Introducing Essentials: furniture e-commerce for today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities

The future of furniture retail is promising as we anticipate a massive transformation in home ownership over the next five years. At the same time, current economic uncertainty has created significant challenges for retailers who are not fully leveraging omnichannel sales and marketing strategies. If you’re lagging in in-store merchandising or digital outreach, your business may not be able to capture sales in today’s environment or reap the benefits that are coming. Legacy furniture platforms may provide familiarity, but is your website really helping your business retain market share and increase store traffic? Will it be there for you in the future?

With this in mind, Blueport, the leading e-commerce platform for enterprise furniture, is proud to announce the launch of its newest e-commerce solution: Essentials.

Essentials redefines and simplifies growth for non-top 100 furniture retailers with dozens of native and customizable furniture-specific features and tools – and you’ll be able to add even more as your business grows.

Here’s what else sets Essentials apart from other furniture e-commerce platforms:

Supplier catalogues they form the basis of your website content. Products displayed on your site must represent the full range of your product range and provide buyers with comprehensive written and visual information about each product, including technical details, measurements, options, availability and pricing.

Built in partnership with Salsify, a leading PIM solution, Blueport’s blue ribbon solution for manufacturer catalogs not only provides accurate, up-to-date and robust product data, but also allows you to customize your data with your own images, descriptions and prices. Products are synchronized with your existing ERP system to ensure uniformity of information across all technology stacks. Enabling customers to view the full range of products online, either in stock or on order, is a major factor influencing their decision to visit your store.

Blueport’s AI-powered search provides personalized product recommendations using machine learning algorithms based on how visitors shop, automatically improving catalog navigation and product discovery.

Every time they click and enter a query, users indicate which products they want to see. Powered by leading search provider Unbxd, Blueport AI’s product recommendations optimize searches in real-time by learning from every shopper action. Searches are optimized based on the product page shoppers are clicking on, the product categories they’re viewing, related products they’re interested in, and even the filters and sorting options they choose. Machine learning derived from each customer’s unique shopping journey allows our AI-powered recommendation engine to optimize product discovery and present the right product to shoppers every time.

An omnichannel approach focuses Essentials on the main goal of a furniture website – store traffic. By easily integrating online and offline experiences, Essentials enables furniture retailers to launch a dynamic presence across multiple channels, encouraging customers to visit physical locations.

Essentials offers real-time product availability features, presenting location-specific content, highlighting products that can be seen in local stores and that are available for delivery in the buyer’s region. This synchronization between online and physical stores increases shopper confidence, foot traffic to physical stores, and in-store conversion rates.

Optimized e-commerce ensures you’re prepared for the growing number of customers ready to shop online. Out of the box, Essentials is an optimized website built specifically for furniture retailing. This tailored approach ensures that every aspect of the website meets the unique needs, preferences and requirements of furniture companies.

This includes features that make e-commerce furniture shopping easier for buyers and profitable for retailers. With native checkout options like coupons, financing, protection plans, delivery schedules, alternative shipping methods and more, Essentials ensures your e-commerce orders are placed just like they are in your stores and fulfilled just as efficiently .

See more Blueport features here.

Get started with Blueport Essentials

Whether you’re a boutique furniture retailer or a growing retail chain, Blueport Essentials adapts to your business. With flexible features and add-ons, you can tailor the platform to your specific needs and budget, ensuring you have a right-sized solution today and continuous growth in the future.

Learn more about how Blueport Essentials can help you improve your online presence, delight customers and increase revenue.