Striking the right balance between online and offline in furniture and home décor retailing

In the early days of eCommerce, buying furniture online was not common and it was the retail category that seemed most resistant to the online tsunami.  But the adoption of omnichannel strategies over the last few years has helped many furniture and décor retailers strike the right balance and boost both online and offline revenue. For example, Williams-Sonoma saw its revenue evenly split between stores and eCcommerce last year.

Stores still have a strategic value in this sector – in fact, 80% of sales still happen in stores – but the actual purchase no longer occurs ONLY in stores, and with $294 billion expected in online furniture sales by 2022, retailers cannot afford to miss out on the opportunity to integrate sales opportunities across channels.

More specifically, retailers have  improved their in-store experience with personalization, visualization, and faster checkout capabilities as well as the ability to capitalize on any online activities which the customer may have engaged in previously.

Meanwhile, the most sucessful retailers have also improved their eCommerce experience to include better information and visualization techniques by combining strong merchandise management capabilities with webrooming and augmented reality applications, as well as fast and flexible payment and fulfillment options.

So, whether or not you already have a website, how do retailers get all the pieces in the omnihannel puzzle to fit together seamlessly for the customer?

To find out more about how Openbravo helps retailers in the furniture and home décor sectors, watch our on-demand webinar, “How Openbravo Helps Furniture and Home Décor Retailers Play to their Strengths” or take a Product Tour today.