Denver—After watching companies like Empire Today and ifloor.com make significant inroads in the floor covering retail market, Carpet One Floor & Home is giving its members a vehicle to compete in the growing shop-at-home and Internet channels.

At its biannual convention, Carpet One members were introduced to an aggressive e-commerce strategy. The revamped carpetone.com will allow consumers to not only purchase flooring online from their nearest Carpet One retailer, but will also give them the opportunity to request shop-at-home services.

According to Evan Hackel, president of CCA Global, this is a tool that will continue to help build the Carpet One brand. “It provides national identity.”

He added that carpetone.com represents an industry first. While there may be a litany of Web sites where consumers can purchase flooring online, this takes the game to a whole new level. “We are the first company to sell all categories of installed floor covering online in North America; no one has done it this way before.”

The pricing strategy also breaks new ground. “Customers want to see prices on the Internet, but only those who are selling uninstalled flooring show prices,” he said. “We are going to show prices, but only for Carpet One style names and Carpet One brands.”