During the pandemic, the shift to digital shopping became a lifeline for consumers, marking a significant turning point in the way home furnishings are discovered and bought. While today furniture shoppers once again prefer to shop in stores, they’ve integrated digital aspects into their shopping journey.
As furniture retailers invest in digital solutions to enhance new, hybrid customer journeys, they face unique challenges. The relatively high cost of furniture and home goods drives shoppers to carefully consider their investments and ensure every purchase ticks multiple boxes—built to last, serves their needs, and looks great. This complexity leads to heightened risk perception, as returns are often difficult and costly. Unlike frequent purchases in other categories, furniture requires retailers to build lasting loyalty from the very outset, with every touchpoint approached as a high-stakes interaction.
Leading home furnishings retailers are maximizing their online channels through tech-driven innovation. Brands are combining the best of both online and in-store worlds for their customers by offering unified commerce. They’re making investments to optimize shopping through highly personalized interactions, immersive experiences, customizations, streamlined checkout, and flexible fulfillment—both in real life and digitally.
Transforming the home furnishings customer journey
Today’s shoppers don’t see channels the way retailers do. They simply shop. This means home furnishings retailers need to take a unified approach that ensures a seamless customer experience across all channels, from in-store to online. Imagine your customers effortlessly transitioning from browsing Pinterest for inspiration to taking an online quiz designed to narrow down options, scheduling in-store consultations for expert advice, and ultimately placing their orders conveniently from the comfort of their homes. Retailers who embrace this unified philosophy understand that it’s not about pushing products through individual channels but about crafting a holistic brand experience.
To make the most of evolving paths to purchase, furniture retailers aren’t just optimizing their ecommerce offerings. Studies reveal the modern shopper interacts with an astounding 11 different touchpoints. While 53% of shoppers bought furniture in-store in 2022 according to Statista, other studies show that across retail, 90% of a buyer’s research occurs online, including retail sites (42%), search engines (25%), retail apps (13%), a brand’s own site (5%), and social media channels (4%). An integrated experience lies at the heart of unified commerce, a crucial strategy for furniture retailers navigating today’s dynamic landscape.
Pushing past omnichannel to unified commerce
Unified commerce presents a transformative paradigm shift for retailers. It overcomes the limitations of fragmented operations, seamlessly fusing online and offline environments into a single, integrated system.
This comprehensive approach unlocks crucial benefits: Enhanced customer insights By unifying customer interactions across all physical and digital touchpoints, retailers gain a holistic understanding of individual preferences and behaviors. This empowers hyper-personalization at every step, tailoring experiences to drive engagement and conversion.
Streamlined operations Inventory management becomes a seamless, transparent process in real-time regardless of location. Flexible fulfillment options—online or in-store pickup with swift delivery—become flexible and efficient, meeting customer needs in the most cost-effective way.
From discovering inspiration across channels to accessing comprehensive post-purchase support, shoppers experience unified commerce as personalized and convenient. This fosters loyalty, boosts conversion rates, and provides valuable customer insights—ultimately driving the success of home furnishings retailers in the ever-evolving omnichannel landscape
Virtual carts
To accommodate the blurring of online browsing and in-store exploration, virtual carts emerge as powerful tools, bridging the gap between the digital and physical worlds. For example, a customer discovers their dream couch online and adds it to their virtual cart. Later, drawn by fabric options, they step into the retailer’s showroom. While browsing, they find matching cushions and a statement rug—perfect additions to their home decor vision.
With a tap or a quick chat with a salesperson, these new treasures join their virtual cart. Back home, they review all their finds together, tweaking upholstery choices with a single click, before completing a satisfying, unified purchase complete with a convenient installment payment plan.
Virtual carts offer more than convenience. They empower associates to assist both online and in-store, ensuring smooth transitions and well-deserved commission attribution.
