SAN FRANSICO – Elon Musk’s recently announced purchase of Twitter has shined a spotlight on the social media platform at a time when businesses both within the furniture industry and without, are increasingly reliant on social channels as a key conduit to consumers.  The $44 billion deal capped off a news cycle in which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO became one of Twitter’s largest shareholders, turned down a seat on its board and instead offered to buy the company. The question of why one of the world’s richest men would want to buy a platform that has been fighting to reignite user growth, and what this might mean, is a source of widespread speculation.

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk said in his offer letter to Twitter. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

It is no secret that Twitter has received scrutiny for its timeline algorithm and its excessive number of bots, making it a harder platform to gain traction on and navigate, especially for business profiles.

“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans,” Musk wrote. “Twitter has tremendous potential; I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

While there is a lot that can and will happen before the acquisition is finalized and Musk’s influence is fully felt, Furniture Today reached out to furniture industry executives to assess what impact the change of ownership may have on the ways companies use one of the world’s largest communication platforms.

Here’s what they had to say:

Authenticity is important to us. Having a more transparent and “real” conversation with our community is a positive, regardless of the channel or location where that interaction exists. Since we are still so new to Twitter, we don’t foresee a significant shift in how we use the platform but are hopeful any changes will increase our content visibility to those who would naturally be inclined to interact with it. Barb Scherer, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Badcock Home Furniture & more

“One improvement we would welcome is to have Twitter traffic more responsive to hashtags, like Instagram is. Regarding his promise of better algorithms, there’s a “wait and see” attitude. Some of Musk’s comments and past behavior suggest he has an agenda, so there’s a concern he will amplify certain posts and deemphasize others to push that agenda. He has suggested he will “loosen up” the platform considerably. If that means allowing more hate speech, harassment, advocation of violence or misinformation that undermines public health, it could create an unhealthy platform not conducive to building brands. What’s important is that the Twitter platform is transparent, engaging and responsible in order to promote vital public communication and commerce.” Kim Shaver, spokesperson for Marge Carson

For Sarreid, Twitter is included in all social media posting activities, but it remains the lowest in terms of customer interaction. Sarreid is 110% invested in being where our customers are looking for information. If the proposed changes enhance the format, then we are all in. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook allow Sarreid to tell a visual story. We speak to beauty, quality, harmony and product availability, an open source platform would “in concept” enhance this opportunity to speak to an even larger audience. Brad Cates, president and CEO of Sarreid

“Currently, we use Twitter to publish inspiring imagery and engage with designers and customers around the world. We’re excited at the prospect of Twitter’s platform growth and increased flexibility for it’s users. As we focus on growing our brand digitally, we look forward to Twitter becoming a larger part of our social presence.” Maggie O’Hare, director of marketing at Theodore Alexander

First, less bots is always better. We suspect that a large percentage of Twitter accounts are either abandoned or bots. Weeding out the bots can only lead to a better experience. Second, Twitter has spent 15 years developing an algorithm that ostensibly works. If Musk’s ownership causes the engineering and analytics teams to start from scratch, I am not certain it will be a great experience at launch. That is only speculation, and we are excited to see where he goes with the algorithm. If we see the engagement improve, we will increase our presence on Twitter. — Matt Targett, director of marketing at Stickley Furniture

See also:

• Twitter pilots new shop module feature
• The rising ‘metaverse’ offers furniture industry a potential meta-market
• Las Vegas Design Center offers education on social media tactics

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HIGH POINT – Nathan Anthony Furniture, a custom upholstery manufacturer, has minted NFTs (non-fungible tokens) for its new cryptocurrency inspired ÆTHR furniture collection, which debuted at this week’s High Point Market in its Interhall showroom. space IH-602.

At the intersection of design, art and technology, Creative Director and founder of Nathan Anthony Tina Nicole, designed the new ÆTHR collection in collaboration with multimedia artist, Sahara Novotna. The new collection includes dining chairs, counter stools, barstools and accent tables, each showcasing a signature resin artwork, handmade by Novotna herself. Produced to order in Los Angeles, the crypto collection is sold exclusively through Nathan Anthony Furniture.

For ÆTHR, each chair and barstool features Italian wool boucle, and Novotna incorporated 24K gold bitcoin, shredded $100 bills from the U.S. mint and hand applied gold leaf, graffiti paint and resin to the wood panels.

