Hardwood Floors December 2019/January 2020

Wood Stock

VISUALIZING HARDWOOD

By Burt Bollinger

BIGSTOCK ©

Technology is rapidly impacting the way we do business as an industry. For a recent example of this, look no further than a new collection of engaging, virtual reality design tools by Mannington. Mannington recently introduced a suite of mobile-friendly, interactive web browser-based tools designed to help make the floor-shopping process more streamlined for both the consumer and the retail salesperson. The new interactive tools are transforming the buying experience by offering customers the opportunity to see floors in their homes before they purchase. They blur the line between imagination and the real world, and are an example of how the use of new technology can enhance both the customer’s shopping experience and the retailer’s bottom line. “Consumers are coming around to engineered hardwood, and this gives them the confidence to see what it can look like in their home. Our goal was to help make the shopping process easier for both the retail salesperson and the consumer,” explains Lori Keith, Residential Marketing Director at Mannington.

Photos courtesy of Mannington

“Whenever a consumer is online or is in the store looking at samples, the sample is only so big. It’s hard to imagine what that floor will look like in their room. We recognized that one of the keys to closing the sale is helping the consumer visualize the floor. These tools offer a simple way for them to do that.

All they need is their smartphone or tablet,” says Keith. The browser-based tools Mannington has launched were explicitly designed to have a low barrier for participation. There is no app to download. Users simply visit floors.com/see to fully envision what a customer’s flooring

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