By Abraham Jonah, Editorial Contributor, Middle East
MON, FEBRUARY 7 2017-IBM (NYSE: IBM) recently announced that Godrej Interio, the furniture division of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., is collaborating with IBM to capture the attention of the growing number of home furniture and accessories consumers. Godrej Interio, India’s largest furniture brand, has selected IBM Commerce and IBM Design Thinking-led engagement to further augment customer engagement and experience across all of its 3 brands (Godrej Interio, U&Us and a new lifestyle home furniture brand) and increase brand loyalty by delivering a seamless personalized shopping experience across store, mobile and social channels.
Godrej Interio, a business unit of Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd., has more than 50 exclusive furniture showrooms in top 20 cities and more than 800 dealer outlets across India. With the increase of urban buyers and rising disposable income in India, a growing number of consumers are spending more on their homes, specifically on furniture, furnishings, and décor. With this increase in spends, there is also the pressure to meet rising consumer demand for a seamless shopping experience, from store to mobile and digital channels. Godrej needed a well-integrated omni-channel commerce solution to help innovate the way they engage with each consumer, but also respond quickly to the latest trends and customer demands.
“We needed the right combination of design and technology capabilities to provide us with the insights to turn our existing and potential customers into loyal brand advocates.” said, Shanu Singh, Head – Ecommerce and Digital Transformation at Godrej Interio. “We believe design thinking is an innovative strategy and the most effective way to create a customer centric business model. With IBM’s global expertise and local experience in the omni-channel commerce and retail space, we are confident this will give us the edge over competition.”
IBM’s design-based consulting and e-commerce capabilities will enable Godrej Interio to gain deeper customer insights by evaluating customers’ observations, ideas, and insights by their browsing behavior online and offline. Godrej Interio will use these insights to recommend home decor ideas. For example, a customer who is moving into a new home, can browse the entire furniture and home décor catalogue on the interactive online platform. The platform will then be able to recommend innovative designs and share special offers. The platform will also allow the customer to reserve the item, guide them to the nearest store location to buy or schedule a timeslot for home delivery. In addition, the platform will provide increased visibility of inventory, by helping the sales associate know which furniture items are in stock or alert suppliers early on when items are out of stock.
“In this fiercely competitive home decor market, retailers need to keep pace by adapting to new business models that help innovate and deliver unique customer experiences,” said Lula Mohanty, Managing Partner GBS, IBM ISA. “With IBM Commerce, Godrej Interio now has the insights to help guide and redefine how they meet the unique needs of each customer.”
Godrej Interio is one of India’s largest furniture brand. It offers customers home and office furniture, along with solutions for laboratories, hospitals and healthcare establishments, education and training institutes, shipyards and navy, auditoriums and stadiums. It is present across India through more than 50 exclusive showrooms in 20 cities and through 800 dealer outlets.
