Ready-to-assemble furniture
Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture (KD) or flat pack furniture, is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. Several to many furniture components are packaged in a carton which also contains assembly instructions and necessary hardware needed for the buyer to follow in order to build the furniture item correctly.
Ready-to-assemble furniture is popular among consumers who wish to save money on their furniture purchases by assembling the product on their own and no need for delivery cost. In addition to saving the consumer money, flat pack furniture is generally simple to assemble and requires only the use of simple tools. As such, assembling it may be fun and provide the consumer with a sense of accomplishment.
Merchants benefit from selling ready-to-assemble furniture because furniture that is already assembled tends to be bulky and more expensive to store and to deliver. Since the furniture does not need to be assembled in the factory, ready-to-assemble furniture is also less expensive for the merchant to purchase. Due to these many factors, selling flat pack furniture is a more cost-effective method of conducting business.