Furniture retail is a global $300+ billion industry, but only 3% of sales take place online. Visualization specialist Cylindo.com is releasing a solution set to eliminate the dismal online conversion rates typical for online furniture retailers.
The solution is called 360 HD Furniture Viewer, designed to deliver a rich consumer experience on retailers' product pages. It includes all the features and functionality required to sell furniture effectively online. Products are displayed in crisp HD quality, with full 360 degree spin and powerful zoom. Showing different customization options, such as variations in colors or fabrics, is also possible with the 360 HD Furniture Viewer.
"Having worked extensively with the furniture industry for a number of years, it became clear to us that a major cause of the industry's relatively poor online performance was the visual representation of furniture online" says CEO Janus Jagd. "For most people buying furniture is an investment, and so it requires a great deal of confidence in what they see, in order to transact online. 2D images and tiny thumbnail color swatches are often not enough to instill that confidence"
Through in-depth research, the product team at Cylindo identified the exact pain points that made good visualization a hassle for furniture retailers, and it quickly became clear the solution had to deliver stunning product presentations as well as being easy to manage and update.
The industry is excited - recently Steelcase (Fortune 500), chose to shift from Adobe Scene7 to Cylindo's 360 HD Furniture Viewer because of its feature rich capabilities. With thousands of products online, many of them highly configurable, Steelcase was facing a serious challenge in how to display all options.
Photographing every combination would have been a mammoth task, and virtually impossible to keep updated. The answer was not to photograph at all, but use the 360 HD Furniture Viewer instead where customization options are easily applied using rendering technology.
Brazil's coolest online furniture retailer, Oppa, has also chosen to go with the 360 HD Furniture Viewer. "Cylindo will help our users to fill the gap between the real and the virtual world, allowing them to see the product they dream about from different angles and in HD, easing the decision and lowering the desire to see the product in person!" states Adriano Meirinho, Chief Technology Officer at Oppa.
The financial impact of implementing the 360 HD Furniture Viewer is significant, delivering value to furniture retailers on several fronts. Supplying consumers with a rich and fulfilling shopping experience has shown to considerably increase conversion rates, with retailers reporting as much as a 50% uplift. Further the ability to digitally apply customization options to products, lowers the need for product photography, thus delivering significant savings on photo expenses. In addition, fully informed customers who know exactly what they are getting, are much less likely to return items, thereby saving retailers both expenses and hassle associated with handling returned goods.
"Our mission is to create a new industry standard for how furniture is visualized and sold. Both online and in-stores. The 360 HD Furniture Viewer is a key instrument in making that happen" says Janus Jagd.
