[New report] Top 100 U.S. furniture retailers: E-commerce merchandising

abc carpet & home: An online and in-store solution for buyers

Learn how abc carpet & home is utilizing Cylindo assets to improve both the online and in-store customer experience for their customizable product offerings

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Summary

abc carpet & home, a rug, furniture, and homewares brand based in New York City, needed a way to showcase its exclusive configurable Cobble Hill furniture collection. Teaming up with Cylindo allowed abc to achieve consistency across its product pages, providing shoppers with confidence in their purchases. This, combined with other on-site improvements, saw abc increase year-on-year sales and enjoy a decrease in returns.

The challenge

abc carpet & home has been bringing magic to homes since 1897. Its products range from globally sourced rugs and carpets and luxe homewares to its customizable Cobble Hill furniture line, befitting the most discerning shopper.

Given that customers were making big-ticket purchases, abc wanted to ensure they were offering shoppers as much reassurance in their choices as possible. "In general, selling furniture online, especially upholstery, is challenging," explained Suki LaBarre, Vice President, Merchandising & E-commerce. “It is hard to give the customer confidence to make such a big and important purchase with only a few pictures.”

In addition, abc faced the added difficulty of its Cobble Hill range being so expansive and customizable, offering 20 different frames and 40 different fabrics. The brand struggled to display the vast number of permutations with consistent, high-quality imagery and needed a fix for this.

After Cylindo was recommended as a potential solution, abc reached out and work started on creating high-quality, future-proofed imagery for the Cobble Hill line.

Utilizing Cylindo's 360 spin functionality gave our customer more visibility into all the details of the furniture and ultimately more confidence to purchase

Suki LaBarre, Vice President, Merchandising & E-Commerce, abc carpet & home

The solution

abc needed a scalable way to visualize its configurable furniture line. This would allow customers to get a realistic look at their choices no matter what frame and fabric they chose and know exactly what they would be receiving before making an order.

Here are some of the things Cylindo has done to help abc solve its initial problem (and beyond).

1. Configuring items with Cylindo Viewer

abc uses the Cylindo Viewer to show shoppers the full extent of its configurable Cobble Hill furniture line.

On each product display page, shoppers are easily guided through the configuration process step-by-step, which includes choosing fabric and even picking leg finishes for some items. The configured product shown to the shopper is the same as what they will receive, and they can use the 360-degree spin functionality to check how it looks from all angles, zooming to see the details of the material in 4K.

The ability to inspect configured items before buying has been vital in boosting customer satisfaction.

Hannah Two Seat Sofa

Size

Leg Finish

Upholstery

360 views of configured furniture

Customers can see realistic samples of custom pieces

Zoom in on the material

Minimize returns by ensuring customers get exactly what they want

2. Replacing traditional product photography

abc has optimized processes and enhanced efficiency by replacing traditional product photography with photorealistic 3D renderings. “The time and resources saved rendering vs photographing is meaningful,” said LaBarre.

For example, suppose abc has a new fabric to add to the Cobble Hill range. In that case, it can be added quickly and efficiently as Cylindo already has the 3D model, so it only needs to add the new fabric as a configuration option.

3. Helping with in-store purchases

Implementing Cylindo assets online has also directly impacted the experience for in-store abc customers. Shoppers can still see and test furniture in person, but now, sales associates can also show them a visual of the piece in different fabrics or with different finishings.

4. Cylindo in marketing efforts

abc has utilized Cylindo assets beyond product detail and landing pages, using them in various marketing activities and campaigns.
By leveraging the 3D assets, abc has used the imagery across its website, in email newsletters and campaigns, and on social media.

The online assortment now acts as a digital catalog in-store, assisting with custom sales between an associate and client. It helps visualize the end result rather than just referencing physical swatches

Suki LaBarre, Vice President, Merchandising & E-Commerce, abc carpet & home

Ever since partnering with Cylindo, abc carpet & home has:

Improved customer engagement on the website

33% increase in year-over-year sales for the Cobble Hill line

2% decrease in returns for the Cobble Hill collection

Replacing traditional product photography with photorealistic 3D renderings

The results

After working with Cylindo to visualize their Cobble Hill collection, abc carpet & home has enjoyed offering online and in-store customers an empowering, reassuring shopping experience.

abc's partnership with Cylindo was part of a broader strategy to improve conversion. They also implemented fabric swatch ordering for customers and increased the available options for furniture configurations in the collection, among other improvements. These combined efforts led to abc achieving an impressive 33% increase in year-over-year sales for the Cobble Hill line. Anecdotally, abc also shared that they now field fewer customer questions about fabric and configurations.

abc boosted buyer confidence, with in-store and online customers getting a more comprehensive look at their desired furniture configuration before it arrives— and a 2% decrease in returns for the Cobble Hill collection reflected this.

With Cylindo and other conversion optimization changes in place, abc is now well-positioned to enjoy the fruits of its labor, giving customers confidence through an all-encompassing shopping experience.

Cylindo is grateful for the partnership and looks forward to supporting abc carpet & home as both sides continue to work on offering their customers the best experience possible.

About abc carpet & home

abc carpet & home is an iconic luxury home design destination in New York City. In addition to its exclusive Cobble Hill furniture line, abc sources unique, high-end rugs and curates a selection of luxe, artisan decor and furniture pieces chosen to inspire its discerning customers.