While most online consumers prefer to shop on their own, they tend to visit websites that are simple and easy to navigate. Shoppers also want answers to their questions and they want to interact with knowledgeable employees if they do need assistance, according to TimeTrade’s 2018 Buyer Experience Survey.

A home furnishings website with interactive technology that acts like a personal shopping assistant keeps track of a shopper’s preferences, shows them the next best steps to take, and provides prompt customer service in real time. In fact, the TimeTrade.com survey found that 94 percent of buyers agreed they tend to buy more from a company when they have live interactions with a knowledgeable employee.

Actual Furniture Shoppers Use Online Guided Shopping

A focus group of home furnishings shoppers who tried the PERQ online guided shopping solution on a company’s website found it easy and helpful to find the items they wanted, and to get their questions answered. One shopper said: “The shopping tool allows you to personalize your experience on the website and allows you to save some of the information that you like, along with your own profile information. It saves you time and assists you during the browsing experience.”

What’s the bottom line? Home furnishings retailers need to stay on top of digital trends that personally assist shoppers in their search to remain relevant in today’s market, says Jason Pires, CEO of Furniture Branding, a California home furnishings marketing agency. Slapping an inventory list or static brochure on your website does nothing to personalize or narrow the choices for a potential customer.

“The technology is allowing you to give a much more personalized experience on a much larger scale,” Pires says, thereby reaching more customers with more products. “Technology allows you to focus on the quality of the products you choose, and it allows you to focus on a tailored experience when you are one-on-one with a client.”