The five business results a 3D planning solution can improve on your website.

There’s no doubt that the online experience is a central enabler of sales success for home retailers, whether transactions go on to be completed on the website or in-store after some initial research. So, it’s important, as a home retail business, to meet consumer demand with a website and e-commerce offering that surpasses expectations; one that is intelligent, provides value add and is connected at every customer touchpoint.

 

This article will outline five areas where the HomeByMe for Home Retailers 3D planning solution can help boost your website and inform better business results.

 

1. Increase average transaction value per item

 

Retailers are 60-70% more likely to sell to a current customer than to a new one. A 3D planning solution can help encourage and boost transaction value of repeat business by enabling retailers to highlight similar and alternative products at different price points to customers, based on their previous designs or purchases. Upsell opportunities can be achieved before purchase with display recommendations, during purchase with pop-ups during the design stage or shopping cart, and then after purchase with personalized follow-up emails and marketing.

 

This can be further supported with dynamic pricing. Instill trust and give your customers budget confidence with real-time pricing capabilities that update as they build and populate designs with your products.

 

2. Encourage more items per transaction

 

With 3D planning technology, open up cross-selling opportunities by promoting product sets and complementary items to provide inspiration and enhance customer room designs. Cross-selling is an irreplaceable method to increase sales for all home retailers; whether they sell high value but low purchase and frequency products, or more frequent but low budget items. After all, many customers simply don’t want to shop around if they don’t have to. By suggesting more choices or relevant add-ons, such as a matching set of chairs for their dining room or a lamp for their bedside table, retailers can increase transaction value while offering the convenience and flexibility customers are looking for.

 

Another great non-invasive manner of cross-selling is providing prepopulated templates and concept rooms. These ready-made designs highlight to shoppers the products they didn’t know they needed. It’s important retailers make sure they are always increasing value for the customer by offering them relevant items, without friction.

 

3. Reduce product returns

 

27% of returns in 2019 were due to an item arriving not as described. But with 3D planning, you can finally give customers confidence in their online purchases – which is especially important for big ticket items like home furnishings – with sales-ready designs and lifelike renders. Users can check for an exact fit and visualize how their designs will look in reality, resulting in more accurate outcomes and, in turn, a reduction in product returns. Of course, this also equates to a happier customer – a win-win.

 

4. Shorten the sales cycle

 

A confident customer means quicker time to sale, and retailers need to ensure they have a well-defined strategy and sales process in place for them to be able to do so. A 3D planning solution can initially help attract new and returning customers to your site with an engaging and unique planning experience which is actually useful. You can then remove any anxieties attached to purchasing items online. For example, when contemplating buying a brand-new sofa that hasn’t been seen in the flesh, features such as 360-degree product views give your customers no reason to press pause on designs to go into a store for validation (although they can if they want to!). This way, retailers can empower confident customers to take control of their own shopping experience, so that consultants can focus on converting more sales with the customers that need more support.

 

5. Increase rates of engagement

 

Being able to see the whole picture when redesigning a home is vital. But by actually giving your customers the ability to get creative and mix and match ideas autonomously will bring them a lot of enjoyment, too – don’t underestimate it; currently, two-thirds of companies compete mostly on the basis of customer experience. But engagement with a 3D planning solution doesn’t stop there.

 

Let customers download and share their home designs with their friends and family online, and further utilize the data of each customer to understand their needs and wants for additional personalization; whether this is in the form of tailored product recommendations or a discount offer in their inbox a week later – these are the personal touches that will help shoppers across the finish line. Offering engagement at every step of the sales cycle will ultimately be the differentiator that brings your customers back time and time again.

 

Conclusion

 

Today’s users expect a superb online experience, and home retailers are competing on this basis for their share of the market. Your website needs to showcase your business in the best light, giving your customers exactly what they need – and more. With a 3D planning solution, such as HomeByMe for Home Retailers, you can boost performance dramatically to improve the customer experience and increase revenue.

 

Get in touch to find out how the HomeByMe for Home Retailers 3D planning solution can transform your website by requesting a demo today.