Magento India Blog Creating a Virtual Showroom How Furniture Stores Can Benefit from E-commerce Websites?

The furniture retail industry is one of the most dynamic industries at present. As much as more traditional ‘physical’ shops are becoming overwhelmed by the online market strategies. The changing customer habits related to shopping has been shifted to online buying, especially in the furniture industry. The most result-oriented approach in this area is to open a virtual showroom for furniture store with advanced technologies.  In this blog, you will learn how furniture stores may create a virtual showroom and its impact on a store’s success. We will also explain how it is easier for a furniture store to make this transition with the help of a furniture store development company and platforms like Magento.  The Changing Landscape of Furniture Retail  There are certain obstacles associated with conventional furniture purchasing. A physical store is really known by customers and people in general while physically you are restricted to the number of people you can sell your products to. Furthermore, keeping a huge inventory in a physical store is expensive and space constraints restrict an organization’s capability to showcase many products.  However, this is where e-commerce and virtual showrooms come into play. It offers a solution to such issues because of increased reach and improvement of the customer experience. Today, consumers are paying more attention to furniture and even purchasing furniture from an online shop. A virtual showroom for furniture store creates an opportunity to online view, configure, and position products at a home environment.  What is a Virtual Showroom?  A virtual showroom also known as a virtual storefront is an online store where customers can navigate through tangible products. An exciting thing is that it is not just an ordinary business through an online store-type website. Features like virtual tours and three-dimensional models of the furniture on this site enable a client to have a real-time look at how the furniture would look in his or her house.  A virtual showroom is also different from regular e-commerce website interfaces because it offers a more direct way of selling products. Consumers can check samples of additional products which will give them an idea of how this equipment will look in their homes. The services of Magento development company include integration of these features.  Benefits of Creating a Virtual Showroom for Furniture Store  Here’s why a virtual showroom for furniture store is a game-changer: Expanded Customer Reach That means you are not restricted to customers within your region and this is something with a virtual showroom. Having your business online means you can market your product in every corner of the world. This is very important when operating in a highly saturated industry. Marketing management can benefit from selecting an e-commerce website development company to foster the development of a popular and extensive online presence that targets more consumers.  Enhanced Customer Experience Potential features of a virtual showroom include 3D product views and partial usage of AR app integration. These features help customers to see how furniture may look in their homes making their shopping more personalized.  Cost-Effectiveness One advantage of this concept is that it eliminates the need for a huge store thereby minimizing overhead expenses. Virtual showrooms offer a time-tested opportunity to display several furniture items that would not be possibly be fitted into a physical showroom.  Higher level sales and conversion ratios Played means creating a more confident purchasing decision. AR or virtual tour customers are likely to buy since the option increases their chances of engaging with your brand.  Omnichannel Retail Management Solutions Synchronizing your virtual showroom with omnichannel retail management solutions makes it easy to have harmony between your online and physical outlets. Integrated retailing, as the name suggests, offers your customers a single experience when shopping online or physically.  How One Can Create a Virtual Showroom for a Furniture Store  It may seem a complex job to be able to create a virtual showroom, however, it is not a hard task once one is set.   Step 1: Choose the Right Platform  That is why to create a virtual showroom, you need a good e-commerce platform basis. That is why Magento store development is the best solution. It provides great freedom for designing multi-sensory experiences for the World Wide Web. The setup can be done by hiring a Magento development company or by hiring Magento developers.  Step 2: Collect High-Quality 3D Models and AR  Ensure that you hire a furniture store development company that has expertise in producing 3D function product models. Such models enable customers to have an impression of a 3D covering of the provided furniture. Augmented Reality in particular helps buyers to place furniture in their home virtually to have fewer difficulties when deciding.  Step 3: Optimize for Mobile  A study shows that mobile devices are the tools that are frequently used by over 50% of online shoppers. A mobile app development company will be able to help guarantee that your virtual showroom aligns with use on mobile devices. The reason this step is important is for the development of a streamlined experience that is device-independent during the user’s session.  Step 4: Engage with Omnichannel Solutions  To enhance the shopping experience you should employ omnichannel retail management solutions. This enables a customer to communicate with your store online as well as physically without feeling like he/she is not in touch with the store. For instance, consumers can begin their purchasing process on the web and finish it physically or the other way around.  Marketing Your Virtual Showroom  Once your virtual showroom is live, you need to market it effectively:  SEO Optimization Using search phrases such as virtual showroom for furniture store and e-commerce website development company links your virtual showroom pages to make it register high in search engines. This lets possible customers easily locate your site.  Social Media Promotion Broadcast virtual tours, 3D product views, or Augmented Reality demonstrations across other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook share. Graphics are effective on these sites, drawing more customers to a virtual shop.  Influencer Partnerships Engage with influencers who would be willing and able to present their experience of the virtual showroom. This brings social proof which makes the potential buyer develop trust in the particular product.  Case Studies: Success Stories of Virtual Showrooms  IKEA  IKEA is an international furniture retail chain store, which has implemented Augmented Reality (AR) in virtual mode of shopping. Using the IKEA Place app, consumers get to see how some pieces of furniture will fit in their houses. Customers can, virtually, place the furniture in their homes using the rear camera of their Smartphone, change size, color, and design, and even remove it.   Wayfair  Another leading furniture retailer, Wayfair also has a step up on this front with virtual showroom which is equipped with 3D models of furniture products and a virtual room planner. They use high tech to help their clients arrange furniture of choice in their simulated living spaces on their website. 3D models help to consider all perspectives of the product and potential ways it can look, even the details of texture and hue of the fabric we choose.   Potential Challenges and Solutions  Challenge 1: High Initial Investment  The main technologies needed for the development of a virtual showroom are Augmented Reality, 3D modeling, and integration with the information content such as Magento. There are certain initial expenses to incur, and they can be on the high side, especially for Small and Medium enterprises. However, such an approach can be used to control these costs since they are likely to build up over time. Another advantage is that companies do not have to create the entire virtual showroom all at once; they only need to implement a few key capabilities at first (e.g. 360-degree product views), and then add new features to the system as they go along.  Challenge 2: Adapting to New Technology  Although adopting these new systems is a step forward for virtual showrooms, some customers remain reluctant to accept AR or even virtual reality. It may be annoying or threatening to them. In light of this challenge, businesses need to come up with many examples or guidelines to show consumers how to go about using some of these features. Finger-friendly implementation is imperative, which is where having the ability to work with the right eCommerce app development company into play. Various features make the use of augmented reality seamless, this includes a button click activation or the ability to generate a product visualization aid.   Frequently Asked Questions  Q. What services does your company offer?  We specialize in a multiple services, including e-commerce website development, Magento store development, virtual showroom development for furniture stores, and omnichannel retail management solutions.   Q. Is it possible to integrate my online store with my physical store? Yes, our omnichannel retail management solutions is equipped to seamlessly integrate your physical and online stores. This helps with consistent inventory management, customer data synchronization, and more.   Q. Do you have website support after deployment? Yes, we offer comprehensive post-deployment support, consisting of website maintenance, security updates, and performance optimization.   Q. Can I hire Magento developers from your company? Yes, we have a robust and skilled team of dedicated Magento developers to work on diverse project. You can hire Magento developers on a full-time or part-time basis, depending on your project needs.  Wrapping Up  A virtual showr