NEW YORK — Non-transactional furniture shopping website Furniture.com unveiled its plans to transform the U.S. furniture industry by tackling frustrations and inefficiencies felt by shoppers and retailers.
According to Statista, the U.S. furniture market’s revenues were expected to reach $264 billion in 2024, even as the process of purchasing remains fragmented and complicated. Furniture.com leaders say consumers are overwhelmed by endless choices and struggle to visualize how items will fit into their spaces, while retailers face mounting pressure to attract and stand out to high-intent shoppers.
To combat this, Furniture.com offers a “one-stop-shop” experience, design guidance and tools to help shoppers find furniture across many top retailers, which it says increases the likelihood of a consumer making a purchase.
“Consumers are frustrated with the current furniture-buying process, and retailers are eager for solutions that drive foot traffic and sales,” said Alex Seaman, senior vice president and co-founder of Furniture.com. “Our platform simplifies the journey for consumers — helping them find their ideal pieces faster — then delivers these high-intent shoppers directly to partnering retailers to close the sales.”
With roughly 73% of furniture shoppers not knowing which brand to turn to, Furniture.com aims to become the first destination for furniture customers on their shopping journeys and subsequently to guide them through to purchase.
Long-term plans include leveraging augmented reality, deep learning and recommendation engines. Leaders say those innovations promise to deliver even more immersive, customized experiences for shoppers and further solidify the company’s role as a trusted and transformative force in the industry. Approximately 65% of Furniture.com’s team focuses on engineering, product development and data science, underscoring the company’s commitment to innovation.
“Our team’s dual expertise in technology, and furniture retail is our secret sauce and a big differentiator from a lot of the other tools out there.” Seaman said. “We’re a technology business with the DNA of a furniture retailer.”
The platform utilizes proprietary AI that can transform typical human search language and deliver highly personalized furniture recommendations.
“From creating AI-powered visualization to investing in semantic search, we’re building tools that are transforming how people find furniture,” said Dan Bennett, chief marketing officer of Furniture.com. “Our mission is to be the go-to destination for furniture inspiration, discovery and purchase.”
Furniture.com’s retail partnerships include both national and regional industry leaders such as Bloomingdale’s, American Signature Furniture and Rooms To Go, which ensures a robust selection of trusted brands and products. By seamlessly integrating store location and inventory data within Furniture.com’s search engine, the platform empowers customers to explore, test and purchase with confidence, whether digitally or in person.
Furniture.com is backed by Rooms To Go, No. 5 in Furniture Today’s Top 100 list, and a participating retailer on the platform. The new technology endeavor operates as an entirely separate entity and has a business model that is distinct from, yet symbiotic with, traditional retailers.
“One of the key advantages of Furniture.com for Rooms To Go is the unit economics,” said Rooms To Go CEO Jeff Seaman. “The leads that come from it to Rooms To Go are many times more likely to convert than any other source. They’ve already had a chance to pre-shop on the site. Once it becomes a lead to one of the partners, since they’ve had the chance to pre-shop, they’re more likely to convert.”
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