From manual to digital
Kvadrat caters to several segments, including architects, retailers and individuals. The new solution is designed primarily for Kvadrat's retailers, which includes home furnishing stores such as Paustian and Illum's Home, as well as smaller furniture upholsterers and curtain retailers. Until now, ordering has been done through manual processes such as telephone and email. Thus, there was a great potential in launching not just an e-commerce solution, but a digital service platform that gives customers easy access to knowledge of products and makes it easy to place orders and order samples. The platform is a powerful tool that provides the retailers with the necessary knowledge and strengthens the customer dialogue.
E-commerce, knowledge and inspiration
With the new digital channel, Kvadrat's retailers have gained an inspiring and easily accessible overview of the product range as well as the necessary technical insight into materials, dimensions, specifications and certificates. This information is used especially in connection with procurement respones, etc. B2C customers can browse the catalog and be inspired by the latest collections, while B2B customers, after login, have access to e-commerce and self-service with customer-specific assortments and prices.
Kvadrat's range covers furniture upholstery, rugs and curtains, but there is a big difference between what information and specifications should be available, as well as how to order the different fabrics (in meter sizes, specialized dimensions or in pieces). It places great demands on the solution and the product display, which varies by product type and ordering method.
Christian Baum Blaakær
Head of Digital Business at Kvadrat
Visualization of textiles
A number of Kvadrat's products are best presented by being visualized before purchase. For example, a furniture fabric looks different on a furniture than if you see a close-up of the fabric. It can also be difficult to imagine a curtain based on a description of the individual parts (suspension, color, textile type). The new e-commerce solution is therefore given a visualization tool that allows you to configure and view the textiles on sofas, curtains and rugs in different virtual environments.
In this way, the retailer will to a greater extent be able to inspire and help the end consumer find the right textile. Kvadrat's product images are also presented in the highest quality and 3D.
Personalization and relevant services
Kvadrat has a number of sales representatives, but it is of course a somewhat near impossible task to reach all 6000 retailers with the latest collections, samples and catalogs. The new webshop is therefore also regarded as the "digital sales representative" who presents the retailers with new product, extends their knowledge of the product portfolio, offers alternatives to known products and provides detailed information on specific products.
The solution, centered around Optimizely, adapts to each customer by highlighting relevant news and products, depending on who the customer is, his previous purchases, shopping behavior and bonus program.
All product information gathered in one place
Kvadrat relies on providing good, accurate and complete product information with texts, images and data files so that customers can be told the desired details about the products. As a result, they have implemented the Product Information Management system inRiver, which structures all product information in one place and ensures that updates are automatically transferred to the webshop in all languages.
The PIM system not only streamlines the process of product data internally at Kvadrat, but also ensures that customers always have access to enriching and detailed product views at the shop.
Christian Baum Blaakær
Head of Digital Business at Kvadrat
A strong foundation
The Optimizely platform provides Kvadrat with a strong foundation to scale the business to new markets and thus strengthen their leadership position. The solution has just been launched in Denmark, while Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Italy and Japan will follow in 2018 and onwards. In addition, the solution is responsive so it performs optimally on desktop and mobile devices.
In addition to raising customer loyalty and sales, the solution helps streamline the entire sales process from manufacturer through retailer to end consumer. The solution thus optimizes a previous manual sales process and reaps significant efficiency gains.
Vertica has been at the forefront of the development and implementation of the solution, while Magnetix has provided the graphic design.
