Consumers are staying at home more than ever before, and many are looking for ways to improve their environment—in this case, their homes. One of the easiest ways to make home improvements is to add new home decor. Adding just a few new home furnishings can help a space feel "new."But with retailers' brick-and-mortar stores largely closed during the pandemic, consumers have had to rely on online stores to make purchases. According to Blueport Commerce, online furniture purchases were up over 300% in April 2020.
However, for many consumers, shopping for furniture online is still a daunting task.
With a drastic increase in customers buying furniture online—many for the first time—it is critical for brands to optimize their eCommerce experience to make online shopping as engaging as in-store shopping. But many companies don't know where to start, let alone how to create an online presence that allows them to compete with eCommerce giants like Amazon.
We're here to help!
Today we are going to highlight Crate and Barrel. They have created an amazing online shopping experience at crateandbarrel.com, and we hope it gives you a few ideas.
1. They offer endless scrolling.
Consumers want to be able to feel as though they are browsing your products online rather than having to select products to view. By enabling endless scrolling, Crate and Barrel allows customers to take a look at all of their products on a single page without requiring the customer to click into a bunch of different pages.
To create this experience, Crate and Barrel needed to be able to have high-quality images of each product available. Threekit's Virtual Photographer made it possible.
2. They provide detailed product photos of each product & possible configuration.
For each product, Crate and Barrel provides several detailed product photographs, allowing customers to really get a feel for the products available online.
When buying online, most consumers rely on images to make a purchasing decisions and expect about 8 images per product.
Additionally, the product images dynamically update based on the customer selections. Crate and Barrel wanted to create high-quality images for every possible product combination, allowing customers to more accurately visualize the items that they purchase.
Before coming to Threekit, Crate and Barrel was only able to get images of about 30% of their product line. Now, they're able to accurately represent their entire product line.
3. Product pricing changes dynamically based on customer configuration.
For most furniture products, price changes based on fabric selection or other customizations that are available. With that in mind, Crate and Barrel combined the visual configuration experience with pricing logic to dynamically update the price point as customers configure their new product.
4. The website includes interactive elements, increasing customer engagement.
Crate and Barrel created an interactive sectional configurator that allows customers to visually configure the exact sectional they are looking for. They even included measurements so that customers can easily understand if the sectional will fit well in their space.
5. Product imagery carries into the shopping cart.
In a typical shopping cart, you might see a small, stock photo of a version of the product you are purchasing. Crate and Barrel decided to add dynamic, high-quality product images to the shopping cart experience, which helps increase customers' confidence in their purchase.
Optimize your eCommerce customer experience today.
Crate and Barrel was able to improve their online customer experience by adding detailed product imagery and interactive elements to drive engagement and conversions online. Creating this experience turned their eCommerce platform into their main sales channel, generating about 45% of sales.
We hope this gave you a few ways to approach the optimization of your eCommerce site. If you would like to discuss your options with an expert on our team, or learn more about the 3D configuration, augmented reality, and virtual photography that Threekit offers, feel free to request a personalized demo here.
