Trusted Review Platform: Reducing Purchase Hesitancy
Trusted Review Platform is a data-driven service that presents customers with furniture solutions recommended to fit their needs, size, and organizational culture by presenting the purchases and reviews of past customers similar to them, to increase purchase conversion rates.
Trusted Review Platform increases customer confidence and boosts furniture purchase conversion rates.
Trusted Review Platform is designed to address the common dilemma of hesitation and urgency in office furniture purchases. By analyzing past customer purchases and reviews, this platform offers personalized recommendations tailored to fit the specific needs, size, and organizational culture of new customers. This approach significantly reduces purchase hesitancy, enhancing overall conversion rates and ensuring customers make informed, confident decisions. Through a combination of data analysis and customer insights, the Trusted Review Platform bridges the gap between financial uncertainty and purchase confidence.
CHALLENGE:
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the corporate furniture manufacturing industry.
The once secure and competitive industry of corporate furniture manufacturing was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
OBJECTIVE:
I aimed to navigate the financial uncertainty felt by customers and boost purchase confidence.
My goal was to identify and mitigate the factors contributing to customer purchase hesitancy in the office furniture market. By exploring various service offerings, I aimed to find a solution that would alleviate financial uncertainty and instill greater confidence in customers. The main driving questions was:
How might we reduce financial risk and enhance purchase confidence in office furniture buyers?
To achieve this, I conducted the following:
User survey to understand user’s attitudes, needs, problems, and outlook, and to validate the degree of hesitation and uncertainty across customers.
Internal interviews to explore company stakeholder perspectives with those who engage with customers through various supportive roles and offerings.
Concept testing via user survey to evaluate new business model concepts.
Research synthesis, and presentation of findings to VP suite.
RESEARCH:
User Survey
Customers indeed reported higher degrees of hesitation and uncertainty around purchasing furniture while developing their return-to-office strategies post-pandemic.
As we navigated the post-pandemic world in 2022, 82% of those embarking on the furniture-buying journey found themselves in a state of hesitation—uncertain about their choices. This hesitation was understandable, given the significant shift towards remote work during the pandemic. What was even more intriguing was the palpable sense of urgency amidst this uncertainty. A surprising 12.5% more customers were gripped by the need to secure their office furniture swiftly, largely fueled by the impending return to the workplace. This juxtaposition of hesitation and urgency painted a vivid picture of the evolving dynamics in the world of office furniture purchases.
This uncertainty was fueled by a fear and risk predominately due to increased financial uncertainty.
Customers often hesitate to invest in office furniture due to financial uncertainty. The primary concern revolves around making a significant capital expenditure without certainty about the return on investment. They want assurance that their workforce will utilize the furniture effectively, ensuring a sound financial decision.
Taking this into consideration, my approach involved conducting concept tests to explore service offerings that could mitigate financial uncertainties and instill greater confidence in customers, encouraging them to make a purchase.
INSIGHTS:
Concept Testing
Based on initial survey insights, and on knowledge gathered from expert stakeholder interviews on what has been tried before, the results, and predictions on the current market and what would be feasible, I developed three concepts that largely addressed the main influences and insecurities users expressed.
Visualization Services: Such as AR / VR or pop-up showrooms, for clients to visualize and see the furniture they’re interested in.
Financing Option: Exploring new furniture purchasing models aimed to reduce heavy upfront capital expenditure, this included rebates and furniture subscription services.
Trusted Review Platform: Aiming to help customers gain confidence by using data to show them what customers like them purchased and reviewed furniture applications.
Despite financial uncertainty, financial incentives alone were insufficient to alleviate customers’ purchasing paralysis.
When testing high-level business model concepts aimed at addressing purchasing influences, the concept of "financing options" stood out. Among surveyed customers, 66% recognized financing options, including rebates and leasing, as significant influencers. However, while these options reduced financial risk, they did not automatically translate into heightened purchase confidence.
Users also valued peer reviews and tailored recommendations, seeing it builds trust. Because of this, the Trusted Review Platform resonated the most with customers.
The reputation and expertise of the furniture manufacturer emerged as the second most influential factor, with 60% of customers citing it as an important influence in their decision making.
During concept testing, customers expressed significant enthusiasm for the Trusted Review Platform. This concept resonated with customers who valued insights from similar customers, considering factors like cultural fit, size fit, and budget fit. The Trusted Review Platform’s approach of providing recommendations based on peer reviews and purchase history fostered trust and elevated the company’s reputation.
This symbiotic business model enhanced purchase conversion rates while catering to data-oriented customers who prioritized research, efficiency, and confidence in their purchase decisions.
Fortunately, the concept also proved desirable from a business standpoint as well.
The platform concept was reported by customers to likely significantly reduce their purchase hesitancy. Furthermore, customers indicated a willingness to invest 16-20% of their order purchase for this service, a much higher share of customers and degree of spend than the other concepts received. These results underscored the concept’s potential as a viable business option.
Project Lead
New Business Innovation
Company: Large office furniture manufacturer
May. 2022 - Aug. 2022
Note: Only the predominant survey findings are shown here, in a summarized and slightly redacted format. The numbers shows, and graphs and images are not representative of the full survey response set.
Survey conducted in July 2022
n = 135 participants:
”Chooser roles” being individuals with purchase decision influence, such as HR Managers, Facility Managers, and C-Level Executives.
At a leading office furniture manufacturer, I joined the business innovation team to identify user needs and develop business models prioritizing user desirability, business viability, and technological feasibility. My primary project involved investigating customer purchase hesitancy and proposing the Trusted Review Platform concept. This concept demonstrated strong potential in terms of user appeal, business feasibility, and technical viability, receiving positive feedback from the VP CFO. The project is now in the development stage, with plans for implementation.