A furniture retailer embraces mobile future

American Signature is expanding an in-store tablet technology initiate running on the CloudTags platform after a pilot program yielded impressive results.

American Signature, operator of 124 stores, is using the CloudTags technology solution to allow customers to seamlessly shop online and in-store. Customers are offered a CloudTags-enabled tablet upon entering the store and tap on special product tags placed on each piece of furniture throughout the showroom.

Using digital sensors and NFC technology, the tablet helps guide shoppers’ purchase decisions by offering detailed content on product features, reviews, real time availability and delivery dates, and related online-only products. It also analyzes which items each shopper has interacted with to deliver increasingly personalized product recommendations and alerts based on location data and individual interests. All of this functionality is immediately available to shoppers without forcing login, signup or app download upfront.

“Furniture shopping is undergoing a metamorphosis,” says Steve Haffer, American Signature’s CIO. “We’re leading this change with investment and innovation in best-of-breed omnichannel technologies, like CloudTags.”

CloudTags tablets are seamlessly integrated into American Signature’s Easy Pass omnichannel shopping cart system to allow shoppers to pass product wish lists between the web and store – ensuring a connected experience whether they start exploring online before the store visit or start in the store and continue afterward, according to the company. Shoppers can save in-store research to purchase later and sign-up to receive their own curated product lists via email.

For American Signature, the resulting data also provides a new key way for them to understand who their shoppers are prior to purchase, predict what they want to buy in the future, and reengage them intelligently to increase average order value. American Signature decided to expand the initiative to 20 of its stores after the pilot yielded favorable metrics.

For example, the company said 95% of customer emails collected through customer tablets were previously unknown to the brand, it achieved a 23% clickthrough rate from in-store remarketing emails sent with their collections and a 20% higher average order value for tablet users in post-visit purchases.

“On average, more than 85% of the customers in a retail store are unknown to the brand,” said James Yancey, CEO and co-founder of CloudTags. “They come in, look around and walk out. CloudTags provides a high-value, opt-in way for retailers to improve the store experience through new insight into store shoppers’ intent and browsing behavior, as well as continue the relationship after the shopper leaves the store. This is particularly important for high-consideration brands and purchases, and we are excited to work with American Signature as a pioneer and innovator in merging home and store shopping.”