In addition, the art-meets-furniture designs will be sold as NFTs through the OpenSea marketplace, a popular NFT marketplace that provides users an easy way to transfer, search for, view and purchase NFTs.

“You can make dreams come true in the Metaverse,” said Novotna. “It is not too early to be getting involved with it, and soon enough we will all be living our daily lives through it.”

Novotna will also be participating in a two-day live art installation in Nathan Anthony’s showroom, April 2-3, from 1-3 p.m. each day.

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LOS ANGELES – Fernish, a furniture rental startup company that provides furniture as a subscription model to consumers, has recently partnered with Renovai, a virtual AI shopping assistant, to create an AI-based interior designer. The Virtual Designer, which released early this month, predicts and recommends everything from furniture basics to accent pieces based on a person’s style, space and budget.

See related stories:

• Fernish rebranding focuses on convenience to customers
• Fernish offers subscription furniture to help frequent movers

According to the company, the key differentiator with the Virtual Designer technology is that the data comes from machine learning based on design rules and an individual’s style preferences, not the taste of a single interior designer nor general segmentations.

The process of building a Virtual Designer requires automated deep tagging of products from general descriptors including type, style and color to very detailed information like how the legs of a bed frame may be straight or splayed or how a chair has a buttoned backrest. An AI-based shopper analysis is required to determine core patterns about customer’s style requirements as well.

The AI program offers a design quiz feature both at the top of the process and right before the end of the process with the “complete the look” tool. This allows the machine-based designer to build a style profile before beginning the shopping process and to make recommendations on how to add to the space and compliment what the customer has selected at the end, resulting in making sure a customer does not already have a bed on the way and then realize they should have gotten matching nightstands after the fact.

Fernish also offers free delivery, free assembly and the ability to swap out and return items at any time.

“The Virtual Designer is personalized and knowledge-based,” said Fernish Director of Product Nina Klein. “Similar to Netflix or other recommendation engines, it’s about directing you to what you would like based on the knowledge of what you already like. That’s a level of intelligence and insight that’s novel for people when it comes to shopping for furniture, which is often a very expensive and intimidating experience.”

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CALABASAS, Calif. — Abbyson Living, a provider of design, manufacturing, marketing and wholesale operation services, is planning to bring new products from the Las Vegas Market to make their High Point Market debut in April.

The new products making their first appearance in High Point include:

• The Victoria accent cabinet is a classic Mid-Century Modern design with USB charging that features whitewash, sunburst ash wood veneer doors and brass hardware.
• The Eclipse bench seat sofa is featured in a crisp white P3 performance fabric with Pirelli webbing around the back, coil seating and a tuxedo arm style. The sofa also has an interesting curvature as well as a wood blank base and will be available in a Midnight Ink Blue and a Luxe Charcoal Velvet.
• The Motif Hardwood collection includes a desk, bookcase and file cabinet. The desk features an in-desk charging station, four-sided drawer boxes and a dovetail joinery finished in a light gray with white hang-up in the grain. The bookcase offers magnetic close, triple shelving and tempered glass motif.
• The Henlsey loveseat features both left and right facing recliners and is draped in an ivory top grain leather with matching stitch detail. The loveseat also has pocket coil seating, P3 performance fabric, metal cup holders and will feature Abbyson’s brand new ITable Mini 2 on the arm.

  

Abbyson will be showing at 300 E. Green for the April 2-6 market.

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CHICAGO — Threekit, an online platform that specializes in 3D configurations, virtual photography and augmented reality, has some practical insight into how the home furnishings industry could be part of the metaverse, creating and selling virtual representations of furniture.

The rising phenomenon of the metaverse is a collection of virtual experiences across devices, time and place that is 2D or 3D and can be blended with real life. These experiences will be enabled by new infrastructure that allows instant global communication and new ways to manage interactions, earn and spend money, and secure assets.

With people now rushing to buy virtual real estate in the metaverse, according to the NY Times, technology experts say other industries will soon be able to take advantage of this new reality. While it may be easy to imagine how the metaverse will benefit areas of life such as gaming, it poses the question of what role will it play in the furniture industry.

CTO and founder of Threekit, Ben Houston, said in the future, furniture companies will be able to offer branded virtual products to people playing video games such as Roblox, an online game platform and creation system that allows its users to program games as well as play games created by others. The game features free building, allowing its users to create spaces that they desire, such as their own homes.

