Increasing Sales In The Furniture Business

#1  Product uncertainty 

Solution : Augmented reality 

Purchasing furniture online is daunting with the uncertainty of how it will look in real life and the high price point of furniture. Augmented reality (AR) provides consumers the ability to view furniture pieces in their own environment. This reduces the uncertainty that comes with purchasing furniture online. AR is most efficient when the product related uncertainty is high. It is efficient in helping customers evaluate product fit and has become increasingly popular amongst consumers.

The increase in sales through AR was seen to be most effective on more expensive brands and brands that are less popular. This can level the playing field for niche brands. Additionally, customers who are new to online channels or product categories are more likely to purchase furniture pieces after using augmented reality, indicating AR is capable of online channel adoption and category expansion. 

Ikea adopted the Ikea place app which gave them an upper hand in drawing customers. The app had the second highest rate of downloads for AR apps and 4.7 rating on the App Store showing its popularity. 

#2 Information on customer demand and behaviour for marketing

Solution: Web Scraping 

The use of web data has risen significantly over time in marketing. All segments of marketing use web data. Web scraping provides marketers with information to understand consumer behaviour and demand. Web data can be used to advance marketing ideas in several methods.

1. Studying new market phenomena

 Finding information via web scraping reduces the time lag between the phenomenon and the availability of data. This allows marketing strategies to adapt to the newly occurring phenomenon faster. 

2. Facilitating methodological advancement

Web data can be used for extracting marketing insights from unstructured data such as images, videos and textual data. Additionally the availability of network data and outcome variables has advanced the methods of analysing data.

3. Improved measurement 

Web data allows for more accurate measurement of inferences. It allows quick and efficient collection of information on control variables. This allows furniture stores to see the change in demand through seasons and purchase patterns across the globe according to geographic location. This data collected allows furniture stores to adjust marketing and supply to the changes in consumer behaviour and demand.

#3 Number of furniture segments and varied demand 

Solution: Localise international websites

The international market consists of diverse communities and countries. As a result the demand for furniture in these communities and countries is significantly different. The furniture market is divided into seven segments in total. Given that it is a large industry with several segments to cover, not every country will have a demand for every segment. Statistics demonstrate how much consumers spend in a certain market sector and which nations will see growth in that specific market segment. For instance, compared to other regions, Asia's outdoor market would experience the highest growth rate of 80.7%. While in Asia, China had the highest demand for outdoor furniture.Where should outdoor furniture sales be concentrated as a result? Asia, and if we are being more precise, China.

To effectively localise international websites search engine optimization to raise rankings on local search engines is the first step. Using country specific domains such as canada being .ca. The second step is to deliver the correct international connection to the target user. This can be done through global gateway pages. Global gateway pages have been used by Ikea and it has dominated rankings in the web globalisation report card. 

#4 Low conversion rates 

Solution: Conversion optimisation with tik tok 

As of 2022 there are several new ways to increase your conversion rate. Tik Tok being one of the most famous apps and a new way to optimise conversion rates and grow organically. It provides a cost effective method of advertisement while driving traffic to websites and optimising conversion rates due to the high engagement

rates

 Fantastic furniture for example compared their TVC ads to their Tik Toks ad campaigns. They had a clickthrough rate of 8% and cost per click was 10% lower than their TVC ads. Their strongest performing Tik Tok had a view through rate of 108%. Companies like Ray Ban that ran campaigns on Tik Tok found a 31% decrease in their bounce rate.

#5 Lack of brand credibility 

Solution: B Corp and ISO certifications 

A company can get the B Corp certification if it meets strict criteria for performance, accountability, and openness in areas such as employee benefits, charitable contributions, supply chain policies, and input materials. These certifications provide credible proof that the company is sustainable and mitigates internal tensions. Once a company is certified it shows continuous growth in financial success in terms of turnover growth.

A management system, manufacturing process, service, or documentation technique can be certified by ISO as meeting all requirements for standardisation and quality assurance.A study done with 162 public listed companies in KL malaysia between 1998-2001 showed the ISO certified companies outperformed the ISO non performed companies in ROA, ROS and WC,

These certifications force companies to improve their production efficiency while focusing on sustainability. This lowers costs and improves brand image in the face of consumers.

In conclusion, boosting sales for furniture stores in 2022 can be done through focus on customer needs and wants. Customers are focused on sustainability and product fit for these can be solved by using B Corp, ISO certifications and augmented reality apps. For adjusting marketing strategies for consumers and personalising their shopping experience web scraping and localising websites are the solutions.

References:

https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/monash/reader.action?docID=824462

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022242921995449

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222429211044155

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222429221100750

https://www.centricdigital.com/blog/how-augmented-reality-could-help-retailers-increase-revenue

https://jasoren.com/how-to-bring-value-to-customers-shopping-experience-and-increase-sales-with-ar/

https://www.oneskyapp.com/blog/localization-statistics/

https://bthechange.com/the-business-case-for-caring-c92743555ffe