PERQ To Offer High Point Seminar On Creating Personalized Website Experiences

Furniture World News Desk on 4/19/2017

Personalized website experiences are driving more consumers into furniture showrooms, according to a case study from PERQ, a leading technology marketing provider. Although online shopping is on the rise, when it comes to furniture, consumers still prefer showrooms to be an integral part of their shopping experience; however, furniture retailer websites – which are the first touch point for customers – are failing to attract and engage consumers during their initial online research, and may ultimately lose them to competitors or pure-play online retailers.

Next week, PERQ, who are experts in online consumer engagement and behavior, will present a roadmap for better consumer engagement in a seminar entitled “5 Ways to Drive In-Store Sales From Your Website” during High Point Market. In conjunction with the seminar, PERQ will release an eBook, ENGAGE: Turn Website Traffic into In-Store Sales, which can help furniture retailers achieve more online success.

“As rumors of a bricks-and-mortar Amazon.com showroom and the already existing One Kings Lane showrooms prove, people want to see, touch and feel the furniture they bring into their home,” said Scott Hill, PERQ’s co-founder who will be presenting the seminar. “But it is also true that the majority of consumers are going online first for all their shopping experiences, from furniture to cars, which is why it is imperative that furniture retailers begin creating relevant interactions with consumers on their websites during the crucial online research phase. We can help retailers understand how to do this.”

Seventy percent of buyers are shopping online to research their purchases and the average furniture shopper has cut back their showroom visits from 5 to 6 per Saturday morning to just 1.8. According to Hill, retailers who implement PERQ technology to ‘virtually’ guide their websites into having relevant, real-time interactions with visitors are experiencing a 1,000% uplift in web engagement. For example, if a customer is looking for a sofa, the website will engage with her/him about sofa preferences and/or special offers on sofas versus randomly offering up a mattress deal, while also asking the customer questions to gain greater understanding into his/her needs.

“Creating a successful website is not a mystery – it’s as simple as replicating your successful showroom tactics online. In store, you interact with customers – answering questions and engaging them a little deeper to keep them moving down the buying funnel – your website can do the same,” says Hill. “Interaction helps customers feel more comfortable and ask more questions – if you just give them a static web form, you are driving consumers are away from your website.”

In fact, the average website visitor leaves a website within 45 seconds of filling out a “request more info” form, compared to 13% of engaged furniture website visitors who submitted interactive web forms and converted into actual showroom sales in the PERQ case study.

FATWIN creates interactive, fun experiences that are relevant and dynamic - changing the information/message based on each website visitor’s specific behavior - keeping them engaged with the website and in control of their journey, all of which leads to greater customer satisfaction and the greater likelihood that they visit the showroom.

Hill’s High Point Market seminar - “5 Ways to Drive In-Store Sales From Your Website” takes place (April 24, 1:00-2:00pm) in the HFA Retailer Resource Center. The seminar will outline examples of experiences that can be easily added to a website to increase engagement, including quizzes and assessments; calculators; scratch-off reveals and interactive videos.

In addition, Hill has authored a book to help furniture retailers achieve more online success - ENGAGE: Turn Website Traffic into In-Store Sales - which can be downloaded as an eBook. For a demonstration of PERQ’s FATWIN Web Engagement, visit the company’s booth #10 during High Point Market in the Retailer Resource Center.

About PERQ: PERQ (www.perq.com), a marketing technology provider, boosts website conversions by creating and delivering interactive experiences to the right consumers at the right time. Founded in 2001, PERQ solutions today are used by more than 1,000 businesses across the United States. PERQ’s brands have been named to the Inc. “500 Fastest Growing Companies in America” list on three separate occasions.