“My daughter plays Roblox, and in this game she custom builds her doll houses with digital representations of our physical goods. In the metaverse, you can have digital twins to everything in your reality,” said Houston. “Furniture can be branded in these virtual worlds, and brands need to get in there with these virtual representations. I can virtually sit on Herman Miller chairs with a Crate & Barrel table in the middle and know exactly what that would look like if I purchased it in real life.”

An important part of understanding the metaverse, according to Houston, is that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique and non-interchangeable units of data stored on a digital ledger. NFTs use blockchain technology to give a public proof of ownership, enabling Internet users to truly own the digital assets purchased in the metaverse. The lack of interchangeability distinguishes NFTs from blockchain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

A large opportunity for businesses in the metaverse will be selling virtual products, and NFTs allow assurance that the goods are authentic and not counterfeit. Companies need to be able to protect their intellectual property, and NFTs provide products with a stamp of certification that is tracked properly.

The metaverse will offer the home furnishings industry a room planning benefit as well. The metaverse will allow consumers to have digital twins to their entire physical inventory, which will make room planning much easier in the future.

“Room planners online are hard to use right now,” said Houston. “They never seem to have furniture that matches exactly what you have or are looking for, but once you have these digital twins of your personal inventory, it becomes much simpler to view different arrangements, envision how certain items will add to a room and even play around will all kinds of colors. Threekit is working on its room planners, and I foresee this to be a requirement in the furniture industry on both a personal and corporate level.”

Houston also predicts that new furniture brands that only produce virtual furniture will emerge, and he pointed out those creating virtual prototypes in the metaverse before actually physically producing them will save money by taking advantage of demand testing. He believes companies will be able to see consumer response to products without actually producing them.

Associate Editor Anne Flynn Wear contributed to this story.

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A survey conducted last year by Boston Consulting Group found that 75% of American consumers view sustainability as “important” or “very important” with more than one-third reporting they have at some point switched from their preferred brand to a more environmentally friendly alternative.

When most people answer survey questions about sustainability they typically think about the manufacturing process. But sustainability is about more than just how a product is made; it extends to the whole product lifecycle.

With that in mind, a few home furnishings companies are switching to a model where they buy back their used furniture in return for offering consumers a discount to purchase new product. The motivation for many is to keep furniture out of the landfill and create what amounts to a second and even a third life for the product.

Brick-and-mortar and DTC companies such as Floyd, Ikea and Sabai, as well as rental companies such as Cort, have created programs designed to extend the lifecycle of their furniture.

Floyd recently launched a new circular online marketplace called Full Cycle that will offer used and imperfect Floyd furniture to consumers nationwide. Founder Kyle Hoff said the company plans to refurbish used and imperfect products to ensure that the pieces will most likely never end up in a landfill.

DTC company Sabai has a two-pronged approach. The first part of the Sabai Standard allows consumers to have easy access to repair damaged parts of their furniture. The second part offers consumers the ability to sell back older Sabai sofas.  Co-founder Phantila Phataraprasit said this extends the life of their furniture in a way that’s both financially and ecologically beneficial.

Then there is retail powerhouse Ikea. The company has expanded its plan to back used furniture to its customers in 27 countries as part of its efforts to become more environmentally friendly. Ikea is attempting to build a circular business model in which its materials and products are resold or recycled. Ikea U.S. isn’t currently offering this buyback option but has plans to implement it in the future.

Rental furniture company Cort has launched a new section of its website that allows customers to buy secondhand and previously leased furniture in addition to new pieces. The used furniture may have one or two small imperfections, and the bargain furniture section has more noticeable imperfections and is priced lower than the used furnishings. This results in furniture that has a significantly lengthened lifespan.

Whether the motivation is a tight budget or the creative fun of upcycling an older piece of furniture, buying a well-made secondhand piece of furniture is often more appealing to Millennials and Generation Z consumers. Companies that consider this and take steps to make sustainability a reality both in the manufacturing process and for the life of the product might find these generations to be more brand-loyal in the future.

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Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced almost all commerce to be e-commerce, I’m hearing that more and more retailers are rethinking their sales funnel and when they need to start interacting with potential consumers, both now and once this uncertain time is over.

