paco schreef op 20 januari 2013 07:25:
mooi artikel over nedsense van Crate&Barrel:
www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130...Even aesthetically confident consumers dither over buying furniture, and for good reason: It's not easy seeing how that new sofa will fit in. And while an ill-considered pair of jeans can be painlessly returned, undoing that what-was-I-thinking couch requires a lot more effort. The problem got John Seebeck thinking.
“There was a real gap in the selling cycle when it came to being able to visualize items in a room,” says the vice president of e-commerce at Crate & Barrel Co. “For years, our sales associates had used pen and paper to sketch out products in a room.”
He began searching for a more modern solution in early 2011 and joined with
NedSense, a tech firm based in the Netherlands. “They were the only ones who had the ability to take a 2-D picture and turn it into a 3-D one,” Mr. Seebeck says. Barely a year later, Crate & Barrel's 3-D Room Designer went live.
The tool gives customers the ability to try on furniture by uploading photos of the room they want to redesign, along with its height. (Or, if that's too complicated, users can default to the retailer's sample 3-D rooms.) Using these inputs, the program turns the two-dimensional image into a 3-D room that resembles a video game. Users then “scrub” the room of existing furniture and substitute items from Crate & Barrel's online catalog, complete with fabric and color choices.
Shoppers can access the tool on Crate & Barrel's home page (under the “inspiration” tab) or in one of the retailer's nearly 100 stores. Starting this month, iPad users can download a free Room Design app, too.
Originally launched with 2,000 Crate & Barrel items, the Room Designer now offers 3,000 pieces to play with, from furnishings to lighting and pillows. Pretty much the only products that can't be added to a room (yet) are the company's dishware.
This all adds up to big sales for the Northbrook-based home furnishings chain. While Mr. Seebeck won't estimate the revenue spurred by the program, he says the average value of an order from a customer who used Room Designer is three times the size of a regular sale. More than 10,000 rooms have been created since the tool launched.
“Online shopping has delayed purchase decisions on big-ticket items because the choice has also become a burden,” says Kim Erwin, an assistant professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design who has studied shopping habits on the Web. But 3-D tools like the Room Designer make online purchase decisions easier, more fun and more collaborative.
“Like adding the egg to the cake mix, allowing users to tailor products or explore options will create a sense of investment and ownership,” Ms. Erwin says—a recipe for bigger purchases
Read more:
www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130... Stay on top of Chicago business with our free daily e-newsletters