One of the biggest challenges in online furniture sales is returns. Customers can't see or touch products in real life, leading to mistakes with measurements and unrealistic color expectations. As competition on platforms like Amazon and Shopify grows fiercer, brands need more than detailed descriptions — they need visuals that let buyers fully examine and appreciate a design.
As a 3D rendering company , we have been creating CG imagery for furniture manufacturers and retailers for years. Thus, we know what our clients need for eCommerce. Here are our 9 pro tips on how to sell your furniture online using CGI.
1. Make Your Listing Highly Informative
If you don’t know how to sell furniture online effectively, start with creating a perfect listing. First, you need to collect all the product data and write a short and informative description. Secondly, provide convincing CG imagery. Particularly, upload all design options, add as many views as possible, and show your furniture piece in a beautiful roomset.
One of the best ways to sell furniture online is to show customers all prominent design features at once. Use highly realistic close-up views, cut-away pics, and different angles — a full front, side view, and corner ¾ view. If the main advantage lies in configuration or design modifications, add in-action images or videos: pics of a chest of drawers with open/closed drawers, or a 3D animation showing all modular couch transformations.
In short, the more information you provide, the more chances your prospects will make a purchase decision directly from the listing. Give them everything they want to know about the furniture piece so all they have to do is just to click the “Buy Now” button.
2. Try Effective Cross-Selling Techniques
Experienced manufacturers know how to sell furniture online not only directly but also through cross-selling. For that, they expand their website and add related products and recommendations, put discounts and bestsellers on a homepage, use various banners, etc. Moreover, you can also make buyers get back to shopping even from the check-out or thank-you page using tempting recommendations and special offers.
In order to keep buyers interested and involved in the shopping process at every step, furniture sellers have to put in a little effort. Try to attract the prospect’s attention with not only photos of the goods on a white background but add awe-inspiring lifestyle 3D product pictures. This way you can boost your product’s presentation and be able to introduce it differently on every page.
When a brand provides a huge selection of colors and textures, show them all in your online catalog. With just one 3D model, CG artists can render it in different colors and materials easily. Use a gallery or group shot with all possible design options on each listing page — even if a buyer doesn't like one particular model, they'll see there are plenty of other options to choose from.
3. Improve Your SMM Strategies
Even if you feel like you know how to sell furniture online via e-stores, don’t forget to improve your social media, it’s a whole different story. You can’t just post random pictures on Instagram from time to time and expect users to jump at the chance of buying your goods. No, you have to carefully build a content plan, and stay focused and consistent with posting. And non less important, develop the brand’s aesthetic by experimenting with copy and pics.
The type of content that works perfectly on social networks are all kinds of buyer-grabbing collages, GIFs, videos and animation, as well as outstanding lifestyle images. Being active on social media not only helps brands to sell goods but also to get honest feedback from users. You can post different design options and ask which one is their favorite, and such. This way sellers can learn more about their customers’ tastes and build an emotional connection with them.
4. Showcase the Quality of Furniture
It is difficult for many manufacturers to figure out how to sell furniture online because their presentation opportunities are limited. They can’t provide customers with the necessary options of touching and testing the product as they do in brick-and-mortar stores. And this is where CGI can be the most useful by highlighting the quality of the piece.
For example, sellers can use a close-up view to showcase the quality of upholstery and furniture fixtures. Such images are so detailed that you can see literally every seam and stitch without zooming the pic. When it comes to the internal structure, a cut-out view is the best option to show a furniture piece in a section. And of course, only the 360° view will give buyers the ability to rotate the item and examine the design from all angles.
5. Provide Interactive Online Shopping Experience
Making shopping interactive is one of the keys to selling furniture online. The basic idea is to recreate offline shopping experiences with the most immersive and engaging CG solutions. For instance, using such tools as virtual and augmented reality apps, 360 view product photography, and a 3D customizer.
