Laura Khoury turned shopping frustration into a cutting-edge business that can help Home Furnishings Association members boost sales.
“I started as a frustrated consumer,” says Khoury, founder and CEO of Shoptelligence. “I wanted to see only the products I wanted.”
Khoury, a chemist by training, created a company that uses artificial intelligence to help shoppers match furniture and accessories that fit their style preferences. In a way, she’s applying chemical principles to home furnishings sales.
That kind of chemistry makes Shoptelligence a good fit as one of HFA’s newest solution partners.
“It helps shoppers discover other products in the category they’re interested in,” Khoury says. “It replicates what a sales associate does.”
Shoppers visiting furniture websites can find items they like, but when they look for complementary lamps, rugs, end tables, armchairs or other items, they can be overwhelmed by a wide selection of products they don’t like. “Our solution reasons like a stylist,” Khoury says. “It is a robust style-reasoning platform.”
Consumers find the platform inviting. They spend more time on the website and turn from unlikely to very likely to convert, Khoury says. As a result, revenue per website visitor multiplies and shoppers who buy end up spending more.
El Dorado Furniture in Miami Gardens, Fla., just signed up with Shoptelligence and has begun installation. “We do have very high hopes for the technology,” the top-100 retailer’s chief information officer, Jesus Capo, said.
Shoptelligence, founded last year in Ann Arbor, Mich., already is generating high hopes for its innovative solutions to customer frustration. For more information about what Shoptelligence offers HFA members, please call an HFA member specialist at 800-422-3778.
