ORLANDO, Fla. — “Holistic” is more than a New Age buzzword. It could be the future of retail.
Think of holistic retail as “omnichannel 2.0,” adding elements of entertainment and customer engagement to the shopping and purchase process in order to make retail part of consumers’ lifestyles.
 Stephen Kuhl |
Three practitioners of the holistic arts in home furnishings — vertical sofa retailer Burrow CEO Stephen Kuhl; Liza Hausman, vice president of industry marketing at residential remodeling and design platform Houzz; and interior design disrupter Modsy’s director of style, Alessandra Wood — talked about how their emerging models blend commerce and customer connection at the 2018 Furniture Today Leadership Conference.
Burrow, a direct-to-consumer startup, began selling a modular sofa with custom options — delivered in a week — two years ago and since has experienced monthly growth of 2,000% according to Kuhl. He identified four requirements for success: Know your customer, offer a brand that resonates with consumers online and offline, create a world-class experience and produce a high quality product.
To the first point, Burrow utilizes technology for consumer insights. Most customers are age 25 to 40, but there are a lot of Boomers as well. Ninety-five percent use an iPhone. Twenty percent are buying a sofa before a move, 40% after a move, and 20% are staying put.
As part of brand resonance, Burrow wants customers to have the opportunity to see products in person and to buy online.
“Today’s consumers crave brands with substance and want to buy from brands who know who they are,” Kuhl said. He referred to Burrow’s “Good for nothing” subway ad campaign promoting “Furniture that’s good for doing nothing” — modern living at home.
Regarding building an experience, Burrow’s furniture is engineered to save on shipping, for easy, out-of-the-box installation and movement.
“With our experience, customers can go on the website and customize a sofa from five colors, selection of leg styles and a custom size,” Kuhl said. “It ships UPS ground and assembles with no tools.”
The Burrow House retail store caters to Millennials with features such as selfie studio with a green-screen for different backgrounds. Shoppers are invited to experience the sofa while sipping free beverages and WiFi; they can even watch a full-length movie. There’s an event space for philanthropic organizations, “date nights” and musical events.
As to quality, “all our sofas are hand-crafted in North Carolina,” Kuhl said. “Spills happen, so we source fabrics that are naturally stain-resistant and cleanable. We have hidden USB ports. It comes in boxes, so you can package (the sofa) and move it easily. Boxed (shipping) cuts down on cost, which we pass to the customer.”
Tech: Connecting content to commerce
 Liza Hausman |
Houzz has 40 million-plus unique users a month and more than 2.1 million active home remodeling and design professionals on its online platform. Ninety percent of users are homeowners, 84% of whom plan to purchase a home product in the next six months, with 71% planning to renovate or redecorate their homes in 2018.
Houzz is leveraging technology for multiple content layers that helps consumers get inspired, shows them products, helps them find a remodeling or design professional, educates them and gives them advice.
So what’s in it for a furniture retailer or manufacturer? According to Houzz, 38% of users buy the product they land on at the site, and 62% buy product that was recommended by other users. In addition, Houzz has 1 million-plus products available for 3D viewing, and more than 2 million users have used augmented reality functions when purchasing in the Houzz app. Houzz says those consumers are 11 times more likely to actually buy.
“The No. 1 question asked about photos on Houzz is where they can find the product they see in the photos,” Hausman said. “In 2016, we came out with a technology called ‘Visual Match’ to show products available for sale that are similar to what’s in a lifestyle picture. We found people are four times more likely to buy and spend three times more when they use it.”
To help avoid “buyer’s remorse,” Houzz launched the first version of its “View in My Room” function, which allows users to place product anywhere in a photo of their room, in 2016. The next year, it added 3D viewing for 20 million products.
“Fifty percent of people use this feature before buying on Houzz,” Hausman noted. She added that consumers’ trust in the Houzz brand has made it a big player in e-commerce.
“We need to listen to our customers on what we should do next,” Hausman said.
Design, inspiration, technology
 Alessandra Wood |
Modsy allows users to take a design quiz online and then populate pictures of their rooms from a sofa to a completely accessorized setting with product suggestions shown in 3D imagery. All those products are available for purchase via Modsy.
“Interior design imagery is extremely important to us,” Wood said. “We do that by redesigning spaces that people are familiar with” such as living spaces seen on sets from television shows like Friends, Seinfeld and Sex in the City.
The style quiz gives Modsy users who might be unsure a start on how they could decorate.
“We use a coding system and algorithm to give them their style, then give them an opportunity to agree, and track how well we” predict their style, Wood said.
Modsy Studio offers engaging content. “We’re all competing for customers and trying to create something completely unique for them,” Wood noted.
User-generated content will play a growing role at Modsy.
“UGC is expected to be one of our most important sources of comment,” said Wood. “The reason it’s important is it’s real.”
Modsy content also includes rendering of a proposed living space as part of a “before-rendering-after” presentation of users projects.
“Real success stories are important because they show the success of the project and the success of your product,” Wood said, as well as an opportunity for users to check out how earlier projects’ renderings compare with the reality of the finished room.
“It really promotes that seeing is believing: Seeing products in their home that fit their budget and style gives them the confidence to buy,” she said.
During a question-and-answer session, one member of the audience noted that Modsy seems like entertainment in a way. Woods agreed there is a playful element involved.
“In real life, you can’t play with moving 30 sofas in and out of your room,” she said. “This gives people the opportunity to be more creative and let their imagination flow.”