Eclipse: Introducing Our New Exclusive Core Range

The Eclipse Flooring Range is our latest innovation at Online Flooring Store. In partnership with some of the industry’s best and most trusted suppliers, Eclipse is intended to give our customers the best quality floor for their homes, no matter their budget.

Finding cheap products is simple. Finding value-for-money products is far more difficult. Working with reputable suppliers that are established and well-respected in the Australian flooring market, we have established a range where each product is the best value for money product that we could find within its category.

Overview:

Eclipse brings you the best products in the four most popular flooring categories:

• Hybrid
• Laminate
• Vinyl Plank
• Engineered Timber

There was no doubling up on products: Every product that made it onto the Eclipse team had to be the best of the best. If eight products were offered to us from our suppliers with similar specifications, then the best of these was selected for the Eclipse range.

Expert Insights From Levi Saunders

Online Retail Specialist & Flooring Content Creator

In the past, customers have felt overwhelmed with the number of product choices they have with the Online Flooring Store. Having the Eclipse Range displayed correctly gives them a chance to immediately see what will often be a strong preference coupled with reasons.

How the Eclipse Products Were Selected

Yes there is a method to the madness! Below outlines how we audited and arrived at the best products & suppliers in each category:

Suppliers, Service and Backup

Everyone encounters problems at some point. It is how the problem is dealt with that we remember. We look for a supplier’s ability to deal with problems in the following ways:

• If there is a product issue of any kind, will they come to the party?
• Do they have adequate representation in the state of purchase to resolve issues quickly?

Expert Insights From Dean Billett

28+ Years of flooring industry experience

Customer support is the most important thing when choosing a supplier. I ask whether this supplier and Online Flooring Store share the same customer support values, especially regarding warranty claims. If a supplier cannot honour them, we cannot use them.

For this reason, we have always been wary of less established suppliers that operate from limited locations. For example, a Melbourne-only-based supplier may need help to travel the Queensland to honour a warranty-based claim. Established suppliers have easier ordering systems, are more accessible, and have well-presented product specs.

That said, we have also been lucky enough to find some brilliant smaller suppliers with a bonus of a very attractive price point.

Price Point

We kept asking: at a particular price point, what is the best value-for-money product we can deliver to the customer?

Watching Other’s Mistakes and Avoiding Them

We have been around the industry for a very long time and have seen products rise and fall. Most importantly, we have understood why particular products failed and have learned these lessons.

For example, there are no Aerated core Hybrids in the Eclipse range. There are no cheap Laminates in the Eclipse Range. Only products in categories that have a proven track record.

Expert Insights From Raquel Billett

Interior Décor Expert

A supplier's customer service and ability to resolve issues are the essential pieces of the puzzle. Time and responsiveness directly correlate to customer satisfaction, and it is not hard to tell which suppliers adopt an empathetic approach to customers.

Eclipse Categories

Hybrid

• Eclipse Classique is our budget fighter, and unlike most products at this price point, it has a full .5mm wear layer as opposed to a .3mm wear layer offered by most hybrids in this class. This as well as a great range of 10 colours, makes for a hybrid that anyone can afford
• Eclipse Atlantis is our 1.5 metre-long narrow board hybrid. Atlantis features a huge range of 15 colours to choose from at a fantastic price point.
• Eclipse Auroboris is our 1.5 metre-long wide board hybrid. Auroborus has a range of 12 brilliant colours and is priced for affordability.
• Eclipse Monument is our long narrow board hybrid that is over 1.8 metres long. This is a 7mm product and not only features a range of 13 brilliant colours but has a massive 20-pattern repeat: the highest in the industry!
• Eclipse Elysium is our long wide board hybrid, again 7mm thick and over 1.8 metres long. The range features 10 Brilliant colours and is an unbeatable value in its class
• Finally, Eclipse Stone-Tek is the big brother to all hybrids. This long wide board hybrid is over 1.8 metres long and is a massive 9.7mm thick. This product simply outclasses every other hybrid in the industry in every way. It features:

• Thickest wear layer
• Thickest underlay
• Thickest SPC core
• Quietest underfoot
• 16 Pattern Rolling Repeat
• The most realistic Embossed in Register (EIR) surface of any Hybrid on the market to date!

Laminate

Laminate is a mature product category, and so much has changed since it entered the market decades ago. There is a lot of cheap laminate on the market, and hybrid has mostly taken over the space. Generally, today, when people search for laminate, they are looking for a high-quality floor with increased realism.

We needed just two outstanding products in this category. Both of our laminate products below are in the long board format at over 1.8m long.

• Eclipse Aqua Guard has 14 Brilliant colours, with a fully three-dimensional Embossed in Register (EIR) finish. This makes for a product that is true to life, while at the same time being nearly bulletproof. Where many Water Resistant laminate floors offer a surface-only warranty, Aqua Guard comes with a 96-hour fully submerged water warranty!
• Eclipse Aqua Schild has 14 amazing colours and is Australia’s first-ever waterproof laminate. So it has all the desirable waterproof qualities of a hybrid combined with the scratch, stain and burns resistance qualities inherent to laminate flooring. Again this product has a highly realistic Embossed in Register (EIR) finish. Unlike other laminates, the underlay is fully built into the back of this product and can be applied straight to the floor for easy application.

Vinyl Planks

• Eclipse Nature’s Own is our 2.5mm product with a vast range of 16 colours with Embossed and Registered (EIR) finishes. It is a 1.5m long product ready to be direct stuck and has the same 0.5mm wear layer you would expect from a hybrid floor.

• Eclipse Nature’s Best is a thicker 4.5mm product with 10 colours in a 1.5m long board. The extra thickness of this product equates to a little extra comfort underfoot.

Engineered Timber

• Eclipse Divine Engineered Oak is the most affordable engineered oak flooring on the market to date. This product launches with a range of 13 colours but will soon feature a huge range of 20 amazing colours.

• Eclipse Australis Australian species range features three categories.
  • Eclipse Australis Couero is a 136mm standard width board.
  • Eclipse Australis Largo is a 190mm, wide board
  • Australis compact is a micro veneer for the shopper looking for a real timber floor on a budget

Yes, but What About Western Australia?

Perth and WA are so far away that if we were anywhere else in the world, they would be another country! We are, however working hard as we speak, developing a range specifically for the West Australian Market. Watch this space.