Furniture Village has opened a virtual store, allowing shoppers to browse with optional support live from the shop floor, via phone, LiveChat or video call.
Using Matterport technology, the chain has mapped the inside of its Guildford branch, allowing customers to ‘walk’ around the store and look at products. Clicking on the product opens another web page showing with all details, options, lead times and prices.
Our 54 stores may be closed but our Virtual Village is well and truly open for business. We’re the first independent furniture retailer to embrace experiential retail at scale and I’m delighted by how seamless it is. Virtual Village brings the discovery and excitement of in-store shopping to the digital environment. It’s great to be on the front foot with new technologies that genuinely engage customers and help with the decision-making process,’ says Peter Harrison, Furniture Village ceo. ‘
It’s with real agility that we’ve brought Virtual Village to life. It’s wonderful to see our business thinking and behaving in such a multi-channel way. I’m particularly proud of how quickly our retail teams have pivoted to online – jumping on to LiveChats, hosting video appointments and really embracing an online-first mindset,’ says Charlie Harrison, Furniture Village commercial director.
