Toronto-based SuiteQ launched this week, a startup that offers home decor shoppers a “try before you buy” online 3D experience. The company also sells its collection of mid- to high-end home furnishings and décor on its site.
According to SuiteQ, the average home furnishing buyer typically visits a mix of at least five retail and online stores before finally making a purchase. One of the primary reasons for this longer purchase cycle is that people have difficulty visualizing products- particularly large home furnishings- in context to their house.
SuiteQ’s “true to life, contextual 3D room planner” helps take the guess work out of furniture buying by helping consumers visualize home furnishings. Using the site they can build authentic rooms complete with wall colour, flooring and accessories.
“We strongly believe quality visualization tools and interactivity are key to bringing consumers online within the rapidly growing $US 20 billion North American online home furnishings and décor space,” said CEO Victoria Fekete.
At launch, SuiteQ’s 3D visualization tool offers a mix of real world products that show context along with a collection of high quality rugs and art for purchase through the site. More product offerings should be coming in the coming months, said the company.
The company said that Maria Tomas, Calgary based furniture retailer, took part in a pilot project with SuiteQs technology, which ended up improving conversion rates for paying customers online and overall sales contract values. Overall, the company said Maria Tomas saw a 15 percent increase in sales. “A standard room plan can only ever be an overview. Really the only certainty it provides a client is that items will fit, physically, into a particular space,” said Maria Tomas owner Klari Fekete. “Until now, computer enabled design tools available for space planning have been crude and inexact, leaving furnishing buyers on their own to try to imagine the completed space. SuiteQ is completely changing this model.”