 |
Lumber Liquidators is the largest direct retailer of high-quality hardwood flooring in the United States, offering a wide variety of pre-finished and unfinished flooring. With more than 80 locations nationwide, their product distribution and depth is unsurpassed in the hardwood flooring industry.
Lumber Liquidators' Web site is an integral part of their multi-channel strategy and as such, they wanted to create a new site that would provide the best shopping experience possible for their customers. The company came to Fry with the goal of not only making the site easier to shop, but also to provide customers an educational experience to inform their buying decisions. The former site worked well for contractors and DIYers, but residential homeowners were confused by it. Shoppers had to know exactly what they were looking for because the site didn't offer customer-friendly merchandising. Lumber Liquidators wanted a site with improved site flow and usability in order to increase revenue, decrease customer questions and complaints, and improve ordering capabilities. Additionally, it was important to make the site easier for their staff to maintain.
|
|
| |
Laying the ground work
The site was completely rebuilt and redesigned using Fry's Open Commerce Platform™ (OCP), an e-commerce solution that enables retailers to quickly develop an online store and expand their e-commerce business. This J2EE-compliant license-free framework integrated with Lumber Liquidators' systems and databases. OCP's robust feature set includes targeted merchandising and site management with workflow and scheduling that was extended to meet Lumber Liquidators' unique business needs. And OCP supported a custom look and feel that conveyed the brand identity the company had worked hard to establish.
The right tools make the job easier
In order to educate customers about flooring and its installation, Fry implemented several tools to make product selection easier.
"Flooring 101"
This new section covers the basics of choosing and installing flooring. It includes a glossary of flooring terms, an extensive installation guideline, and the opportunity to ask questions of an expert installer via email or telephone. With this tool, novice installers learn everything they need to get the job done.
"The Floor Finder"
Using one of the newest Web 2.0 technologies, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), Fry built the Floor Finder application. AJAX enables user refinements and page changes without page refreshes. No more clicking and waiting for a new page to load; the changes happen "on the fly" and results are updated and displayed without any time lag. The Floor Finder helps shoppers decide what's best for their project and budget by posing simple questions about installation, color, and price range that guide customers to the products that best fit their needs.
Better product pages
Several other uses of AJAX on the site contribute to the improved user experience. On the product page a shopper can toggle between a large or small view of a floor swatch in close-up without opening an additional pop-up window or refreshing the page. As the shopper changes the square footage of material to purchase, the cost estimate for the flooring adjusts accordingly. A comparison feature allows the shopper to quickly compare one product to another of a different type or brand. When comparing, a visual "layer" appears over the current product page, allowing the shopper to examine the differences in product features without skipping forward or backward between separate pages or windows. Finally, choosing "Add Sample" automatically places a sample of the product directly into the shopping cart, and a small "My Sample" area appears to keep the shopper informed of how many samples they have in their cart and what they look like.
A smooth finish
In the first few weeks following its launch in May 2006, the new site, with a vastly improved user experience, was generating revenue at a faster pace than the previous site. Today, Lumber Liquidators' site provides both a seamless shopping and learning experience for its customers. Shoppers are given the tools they need to make the best purchase decisions as well as the know-how to install their flooring. Lumber Liquidators is pleased with the increased revenue the site is driving and their staff likes the ease with which they can maintain the site using Open Commerce Platform.
"We came to Fry because we wanted the best user experience on a tightly integrated platform.
Fry's OCP solution also empowers us with flexibility to innovate for future growth.
Fry understands what it takes to drive transactions."
Marco Pescara - Senior Vice President of Direct Marketing and Advertising,
Lumber Liquidators
|
|
|
