Creation of an online store for Premium products | Zlatamebel
Task
To become the best brand in the premium segment of upholstered furniture on the Internet and increase offline sales - “Make it so that the site does not sell but makes you want to come and buy in the showroom.”
Solution
We exceeded the Client's expectations, not only increasing offline sales, but also being one of the first to sell a premium product online. Our specialists “packaged” the product and created the leading corporate website in Ukraine and the best in the CIS in the Premium segment of upholstered furniture, which embodied the Internet strategy in action and ensured synergy between online and offline - “when offline and online work as one.”
- Logo redesign with the creation of a new light corporate identity
- Unique website design, where every step of the user is thought out to the smallest detail and leads to a purchase
- Adaptive layout makes it easy to use on PCs and smartphones
- Programming functionality and increasing website speed simplify the choice of expensive upholstered furniture
- The know-how filtering solution once again proved the level of our team (this was considered impossible for the CMS used - OpenCart 2)
- Integration of third-party modules (IP telephony, CRM, email marketing, etc.) improved interaction with customers
- Maintaining high positions in search engines
- Creation of unique videos and articles for the website
- Continuous improvement of the project with the introduction of more effective solutions.
Website concept
Big ambitious goals - reaching a new level and leadership in the online niche - are not achieved with the same tools as simple ones. The brand appeared in a completely new light - the new website became light, modern and minimalistic. We used enough air and current design trends from Apple and other trend-setting companies, combining them with examples of the style of European brands that embody the owner’s vision.
1 Concept and Home Page
The new site should become an image-bearing one, conveying the spirit and European values of the brand. Therefore, the new style reflected in the Home page has reached a new level of brand positioning. It appeared in a new light - more European and modern, in order to compete in the perception of the target audience with European brands.
The Client's reaction to the design of the Main was short and informative - “This is the bomb!” We were able to convey the style and spirit of the brand that the Client wanted to convey, which is inherent in premium auto brands like Mercedes and Avilinia.
As a result of the main development, the main one contained only 4 blocks: a slider with image photos and main categories in order of their popularity, a short “About the company” block for getting to know the brand and its values, a block of popular SEO categories and styles, a capture block for designers with creative banner. Its brevity was a deliberate step, because... nothing distracted from the transition to choosing a product, so she perfectly solved her tasks - maximum conversion into further action.
2 Not just a Catalog
We made a stylish and modern catalogue. Simple at first glance, but quite technically progressive. The main feature was filtering for SEO. We were able to bypass the core of the engine (CMS) to implement the CNC URL operation at the intersection of filters, which was previously considered impossible for Opencart 2.
3 Card Product
Visual simplicity hides the thoughtfulness of the structure and implementation of usability elements for each user step.
The card greets the user with a wide-format slider convenient for displaying large products - modular sofas, which are a “best seller” (at that time), then the price “from” and the order button. Below are the necessary blocks of supporting information for making a purchasing decision: description, drawings with dimensions and characteristics, video layouts and reviews.
4 Popup requests
The laconic form to leave a request for a product had high usability, because contained a minimum of information to increase conversion into applications: model name, price “from”, name and phone number. It has become extremely effective in generating leads from the site, showing a significant increase in conversions and, as a result, an increase in sales.
An important aspect was that the form was called “Leave a request” and not “Place an order”, because the application does not oblige the potential client to purchase, which makes it easier to overcome this psychological barrier with a large check. Thus, we ensured maximum conversion into applications, and then the leads were processed by managers, because in this niche, consultation in most cases is an important element before purchasing.
Ultimately, we turned the minds of the Customer, who did not believe that it was possible to sell such an expensive product online.
5 Blog
A convenient blog not only for SEO, but also for content marketing, contained transitions to products in order to turn the audience’s request for the “long tail of SEO” into a solution and sales.
6 Contacts
This section was given an important role, since for the upholstered furniture niche, the presence of showrooms is critical for sales. Since a larger volume of sales is carried out through/with the inclusion of retail, and the company has one of the largest retail networks in Ukraine (which is an important competitive advantage), on the main page of Contacts they left the implementation of a detailed list of cities with an interactive Google map to show the scale of the company and its “marketing power” and increase brand credibility. After selecting a city, the user is taken to the city salon page, where he can select the most convenient salon location. The salon page contains more detailed information about the salon - a slider to make it easier for the user to find the salon in the shopping center, address and contacts, and the location of the salon on the map.
7 Designers page
Despite the fact that the page was made as a bonus based on a quickly drawn prototype based on the client’s content, it turned out to be very effective in attracting and stimulating designers to work with the company. Thanks also to this “packaging”, the client brought cooperation with designers to a new level of efficiency in the niche.
