Futureproofing furniture sales

Tough market conditions for the furniture industry mean the business models for increasing sales are coming under intense scrutiny. Understanding and closely managing the customer journey online and offline has become a priority as the opportunities to inspire and engage become increasingly diverse.

According to Deloitte in its report Retail Trends in 2017, this year marks a digital tipping point for retail, one where ecommerce will continue to grow at pace, and stores will play a different role in the future, one that is focussed on customer experience and where technology will be used to enhance it.

Furniture retailers are increasingly aware of the complex consumer decision making process that makes up the buying journey when it comes to large ticket items.

According to MINTEL, retail multiples including Oak Furniture Land, DFS and ScS are growing furniture sales through a combination of store openings and online strategies.

Market disruption, from online etailers such as Made.com, Wayfair, Amara and Maisons du Monde and specialist direct to consumer mattress firms such as Eve, Casper, Simba and Hyde & Sleep, has seen new entrants harness the potential for pureplay digital to drive sales with minimal investment in physical assets.

Leading online retailer, Wayfair, has integrated Wayfairview – an augmented reality (AR) platform that allows users to scan their room and populate it with furniture options from the company’s stock – into its main shopping app. It has also launched Patio Playground, a virtual reality tool that allows users with access to the Oculus Rift VR gaming system to rearrange furniture in life-like virtual room settings.

Ikea is rolling out a new AR application, called Ikea Place where customers with Apple devices running iOS 11 will be able to view how items, such as such as sofas, arm chairs, and coffee tables, would look in their home. The app scales more than 2,000 products with 98% accuracy, and shoppers can move them virtually around a room.

However, when it comes to furniture, the decision-making process is complex and digital doesn’t have it all its own way. Furniture is something people live with day in and day out and Made.com has opened showrooms, rather than physical stores to give visitors the chance to try before they buy.

Ikea recently celebrated its 30th birthday in the UK with its era-spanning takeover of a London townhouse house that features rooms based on every decade. Its reputation as a master of managing the physical journey its customers take around its stores to increase opportunities for impulse buys, is well documented. Even its busy car parks are a ploy to make sure that people buy more to avoid a stressful return visit.

Combining positive physical interaction with products with powerful and meaningful digital customer experience will be key to how furniture brands can differentiate themselves in the future. Digital unlocks opportunities for engaging directly with audiences in ways never seen before.

Furniture News reports that previously pureplay digital furniture retailer, Loaf, opened what it calls ‘Slowrooms’ offering free ice creams and films in Battersea and Notting Hill. Charlie Marshall, Loaf’s founder, is quoted as saying “old school is the new school, with physical retail back in fashion” confirming that “our own recent research, which shows that two-thirds of consumers prefer to see, touch or try furniture in store before buying.”

While ecommerce still only accounts for around 15% of the furniture market, its share will grow and established retailers such as DFS, Dunelm, Dreams and IKEA have begun modernising their stores, acquiring etailers and bolstering their omnichannel propositions to meet the challenge and protect their markets.

The key to success will be how retailers differentiate themselves by creating highly curated experiences that combine the personal feel of in-store shopping, opportunities to physically engage with products and the convenience of online portals.

Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), personalised online experiences enable retailers to recommend products uniquely suited to shoppers, and enables people to search for products using language or images, as though they were interacting with a person.

Retailers that implement personalisation strategies see sales gains of 6-10%, a rate two to three times faster than other retailers, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It could also boost profitability rates 59% in the wholesale and retail industries by 2035, according to Accenture.

To fully integrate the online and off-line customer journey, traditional stores are investing in technology for shop floor staff to help them be more responsive to ecommerce customers, while online retailers are investing in physical space.

(link: https://www.superdream.com/what-weve-done text: At Superdream), we help clients realise the full potential of digital and online content to enhance the customer experience and give customers a deeper and more engaging journey, that, when combined with the use of physical stores and brand building experiences, is designed to inspire and increase both instore footfall and brand engagement, as well as online sales.