Here is the monthly round-up of all important news and articles in the world of furniture e-commerce and technology.
FURNITURE TECH
The great furniture store consolidation has begun
We are witnessing that the number of furniture stores is constantly decreasing. Even though the main factor is physical attrition, which is today’s reality in the retail world, there is one more interesting trend: furniture stores consolidation. We’ve seen some of the largest companies in the business like Ashley Home Stores, but also manufacturers like La-Z-Boy, Art Van, Bob’s and Berkshire Hathaway expand their businesses through consolidation.
How Is the Luxury Furniture Market Developing Worldwide?
The world’s luxury furniture market is likely to grow by 4.7% between 2018 and 2023. Innovations in manufacturing technology, as well as a growing appreciation for the potential of local design, are helping global market leaders to meet the needs of an increasingly demanding luxury furniture market.
Source: Arts and Collections
E-COMMERCE NEWS
Internet Trends report shows online spending, cost of acquiring customers on the rise
The 25th Annual Internet Trends Report has revealed that e-commerce now accounts for 15% of total spending, up from 14% last year. The report showed that for the first time, more than half of the world’s population is online, up from 24% a decade ago. One of the biggest differences is the importance of mobile today, compared to 10 years ago. Mobile devices for the first time surpassed TV for the amount of daily time spent among U.S. consumers. In 2019, consumers average 3.7 hours a day on their mobiles compared with 3.6 hours watching TV. A decade ago, consumers spent 4.4 hours watching TV, compared with just 20 minutes on a mobile device.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND DIGITAL UPDATES
Pop-up shops are paying off for retailers
According to a survey from Storefront, 80% of global retail companies that have opened a pop-up store said it was successful and 58% are likely to use the tactic again. The results show that most of the respondents have seen improved market visibility (51%), followed by increased sales (46%) and increased social media engagement (46%). This means that retailers have found a way to increase brand awareness and reach consumers without opening big stores. Pop-ups can be very beneficial, especially for pureplays, because they offer a new channel and a chance to test waters with physical location before opening an actual store.
INFOGRAPHIC OF THE MONTH
The Customer Experience Stakes Have Never Been Higher
The third edition of the “State of the Connected Customer”, report from Salesforce, shows that customers’expectations have never been higher - 84% of customers say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. This is true for both B2B and B2C customers.
Source: Salesforce
UPDATES FROM CYLINDO
Cylindo 360 HD Viewer 3.3 Is Here - Now Supporting Web-Native AR
With Cylindo 360 HD Viewer, furniture brands and retailers can enhance the shopping journey by incorporating dynamic product content such as high-resolution imagery, interactive 360 spins, product videos, room scenes, dimension shots, alternate product angles images, etc. Everything in a single viewport.
What’s new with Cylindo 360 Viewer 3.3?
Web-native AR support - The most significant feature in the latest version of Cylindo’s 360 HD Viewer, is the web-native AR support for iOS and Android. Our web-native AR solution allows customers to place 3D models of selected products in the real world, without downloading a mobile app. The ultimate goal is to reduce friction and increase conversions. Web-native AR has proven to provide adoption rates that are 33 times higher than traditional Augmented Reality mobile applications.
Thumb bar location - The 360 HD Viewer settings allow you the flexibility to create the user experience you want with different product gallery alignment options. Placing the thumbnail bar at the bottom is the most widely adopted practice. However, we are witnessing examples from e-commerce giants like Amazon, that use left alignment for the product gallery. We recommend A/B testing so you can base your decisions on data.
New Zoom functionality - Showcase key attributes or special details in the Viewer with programmatic zoom; i.e., you can specify the product details you want to highlight.
Performance improvements - As always, every new version of the Viewer is better than previous versions performance-wise. With some improvements, the fastest loading 4K Viewer got even faster and lighter.
Cylindo is the catalyst that drives delightful shopping experiences by empowering retailers and brands to show more and sell more. If you are looking for a 3D visualization platform that can help you create versatile content for multiple channels and platforms, we should talk.
