Furniture-design and lifestyle-brand Commune in Singapore has unveiled a cloud-based, omni-channel furniture retail solution and mobile augmented-reality (AR) app.
Commune: In Motion is designed to transform the shopping experience and reduce the time taken to serve customers by about 70 per cent. It is the product of a design development process underway since 2016 to discover new values and growth in the evolving digital landscape.
“The retailers who thrive in the next decade will be those who reimagine and redefine their stores for the digital age,” said CEO Joshua Koh. “Brick-and-mortar retailers have enormous opportunity to leverage the distinct benefits of ‘old fashioned, in-person shopping’ in ways that digital sites can only dream about. The winners of tomorrow will be those who are able to transport the digital world into their stores in a manner that delights customers, builds loyalty and generates brand value,” he said.
The app enables the integration of online and offline data across various touch points – for example, customers’ browsing behaviour and the management of purchase and delivery orders in real-time – to provide a personalised shopping experience for homeowners and furniture enthusiasts.
“Commune: In Motion exemplifies Services 4.0 where next-generation services are end to end, frictionless and anticipatory to customers’ needs,” said development partner Infocomm Media’s executive Jane Lim. “Commune has shown us how retail businesses can meet changing customer needs quickly in the digital age by effectively harnessing emerging technology and data.”
Some of these initiatives undertaken by Commune in Singapore include the development of a VR and 3D space planner, implementation of an e-learning portal for in-house training, and the participation in overseas business missions.
For Commune, the system aims to further improve business operations and speed up customer-service efficiencies, as well as provide a platform whereby the company can build a better relationship with its customers.
Commune in Singapore has a vision is to create a seamless, online-offline shopping experience that is more immersive, fun and explorative while encouraging other companies in the industry to embark on similar journeys.