8 Other pages
Other information pages were implemented based on the functionality of standard information pages, which made it possible to start faster with an optimal budget, without designing all the unimportant pages, but focusing only on the main ones, where user actions related to conversion are performed.
9 Integration
Integration and configuration of modules (online chat, IP telephony with call tracking and call back widget, CRM, email marketing) increased the efficiency of interaction with customers.
10 Layout and adaptive
The site is adaptive and fluid. Adaptability ensures ease of use of the site and selection of products from any device - PC, tablets and even smartphones, as well as resolutions and browsers.
Technologies
Creation of a furniture website
Many private entrepreneurs involved in the sale of furniture are faced with the problem of declining sales. In most cases, there is only one panacea - developing a furniture website. Because as Bill Gates said, “If your business is not on the Internet, you don’t have a business.” It is necessary to understand that creating a furniture website is an opportunity to convey to the buyer information that cannot be conveyed offline. In addition, the development of a furniture website is primarily the prerogative of analysts, marketers and designers, and, last of all, programmers. The development of a furniture website should provide convenience to both the site owner and the store’s potential client.
Before you start creating a unique furniture website, you need to understand whether it is needed at all? Many conservative entrepreneurs do not want to change anything, rejecting the advantages of online stores. If you create a furniture website, a potential client can view the entire range in one place, filter furniture by specific categories, without tiring himself with long walks around the store. At the same time, an entrepreneur has the opportunity to save on renting premises for a store, hiring salespeople and other personnel.
Next, we’ll talk in more detail about how to create an effective furniture website.
Chasing everything at once is taboo
To create a corporate furniture website, you need to work out a plan, but it is typical that when approving a plan for individual development of a furniture website, the customer wants to cover all the products he has at once and add them to the site. He believes that this way sales will skyrocket. But this is a deep misconception. When developing a furniture website, first of all you need to add to the site the most suitable items for the client according to all criteria.
That is, the customer and the SWOT specialist determine what furniture will be in demand among the client (if this is not clear after offline sales). Creating a furniture website includes product promotion, writing unique content, setting up an advertising campaign, photo and video processing. After the first results of comprehensive promotion, you can gradually add new products, while simultaneously monitoring the conversion of those added at the beginning. This will allow you to maintain the rhythm of sales of one product - adding another, and will also allow you to quickly make adjustments to the operation of the site when creating a furniture website.
What is needed to create a corporate furniture website that generates income?
An important aspect is design. Furniture website development includes page design. If the customer believes that maximally filling the site with multi-colored elements and details will stimulate a potential buyer to make a purchase, then this is a complete misconception. You need to understand that the furniture itself is a unique thing and does not need additional color decoration. The main task is to create a catalog website in such a way as to attract the attention of the buyer. The use of “screaming” colors is not relevant; the creation of a unique online furniture store is accompanied by light and unobtrusive pastel colors in a minimalist style.
Convenient division into categories
Before ordering a corporate website, you need to think about creating a website directory. This will allow you to divide the furniture into categories, so even at the initial stage of creating a furniture website, the specialist creates a logical structure of the site catalog so that the visitor can easily and quickly find everything he needs. You can order a website catalog of different structures; furniture can be divided depending on the manufacturer, dimensions, material of manufacture, etc.
To create a corporate furniture website, you need to think about the right set of options. Creating a unique online furniture store also implies a set of many properties that a potential buyer can independently select. But the possibility of such a selection is provided for in advance. An important role is played by the button for ordering goods and return contacts displayed on the first page or placed in a visible place. In addition, so that a person adding a product to the cart clearly understands all its parameters, this must be indicated in the description.
Another fairly common mistake when creating a furniture website is that some customers are against placing types of fabrics and colors on the website. In order to replace this, a turnkey corporate website with links to the manufacturer’s website, where they can all be viewed. But the development of corporate websites with such options is negatively assessed by customers, since it makes it much more difficult for them to find information about a specific product, and moreover, the information may be presented in a truncated form. Also, the buyer needs all these parameters and features of specific furniture to indicate them when ordering. Such moments reduce conversion.
Therefore, when creating a furniture website, it is better to implement the option of choosing fabric and color. The selected color is transferred to the sofa so that it is approximately clear how the furniture will look in reality. Of course, this is not the easiest option, because creating a unique online furniture store with such options means creating the ability to repaint each sofa in a graphic editor and upload photos to the site. This process takes a lot of time, but a positive result is guaranteed.
Development of corporate websites with quality content
SWOT specialists will not ignore filling the site with quality content. If you order a corporate furniture website with unique and high-quality content, you can solve several problems at once. Firstly, store promotion occurs faster, and secondly, it makes it easier for the client to choose. A good technique when developing a furniture website is to take photos of all the furniture in the interior. Thus, if you create a corporate website for furniture correctly, then the buyer can immediately imagine how this or that item will look in the room and can roughly estimate its dimensions and features.
