Furniture.com First to Enhance Customer Experience With Introduction of Proactive, Live Online Assistance For Shoppers

Furniture World Magazine

E-commerce leader Furniture.com continues to revolutionize the way people buy furniture by becoming the first Internet shopping site to provide proactive, real-time customer assistance to online shoppers at the moment they need it most."The winners in e-tailing will succeed because of their ability to 'humanize' the online experience through superior customer care and communications," said Furniture.com, Inc. President and CEO Andrew L. Brooks. "At Furniture.com, we've created an entirely new consumer shopping experience based on personalization, service and total satisfaction. By offering shoppers proactive, real-time access to Design Consultants while they're actually shopping, we are advancing the bar in Internet shopping. "Furniture.com is the first high-end Internet shopping site to offer customers real time assistance. The ability to do so comes from New Channel Inc.'s new Targeted Engagement Technology, which for the first time enables effective sales in more complex high-end retailing transactions."We are engaging online shoppers at the time they appear to need assistance," Brooks said. "Imagine that a shopper is involved in comparing and selecting a number of items before placing her order. She may well welcome some professional assistance or design advice. With this new technology, our Design Consultants can proactively extend an offer of assistance via a pop-up window on her computer screen. If she accepts the offer, a private dialog box appears, allowing her to chat and receive other information on a live, one-to-one basis with an experienced furniture expert." "The technology is especially useful for consumers who use their single home phone line to connect to the Web. For them, the ability to chat without leaving the site means there's no need to cut short their shopping and disconnect their Internet session to call a Design Consultant by phone," Brooks said. The New Channel technology is the latest of Furniture.com's continuing investments in recreating the furniture shopping experience by emphasizing customization, customer service and satisfaction. "Furniture.com offers the most customizable shopping experience in the industry, the largest selection of furniture (more than 50,000 items) on the Internet, and free Red Carpet Delivery and in-home set-up. There's also live Design Consultant help available by e-mail, phone, and real-time chat; a unique Personal Shopper service where professional consultants suggest furnishings based on an individual's preferences, styles, needs, and budgets; and a comprehensive collection of unconditional Total Assurance Guarantee programs," Brooks said. About Furniture.com: Furniture.com, at http://www.furniture.com, is the e-commerce leader in the growing $178 billion U.S. furniture and home furnishings market. Backed by a 'Who's Who' of Internet/e-commerce venture capital firms - including @Ventures, the affiliated venture capital arm of CMGI; Bessemer Venture Partners; and Brand Equity Ventures - Furniture.com is revolutionizing the way consumers shop for furniture by delivering the world's best furniture shopping experience. On Furniture.com, consumers create their own personal showroom by selecting their favorite items from the broadest selection of furniture online. Furniture.com is a Lycos Top 5% website and is a member of BBBOnline, TRUSTe and VeriSign.