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Although most customers prefer to buy furniture in a physical store, walking into the store isn’t what triggers the purchase decision for the average consumer.

Almost 3 in 4 shoppers use multiple channels as part of their regular shopping experience. And furniture shoppers are about twice as likely as general retail shoppers to showroom (research online and buy in-store).

The recently released 2017 Omnichannel Furniture Benchmarking report from Blueport reveals which features across multiple channels retailers think provide value for customers as well which features they provide. This post highlights these findings and adds information about consumer preferences.

Ecommerce

There was an 8% increase in furniture retailers who enabled ecommerce on their websites in the last 3 years. However, there is a 20% gap between the number of retailers who think ecommerce provides value and those who offer it.

retailers who think it provides value vs. retailers who offer ecommerce:

• 94% think ecommerce enablement provides value; 74% of furniture retailers provide it

• 74% think pick up in-store provides value; 47% of furniture retailers provide it

• furniture ecommerce revenue has increased 70% in the past 5 years

Most furniture consumers prefer to purchase furniture in-store, according to the Fall 2017 Consumer View study from National Retail Federation.

• 57% of customers shop for home décor/home furnishings mostly/entirely in store

• 34% shop for home décor/home furnishings equally online and in store

• 9% of customers shop for home décor/home furnishings mostly/entirely online

• 68% of customers like the option to buy online and pick up in-store

Engaging Shoppers

Furniture retailers have specific ideas about what features will engage shoppers, but the number of retailers who deliver those features is much less than those who offer them.

Methods retailers think provide value vs. retailers who have them:

• 67% think a wish list provides value; 64% offer this feature

   3% difference

• 63% think a gift registry provides value; 22% offer this feature

   41% difference

• 62% think an idea board provides value; 3% offer this feature

   59% difference

• 61% think blogs provide value; 42% offer this feature

   19% difference

Here’s the consumer perspective on these features:

• 81% of US online shoppers consider blogs a trusted source of information and advice

• 61% of US online shoppers make a purchase based on recommendations from a blog

• Consumers spend $19 billion annually on wedding gift registries

Shopping Across Channels

Design and content are two key areas retailers consider when thinking about omnichannel retailing.

Methods retailers think provide value vs. retailers who have them:

• 84% think responsive design provides value; 70% provide this feature

• 83% think mobile optimization provides value; 94% provide this feature

   vs. the 75% of furniture retailers made their websites mobile-friendly 3 years ago

• 78% think seeing store inventory provides value; 28% provide this feature

• 73% think persistent local store info provides value; 18% provide this feature

• 62% think salesperson recognition provides value; 15% provide this feature

• 60% think an online quote provides value; 2% purchase a store quote online

Here’s what most consumers think about these omnichannel features:

• Retailer websites are the most common way shoppers learn about product (about 33% all shoppers)

• The top 3 channels customers prefer to engage with companies are:

1) company website (58%)

2) email (52%)

3) phone number (46%)

• device preferences for product research:

• 93% desktop or laptop computer

• 59% smartphone

• 53% tablet

• Top 3 app features:

• 50% high-quality product images

• 50% coupons

• 49% product reviews

Video is also an important part of furniture retailer’s omnichannel strategy. 43% of consumers want to see more video content from marketers and 52% of marketing professionals say video has the best ROI of all their content.

(We address furniture retailing and social media in a previous blog entry, The Furniture Retailer’s Guide to Social Media.)

Marketing and Promotion

Location, location, location. Where is the best place to put promotions/special offers?

Where retailers think provide value vs. where retailers offer them:

• 76% think cart promotions provides value; 53% provide this feature

• 74% think sale pricing provides value; 51% provide this feature

• 72% think finance offers provides value; 15% provide this feature

• 72% think email capture provides value; 43% provide this feature

• 60% think digital circulars provide value; 35% provide this feature

What do consumers think about marketing and promotional offers?

• 45% of consumers only buy brand-name items when they are on sale

• Price and promotions are the most likely factors to influence consumers’ decisions to buy a product online or in-store

• Over 1 in 3 customers rank “best price” as the most important product attribute when deciding to make a purchase

Answering Shopper Questions

Consumers have questions. Retailers have several options for answering them.

Methods retailers think provide value vs. retailers who have them:

• 80% think product reviews provide value; 38% provide this feature

• 79% think real delivery dates shown on product detail page provide value; 23% provide this feature

• 76% think chat provide value; 28% provide this feature

• 69% think product Q&A provide value; 16% provide this feature

Here’s what consumers think:

• 55% shoppers look for product reviews online

• 43% customers think chat has no impact on their shopping experience

• 34% of consumers prefer to shop in a store because online delivery takes too long

Where do shoppers look for product information? The Modern Consumer 2017 study by bookingbug found that:

• 56% think online is better for getting detailed info on products

• 70% think online is better for showing product reviews

• 50% think in-store is better for answering questions while only 22% think online is better

Priorities

Ultimately, what omnichannel features provide the most value? Furniture retailers ranked what they thought should top their priority lists. Here are the highest and lowest priorities for most furniture retailers.

Top Priorities:

1) 94% ecommerce enablement

2) 88% responsive design

3) 83% mobile optimization

Lowest Priorities:

1) 60% Augmented Reality

2) 56% 2D Room Planner

• 65% think 3D room planner provide value; 9% provide this feature

• 56% think 2D room planner provide value; 35% provide this feature

3) 53% Virtual Reality