Moving Furniture Business Online with B2B eCommerce

Opportunities in Online B2B Furniture Sales

As the Global Market Insights report indicates, the upswing of the furniture market is grounded on increasing residential and commercial infrastructure investment and booming construction markets globally. Rising prosperity and levels of disposable income in developed nations will lead to an increasing number of restaurants, resorts, hotels, and shopping malls. New technology, design, and materials encourage faster innovation cycles among manufacturers, with extra gains for smart furniture and luxury furniture sellers.

All this growing demand is propelling the B2B furniture industry and eCommerce market. With up to 90% of shoppers researching furniture online before purchase, your eCommerce website may have the largest impact on your business development in the upcoming years.

Major Trends Shaping the Furniture eCommerce Market

Let us take a closer at 8 major trends that are shaping the B2B furniture wholesale and retail markets now and will continue to exert significant influence in the coming years.

Millennial buyers

Starting in 2014, there began a significant shift in customer behavior driven by the entrance of the millennial buyer. Millennials represent 37% of the consumer furniture and bedding market and are known to represent an astounding 46% share of all B2B buyers. And while Baby Boomers continue to represent the largest percentage of dollars spent in the furniture market, millennials make up the largest percentage of buyers in the market. Millennials are also technology-savvy buyers. They rely heavily on web searches for alternatives to the items they see in physical stores. Before making a purchase, they use the web to find product reviews and make brand comparisons.

RTA design

Ready-to-Assemble (RTA) furniture has been around since the mid-1800s but has recently become a popular alternative to assembled furniture. As quality increases and global brands like Ikea gain recognition, buyers are flocking to RTA furniture. That’s good news for furniture manufacturers. The production process cost less, is simplified, and shipping is easier. Retailers require less warehouse space to store the same amount of inventory. RTA furniture can be a great opportunity to start your furniture eCommerce business or, in the case with manufacturers, sell direct to consumers online.

Office furniture and luxury furnishings

Versatile home office furniture and high-end furnishings are other segments that demonstrate steadily increasing consumer demand. For example, global home office furniture purchases had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 6% between 2014 and 2019. The luxury vertical is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 4% in the coming years. B2B furniture companies that are considering product expansion should explore these lines.

Ergonomic design and eco-friendly materials

Reusable, eco-friendly furniture is in high demand from dedicated environmentalists and conventional buyers alike. By taking a ‘green’ approach to furniture manufacturing and using recyclable materials, furniture makers fill the consumer need for sustainable living. Businesses are looking to acquire ergonomic pieces too, as ‘green’ trend is often used to make their employer brand more appealing.

Mobile-friendly eCommerce experience

Nowadays a majority of buyers search for products from their mobile phone, they expect a mobile-friendly user experience online, and so it’s typical for them to buy using their device. Whether you’re developing your custom eCommerce website or use a vendor’s platform, make sure it has all it takes to enable smooth mCommerce journey for your B2C as well as B2B customers.

B2B eCommerce for commercial and wholesale buyers

Commercial deals account for about 30% of the overall sales in the furniture sector. B2B buyers buy in bulk, negotiate prices, have a different decision-making process, and require a rather different eCommerce webstore than their B2C counterparts. B2B eCommerce is also essential for furniture manufacturers, who typically sell to wholesale distributors and large organizations. Addressing B2B customers’ needs is a strong success point for entering this booming eCommerce segment and targeting big buyers right away.

Try before you buy and AR

Try before you buy and AR are set to revolutionize the furniture industry. By using advanced AR-enabled mobile apps, buyers can see how a piece of furniture looks in their space. For less demanding investment, some furniture webstores already provide some online configuration features that allow buyers to change color, try out different room backgrounds, and compare different product models.

Moving furniture business online

Furniture has been traditionally sold from physical stores with expansive showrooms. That’s not necessarily the model for the future. Millennial buyers prefer to buy from a retailer that allows them to shop online from the comfort of home. Some furniture stores were early adopters but didn’t fully understand the model. Just a few years ago 88% of furniture stores had a website, but only 30% were actually selling online. These days, an effective online presence must fully digitize commerce, not just act as an online display. Furniture businesses should consider an eCommerce or B2B marketplace solution in order to be not left behind the competition.

Furniture Industry eCommerce Transformation: Putting the Pieces Together

To be successful in eCommerce, you must not only give modern buyers the products they want, but you must also first offer the shopping experience they want. A B2B furniture website that simply represents your brand and displays product catalogs is no longer enough.

Customers need to be able to search and view your product range online and place orders without leaving the discomfort of the couch they are replacing. If they are business buyers, they also need personalized pricing, quote management, and recommendations based on their historical data.

At the same time, considering your business backend, you need an eCommerce solution that integrates well with your ERP and other third-party applications for everything to operate in sync.

That’s why it is important to consider your eCommerce transformation as a combination of several factors.

Digitizing for sales

eCommerce websites are perfect for viewing, configuring, and buying furniture products. It is so much more cost-effective than maintaining physical stores and buyers get the self-serve experience they are already accustomed to on the Internet. A digital store offers the buying experience that today’s consumers demand.

But to be truly effective, this online sales channel should also deploy technologies that facilitate and streamline the selling processes while gathering insightful, aggregated customer data. Whether you are a B2B or a B2C seller, an eCommerce platform integrated with a CRM is your game-changing tool if you want to be an industry trend-sensitive company. Integrating both business applications allows you to start selling quickly for fast ROI while having a clear insight into your buyer’s behaviors.

Digitizing for operations

Furniture manufacturing and supply can be complex. Not only must you maintain customer relationships, but to take care of vendor relationships, too. The integration between your ERP and eCommerce systems is essential to streamline operations. It allows planning furniture production with minimum delays, controlling of the manufacturing floor and back-office operations, as well as managing inventory and logistics.

How to Increase Sales with B2B eCommerce

Below are seven tips to boosting sales in the furniture business with B2B eCommerce:

1. Develop a user-friendly website: A user-friendly website is key to increasing sales in the furniture industry. Your website should be easy to navigate, have clear product descriptions, and high-quality images.

2. Offer personalized experiences: Personalization is essential in B2B eCommerce. You can offer personalized experiences to your customers by providing them with customized product recommendations, personalized pricing, and tailored promotions.

3. Provide detailed product information such as materials, dimensions, and care instructions. This helps customers make informed decisions and reduces the likelihood of returns.

4. Offer competitive pricing: Pricing is a critical factor in B2B eCommerce. Offer competitive pricing that is aligned with industry standards to attract and retain customers.

5. Provide exceptional customer service: Exceptional customer service is essential in the furniture industry. Respond to customer inquiries promptly, offer after-sales support, and ensure that your customers are satisfied with their purchases.

6. Use social media: Social media can be a powerful tool for reaching potential customers. Use social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter to connect with potential customers and showcase your products.

7. Leverage analytics: Leverage analytics to track customer behavior and identify trends. Use this information to optimize your website and marketing strategies to increase sales.

Picking a Furniture B2B eCommerce Partner

An eCommerce solution becomes a major sales enabler for every business, especially in the furniture industry. It is an investment in growing your business. So, selecting an eCommerce platform should be done diligently.

Important factors to consider are the ability to support B2B eCommerce for wholesalers and commercial buyers, the total cost of ownership of the partner’s solution, available support, the partner’s technology ecosystem, flexibility, and scalability. It’s not a decision to be made lightly.

Here at OroCommerce, we are proud to have been named among the top B2B eCommerce platforms by Gartner, IDC, and Frost & Sullivan as we strive to offer our customers the most comprehensive stack of features and extensions to choose from for their eCommerce website.