Bridging Design & Digital for Seamless Consumer Experiences in Furniture Industry

Matthew Sng, Managing Director at Coohom, holds a pivotal role over- seeing the Asia Pacific division. Within this capacity, Matthew leads operations across Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam, managing a network of dealers and retail resellers in these regions.

His respon- sibilities encompass spearheading the software's market expansion, focusing on sales strategies and ensuring seamless service delivery as an integral aspect of the operational framework.

Staying Abreast of Changing Market Dynamics

The Southeast Asian furniture industry is changing as consumers shift to online platforms. While many smaller businesses stick to physical stores, major players like IKEA are expanding online. This move responds to a tech-savvy younger demographic increasingly using smartphones and tablets for shopping. Also, people want tools to preview furniture digitally before buying, making digital visualization crucial for sales. This trend reflects a desire for visually pleasing spaces and is rapidly growing across Southeast Asia.

Furthermore, enhancing the consumer experience through digital means has become crucial, wherein, visualizing furniture designs in a digital format has emerged as a pivotal component for successful sales strategies. The trend toward digital visualization aligns with human tendencies to appreciate aesthetics and aspire for visually appealing surroundings. Consequently, more consumers are seeking the capability to preview and assess furniture digitally before committing to purchases. This trend is rapidly gaining momentum across the entire Southeast Asia region.

Also, augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) have revolutionized furniture shopping, transforming sales strategies on mobile apps and websites. These immersive technologies enable users to visualize furniture in their homes before buying. Through mobile apps and website features, AR and VR let users place virtual furniture in their space using smartphone or tablet cameras. This offers a realistic preview, aiding decision-making. VR allows exploring 360-degree settings and interactive environments, providing a firsthand feel of design options.

So to say, the companies adopting these technologies aim to ensure "what you see is what you get." This reduces ambiguity for consumers, boosting confidence in purchasing decisions. AR and VR integration streamlines the sales cycle, making transactions smoother as consumers no longer rely solely on imagination to understand their potential purchases.

Leveraging Data as Fuel

Today, companies rely on data analytics to understand customer preferences and enhance marketing strategies. With this, platforms should facilitate data collection from web pages, especially SEO-related data, empowering businesses without accessing their data directly. This accumulated data fuels in-depth analytics, revealing consumer behavior insights. Businesses leverage these insights to refine designs, identify top-selling products, optimize placement, and understand consumer engagement preferences. In addition, analyzing data also uncovers emerging trends, providing foresight into evolving consumer tastes.

This analytical approach profoundly impacts the sales cycle. Leveraging these insights enables tailored marketing efforts, ensuring products resonate with customer preferences. Precise targeting strengthens connections between products and consumers, fostering more effective marketing endeavors.

The advent of digital marketing has not only impacted promotional strategies but has revolutionized the entire landscape of the furniture industry. It has ushered in a wave of efficiency and transformed various facets beyond marketing, encompassing design, planning, and customer engagement. This digital shift has brought about significant positive changes, notably streamlining processes and mitigating drawbacks associated with traditional methods, such as relying solely on imagination to envision furniture within spaces.

Moreover, businesses adopting digital platforms find themselves operating with enhanced efficiency. They report a reduction in lead times from engaging a customer to finalizing a sale and delivering the product from manufacturing sites. This newfound efficiency stands out as a crucial competitive edge in an industry where time-to-market and customer satisfaction play pivotal roles.

Consequently, the competitive landscape has evolved, prompting a widespread adoption of digital strategies across the furniture industry. From manufacturers to designers and retailers, there's a notable trend toward embracing digital tools and platforms. The urgency to adapt arises from the realization that those who fail to embrace these digital transformations risk losing market share to competitors who are agile in embracing the digital shift. As a result, the industry as a whole is experiencing a significant transformation propelled by the need to meet evolving consumer expectations and maintain competitiveness in the market.

"Augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) have revolutionized furniture shopping, transforming sales strategies on mobile apps and websites"

A Robust Roadmap

If we look at Southeast Asia's furniture industry, embracing digital tools has been significantly fueling substantial growth opportunities in marketing and sales. Here, digital platforms also enable comprehensive consumer data collection, including preferences and behaviors. This data empowers businesses to refine marketing strategies for specific market segments, ensuring more precise engagement. Accumulating such data offers a competitive edge, aiding informed decision-making and resonating deeply with customers. Hence, traditional furniture companies must aim to evolve by merging design, manufacturing, and digital marketing, particularly in  antique furniture and decor; exploring innovative technologies to enhance their digital presence and fortify their market position in this evolving landscape.