Restoration Hardware joins the ranks of chain retailers seeking to strengthen e-commerce in their business models and better target markets with heftier spending power.

One reason for Restoration Hardware's shift in focus to e-commerce is the potential RestorationHardware.com demonstrated, even without strong company emphasis. comScore Networks reports more than 580,000 unique visitors per month to the site. Online sales made approximately 17 percent of total sales in 2006, leaping 60.4 percent to $122.4 million from a modest $76.3 million in sales in 2005, reports Internet Retailer.
CEO Gary Friedman elaborated on the transformation, which is "the result of our multi-channel merchandising and marketing strategies - and the multi-channel infrastructure we are building - that are designed to drive total revenue growth and operating efficiencies rather than individual segment or channel growth.”

In addition to slating e-commerce higher on the list of priorities, Restoration Hardware is also launching a series of new and highly-targeted direct marketing efforts. This August the company expects to unveil Brocade Home, a brand that targets a "broader value market" with a "unique and feminine point of view." Sounds like a diplomatic way of saying female foot traffic is another goal high on the priority list.

Children, whose preferences directly influence parent purchasing, will also be heavily courted. Enter Restoration Hardware Kids, a line of child furnishings with its own dedicated catalog and website, slated for release in Spring 2008.

The growing furniture destination presently ranks number 273 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.