E-commerce retailers are known for the ability to customize communications to where the shopper is on her journey — from the initial search, to the education phase, narrowing down options, making the purchase and after the sale.

But with most brick-and-mortar store locations temporarily closed, we’re watching all retailers now using that same playbook to find and retain consumers, either with currently available e-commerce options or to garner consumer interest for future in-store purchases.

For those retailers with physical locations who kept putting off the move to digital methods of interacting with consumers: Now is the time. And once these new ways of finding and interacting with consumers prove to be successful, I believe there’s no going back.

Using social media platforms such as Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook are a great way to reach out to potential consumers with valuable content, from interior design ideas to new financing options all catered to the individual shopper. This would allow companies to post reminders of upcoming sales or new product launches and to talk with potential consumers rather than talk at them. Company representatives can answer questions posed on social media by consumers to create a truly personal interaction.

Tech companies that operate in the home furnishings space say that retailers are also increasingly relying on AI for online and text chats, product recommendations and even virtual room planning that all help to develop a level of trust and a new type of consumer loyalty that will change how businesses operate in the future.

Many communities also are calling on people to buy and support local companies. I joined a Facebook group called the High Point Biz Mob that encourages residents to support local businesses, and Greensboro has a comparable effort underway at DowntownGreensboro.org. Similar movements are likely taking place in towns and cities across the country to help local economies stay strong both now and in the future.

Although the current growth of e-commerce will likely continue, there may be another outcome. Just as communities are coming together now to individually support social distancing guidelines, they also may come together to support local businesses to help their communities recover economically when the pandemic is over.

Although technology is often seen as impersonal, the ability to use it to personally connect with consumers may be exactly what’s needed to drive loyalty, both during and after this challenging time.

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As we look forward to the coming of warmer weather, many consumers consider purchasing new outdoor furniture. But, for those who want the benefit of enjoying outdoor furnishings without the hassle of where to store it during the long winter months, subscription furniture might be the answer.

Several new furniture subscription services have popped up over the past few years including CasaOne, Feather, Fernish, Inhabitr, Oliver Space and The Everset. Most of these companies offer services for consumers in larger metropolitan areas on the coasts, but Inhabitr offers its service in some smaller Midwestern cities such as Indianapolis and Madison, Wis.

Inhabitr co-founder Ankur Agrawal said that in Chicago, his company has many consumers, especially those in high rise apartments, who rent patio furniture for their balconies from May to Sept. The company delivers the furniture in early May and picks it up at the end of September.

One of the many ways these new companies are disrupting the retail space is by offering higher-end furniture from places such as West Elm and Pottery Barn, unlike the stereotype of a company that offered lease-to-own options of affordable furnishings.

Census bureau data shows that Millennials under age 35 make the largest proportion of moves. In 2017, they were 19% more likely to move than Americans aged 35 to 54, and 32% more likely to move than Americans 55 or older.

And the founders of these subscription companies say that’s why they started their businesses. Fernish co-founder and Millennial Michael Barlow moved five times in six years with three different roommates. He said the problem started when he didn’t want to invest a lot in furniture and lug it around the country. He teamed up with co-founder Lucas Dickey, who also moved 10 times in a 13-year period.

Another aspect of the subscription model to consider is that it’s environmentally friendly. Feather founder Jay Reno said that he’s hoping to create a circular approach to furniture by reducing its environmental impact so that when the furnishings reach the end of their lifespan, his company either donates it or recycles it to close the loop.

For its part, Oliver Space offers what it calls “hyper-personalized, concierge-like experience in the design process” since many Millennials request tips for how to design their space and advice on what items to choose without having to hire an interior designer.

And what about if the furniture needs to accommodate a larger group for a very short amount of time?

Many of the companies say that consumers are trading out their smaller tables for larger ones just for November and December to accommodate all visiting family members at one large table during the holidays.

In a final blow to tradition, subscription furniture might mean an end to the need for the infamous “kids’ table” for Thanksgiving dinner.

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If the past six weeks are any indication, the predicted move to a broader use of augmented and virtual shopping for home furnishings is here.

It started in early May with Google’s announcement that its adding a 3D component to its search function, then Overstock partnered with tech company Seek to launch web-native augmented reality, Modsy raised $37 million to upgrade its 3D technology, Ikea upgraded its AR app to be shoppable, Furniture of America launched a 3D 360-degree interactive catalog, and tech company Cylindo unveiled web-native AR for Android.