With VR and AR applications, customers can try on a product in the interior, by moving furniture 3D models in virtual space or a viewport of their smartphone. As for a 3D configurator, it allows buyers to personalize a piece of furniture and create new designs themselves. They simply open the app, select an item from the catalog, and point their smartphone camera at an empty corner in their house. In just a moment, they see a realistic AR object appearing in their room on the screen. This helps them understand if the size, style, and color fits their home. AR models are easy to spin right on the screen, so users can try different locations and arrangements. Once they've actually tried furniture in a real environment before purchase, they're far less likely to return it.
6. Offer Prospects Creative Customization
Using a 3D configurator, shoppers can customize furniture to suit their taste and interior by changing colors and textures and adding design elements. With this CG tool, everyone wins — buyers get the exact design they want, and a manufacturer doesn’t have to produce and store excess goods.
Consumers get excited when given an option to personalize goods to their taste and style. Choosing matching design elements, shoppers try themselves in product design and enjoy a personal approach. They enjoy both the creative process and the result of getting the exact design they want — which means they're less likely to return it later.
Now, how to sell furniture online with a 3D configurator on your website? It could be easily integrated into any section of your site — a catalog, homepage, or even as a feature on the landing page. This way, manufacturers can provide unique customization services, introduce the brand, and capture website visitors’ attention at the same time.
7. Show Furniture Piece in Action
Now, it’s time to learn how to sell furniture online with 3D product animation. In fact, 3D animation sells a product better than most visuals because it shows the product in action. That’s why 96% of shoppers say they like to watch explainer videos to learn more about goods. Surely, the video displays how to assemble the furniture and how the object looks in the interior at different times of the day, etc.
Since the creation of 3D animation doesn’t require an actual filming set and a large crew, any furniture manufacturer can get it with no effort. Just send us a brief with a script and references — and you will receive a photorealistic animation for promo and marketing in just a few days!
Assembly 3D animation is one of the best ways to sell furniture online. Such a CG video shows how a furniture item is assembled on its own in a fun, self-explanatory way. It's easy for buyers to understand the installation process. After watching, customers feel confident enough to deal with furniture assembly, so they make purchase decisions faster.
8. Provide a 360° View for Better Examination
E-shopping deprives buyers of the opportunity to physically test an item — walk around the piece, spin it to examine from all sides, or pull it closer to see details. Therefore, one of the best ways to sell furniture online is to use an interactive 360° view on listing pages.
Using this CG tool, buyers can rotate a 3D model as they like and zoom in to scrutinize the object. With a 360° spin, not a single detail escapes the customer's attention. They get a complete picture of the furniture design before making a purchase.
9. Use Storytelling for Furniture Promo Campaigns
Just like with any other product, one of the best ways to sell furniture online is through storytelling. At the end of the day, consumers are not just purchasing furnishings but adopting a certain lifestyle that comes with the piece. To tell a story that inspires customers, marketers need a creative approach — that's when lifestyle visuals come in handy.
Together with CG artists, marketers can create a certain scenario to put furniture in, then select an interior style that works best for the idea. To convey the message and finish the look, CG specialists add thematic decor to the scene — making it more homey and relaxed, or dynamic and formal, depending on marketing purposes and the product itself.
The resulting scene can be used for both static imagery and videos. Videos could be even more immersive with walkthroughs, alternating camera views, music, and voiceover. Opting for 3D animation instead of conventional videos, furniture brands save money on production yet get the same level of realism.
These were the key tips on how to sell more furniture using product CGI. So what are the best ways to sell furniture online? First, focus on giving consumers unique and exciting shopping experiences. Allow them to interact with a product through a 360° view and personalize it using an online 3D configurator. Effectively inform customers of all selling points through detailed close-up views, lifestyle images, and 3D animation. An AR shopping app can boost customers' confidence after they try furniture in real interiors.
The importance of CGI for online sales can’t be overestimated. Using photorealistic CG services, sellers can create highly informative listings on e-platforms, boost their website conversion, and diversify their SM marketing. Moreover, it’s a great opportunity for buyers to interact with the product online and customize it, as well as see the design in detail and in action.
Ready to try CG solutions for your brand? Contact our studio for 3D model services and get CG tools that will boost your sales and outshine competitors!