B2B features using Shopify Plus - especially customer-specific pricing and quick reordering

Final Thoughts

eCommerce Tech: If you could give one piece of advice to brands building a tech stack, what would it be?

Rick: Don’t get distracted by what’s new. Focus on tools that make your business better - for your team and your customers. And make sure everything integrates cleanly. It’s easy to overcomplicate things, but simplicity is what actually scales.

Co-Founder, House of Isabella Ltd & Tommy Franks Ltd

About the author

Rick Curry
Managing Director, House of Isabella & Tommy Franks

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