That is by no means a complete list.

The time is now for brands and retailers to prepare for a major consumer shift to using some form of technology to aid in their home furnishings buying decisions.

In the recent past, it was cost prohibitive to create 3D 360-degree images. But new advancements in the process have brought those costs down. Many tech companies now offer affordable photorealistic 3D modeling for any volume of products, which is good news for retailers with thousands of SKUs and new products added on a frequent basis.

Once brands and retailers have the necessary 3D files, they can then be transformed and the content made compatible for use with any device.

For its part, Google says its AR function will work with compatible Apple and Android devices allowing users to see 3D object links in search. This will bring up 3D models that can then be dropped into the user’s space at the proper scale by using AR. According to Google, developers will need to add a few lines of code to allow 3D assets to appear.

Overstock said its new AR and 3D installation, developed in partnership with tech company Seek, is the largest of its kind, addressing 100% of mobile and desktop users through Apple and Android apps, via the web, and including almost 150,000 products.

Data from tech companies such as Seek shows that when a consumer views a product in AR, sales increase by more than 30%, and the percentage of returns also drops dramatically.

Modsy’s new funding will enable it to expand its retail marketplace and enhance its design and concierge shopping services, with the ultimate goal of creating a personalized, catalog-like shopping experience within a virtual version of consumer’s real homes.

And, Ikea’s AR app is an award-winner, even before the recent upgrade to being shoppable. At the annual Augmented World Expo, Ikea’s Place app won “Best Consumer App” at last year’s awards.

Augmented World Expo’s website states that augmented reality is the greatest disruptive technology since the Internet. During the recent three-day conference held last month in California, the expo showcased how many companies are using AR and VR to drive economic growth.

It’s time for furniture brands and retailers to embrace these new and innovative technologies in order to better showcase their products and take advantage of this growing economic opportunity.

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We recently learned of the strategic partnership between Chinese-based Alibaba and U.S.-based Office Depot.

Although Alibaba isn’t as well-known here, partnerships such as the ones with Office Depot and last summer’s agreement with grocery store chain Kroger are elevating the Internet retailer’s U.S. presence.

The new partnership could help Office Depot to better compete with Amazon , which also has been targeting small business customers.Alibaba and Office Depot are launching a co-branded online store, as well as collaborating on revamped customer support, distribution and fulfillment options.

The new partnership means Office Depot’s small- and medium-sized business customers will be able to find a larger assortment of products and suppliers. And, they will also become more familiar with using the Alibaba site and what it offers them in comparison with Amazon’s B2B Business marketplace.

For its part, Alibaba will have access to the gold mine of data that can be gleaned from Office Depot’s 10 million business customers. Analysts say the move signals Alibaba’s increasing ambition in the U.S. market and will put it more squarely in competition with Amazon.

Just seven months ago, Alibaba announced a partnership with the Kroger Company to sell nuts, supplements and other products in China, allowing the grocery chain to venture out of the U.S. for the first time. As with the Office Depot partnership, Alibaba benefits by obtaining access to local Kroger’s solid base of customer relationships in the United States.

Additional U.S. brands that have set up and now operate their own e-commerce stores on the Alibaba platform include Nike, Apple, Coke and L’Oreal. Many smaller U.S. merchants are also considering the advantages of selling and shipping their high-end products to consumers in China via Alibaba.

Analysts say Amazon’s e-commerce business is running out of room to grow in the U.S. and other developed markets and hint that’s why it’s aggressively expanding into higher-growth markets like Southeast Asia and India.

According to the Nikkei Asian Review, Alibaba guides prices and trends in China, much as Amazon does in the United States, but the two companies have entirely different profit structures. While Amazon has an overwhelming lead in sales, Alibaba is more profitable with a net profit margin of 28% compared with Amazon’s 4%.

It will be interesting to see how Amazon addresses Alibaba’s recent moves into the U.S. market.

For its part, Alibaba doesn’t like the comparison with Amazon. It wants to be thought of as Google, Facebook and Amazon all in one, as evidenced by the fact that it has started mixing social-networking functions into its leading e-commerce platforms and has its own search engine called Aliyun to challenge Google.

With the global B2B marketplace valued at $23.9 trillion by the U.S. International Trade Commission, it remains to be seen which company will make the next move to obtain a greater share of those dollars.

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