Century Furniture has partnered with Intiaro, a leader in 3D visualization technology, to launch one of the most advanced product visualizers and configurators on the market today.
Intiaro’s 360 Advanced Configurator debuted at the recent April High Point Market with Century’s Cornerstone upholstery program, the core of the manufacturer’s upholstery business. The tool simplifies the process of configuring and visualizing highly customizable furniture such as the Cornerstone series. It also significantly reduces errors in ordering, improves return rates, and makes RSA product training quicker and easier.
“Intiaro’s visualizer solution helps keep Century at the forefront of product visualization for our best-selling upholstery program,” says Guy Holbrook, Century Furniture executive vice president of sales and marketing. “Our partners – retailers and interior designers – and their customers need robust tools to help make complex products more easily understandable. It also helps us train and tether our partners and their customers to our brand. It makes us ‘sticky,’ and that’s powerful.”
The tool offers high-quality models and photorealistic visualization that elevate the customer experience, says Michal Stachowski, Intiaro chief visual officer. It allows every option of any highly customizable program to be selected and previewed by all parties – the manufacturer, interior designer or retailer, and the end-consumer.
“Prior to Intiaro, we relied on catalogs and tear sheets to try and convey the options sets. Intiaro provides an interactive, engaging and intuitive solution,” says Comer Wear, vice president of marketing for Century Furniture.
The tool includes a price configurator feature, enabling a faster, smoother process to order and close the sale with higher level of accuracy and overall satisfaction. It can also produce a high-quality rendering of the furniture for the consumer to take home, which is a strong way to reinforce the sale once they leave the store, said Stachowski.
Now live on the Century website, the tool will soon be available to more than 150 retailers.
Holbrook said the Intiaro visualizer is easy to use for its sales force that includes a broad range of technology skills. Intiaro provides dedicated training to ensure that appropriate materials are developed for a successful launch of the technology.
“The successful launch of the Cornerstone visualizer and configurator is the result of almost two years of commitment and dedicated collaboration with Century’s teams in product development, web development, and sales and marketing,” said Stachowski. “The project of this magnitude is not something you can turnaround in a few months. As an innovative leader, Century recognizes that and has planned for success, along with a growing number of high-end companies that are using 3D configurators to move ahead of their competition.”
Industry leaders such as Ethan Allen, Lexington Home Brands, Century, Norwalk, Rowe and Kravet, Durham and Paul Robert are among those that have invested in Intiaro’s technology. As a result, they have been able to increase sales through partners integrating the 3D technology, reduce return rates, replace traditional photography, and enhance the customer experience online and in-store.