Before ordering a furniture catalog website, you need to consider the possibility of placing related products. It is believed that this is the most obvious way to increase the average check, but strangely enough, almost no online furniture store uses this technique. The main reason for not introducing such an option is the complex setup, since kits must be manually selected depending on the desired characteristics and features. But even if, when creating a furniture website, you come to the understanding that there will be a lot of products on it, then setting up this function will bear fruit. It all looks pretty simple. When buying, for example, a bed, there should be a recommendation for purchasing a mattress for it or a bedside table. If you are buying chairs and stools, then it would be ideal to recommend purchasing covers for them. Of course, covers are not furniture, but the ability to buy them right away will be a huge plus. A turnkey corporate website allows you to order website development from SWOT specialists, further optimization during the promotion process and technical support for the website. And, if necessary, even creating an online furniture store based on it, by adding a shopping cart, checkout and other required functionality.
Implementation of clear terms of delivery and return of goods in the online store
When developing an individual furniture website, the above section must be given due attention. Furniture delivery has a lot of features, the most important of which are:
- lack of a fixed price for such services;
- possibility of lifting to a specific apartment with further installation;
- possibility of returning furniture.
Thus, delivery conditions must be clearly described on the website so that the client does not face any surprises later. You can solve this issue simply, as most domestic online furniture stores do - they simply include the cost of delivery in the initial cost of the product, and thus the client does not have to worry about this item. Setting up interaction with delivery services is an important aspect. This greatly simplifies the process of placing and processing an order. Individual development of a furniture website is different in that delivery options are also worked out for each specific case, and additional services are connected.
For example, SWOT specialists will help you set up such integration with the delivery service that the latter can immediately generate an invoice without wasting time. Accordingly, if delivery is carried out not by the store itself, but through a delivery service (i.e. the cost of delivery itself is set by Nova Poshta or another company, and is not included in the price of the goods), the cost of such a service is immediately assessed and the online store manager immediately has ability to track this on the website.
Creation of a furniture website and introduction of installment and loan options
Before creating a furniture website, you need to understand that not all people can pay for goods in one payment. In this regard, buying furniture on credit is becoming increasingly popular. To win over customers, you need to write down clear terms and conditions for providing a loan or installment plan on your website. In addition, a huge advantage when developing corporate furniture websites is the integration of services for paying for purchased goods online. LIQPAY, WAYFORPAY, Portmone are optimal services; their presence on the website of an online furniture store will make it more popular.
Showroom as a new sales tool
Not all people can appreciate online shopping, especially when it comes to choosing furniture. Of course, the optimal condition for high sales is the presence of an offline and online store, but if there are problems with the first one regarding the high cost of rent, then you can set up a showroom. The main advantage is that it does not have to be located in the city center. You can arrange it somewhere between the courtyards. The advantage is that the room does not have to be very large, and you can display the most popular products there. Creating a furniture website supported by the presence of a showroom can bring very good results.
Creation of an online furniture store on a turnkey basis
It is necessary to highlight 4 main points on which the process of creating a unique furniture website will be built:
- Creating a furniture website starts with analytics and strategy development. To make a high-quality working project, you need to define a clear vector of movement. Analytics makes it possible to evaluate competitors, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and study the target audience and its needs. As a result, the data obtained allows us to begin developing a strategy. In this way, a permanent concept, specific tasks and methods for implementing the project are formed.
- A SWOT graphic designer, in the process of developing a furniture website, creates elements for it and completely draws it. The selection of the right colors, shapes, fonts - everything is up to him. Also, development of element sizes. Using a website is the most important element, and a graphic designer pays maximum attention to this. To create an attractive corporate website, you must initially make it clear, interesting, simple, but at the same time do not forget about style. SWOT professionals create a turnkey corporate website, so special attention is paid to design.
- The prototype allows you to see what the site will ultimately look like. The prototype includes all the technical features of the site, the colors used to create it, the buttons displayed, etc. In essence, the development of a furniture website consists of creating a diagram in which all the nuances are recorded. Special programs are used for this. After the prototype is approved, a technical specification is created, then technical specialists are connected, who, following the assignment, make the site operational.
- Website development and launch. The creation of a furniture website ends after the programmers finish writing the code. But before the site is launched, it is tested, since there is a high risk that bugs will be discovered during the first test. As often happens, you need to create a corporate website for furniture in a short time, and this can leave its mark on the quality of the work.
Creating a turnkey online store is possible only with the help of specialists, who are SWOT employees. We will help you create a corporate furniture website that will harmoniously complement the offline store, generate consistently high income, and customers will enjoy the quality of the online store and be happy to make purchases there.
Also, each time we use individual furniture website development, that is, our specialists develop a promotion strategy for each specific furniture website.