MicroD’s CEO & President, Manoj Nigam is featured as the cover story in the recent issue of Silicon India Magazine.

Article reprinted from Silicon India Magazine
http://www.siliconindia.com/magazine_articles/The_Change_Agent_of__eCommerce_-SVZI694754088.html
March 2013 Issue
By Vignesh Anantharaj

Manoj Nigam, CEO & President of MicroD Inc.

Steven Gomez just landed his dream job in a software firm in lower Manhattan. After finding a new apartment, he decides to browse the Ethan Allen online furniture showroom for creative additions to his new home. After customizing everything from the colour and texture of the fabric to the wood finish, Steven places the order and gets a new sofa delivered within the next few days. Steven’s example highlights just how quickly and completely the furniture shopping process has shifted online in recent years.

With a staggering 85 percent of furniture buyers researching online before making a purchasing decision, having a customer friendly and interactive website is essential in gaining a competitive advantage. Home furnishing is now the second largest expenditure after acquiring a home. Generation Y consumers are quickly replacing baby boomers as the major demographic of furniture buyers. With this change, it becomes essential for furniture retailers and manufacturers to have a strong online presence.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, MicroD Inc. has been transforming the online presence of leading furnishing companies such as Ethan Allen, Bassett, La-Z-Boy and Drexel clients for 20 years by providing website designs, furniture visualizations and a host of integrated back end processes. In short, these solutions increase sales and provide online visibility for furniture firms and make the online shopping a pleasurable experience for the end customer.

Led by CEO & President, Manoj Nigam, MicroD provides best of breed solutions for website design, web-based sales, marketing and eCommerce. Today, their customer base includes an exhaustive list of over 500 companies spanning retailers, manufacturers and suppliers in the furniture industry in both the U.S. and Europe.

Meeting Customer Needs to Drive Growth
MicroD started operations in 1993 by developing the first computer-based interactive catalogues for the furniture and home furnishings industry. Exim Technologies, a B2B EDI transactions management provider founded by Nigam, started serving the same client base in 1999. MicroD and Exim Technologies partnered for two years before realizing the common synergies and ultimately joining forces in 2003. Together, the companies now provide a strong platform for building unique web solutions coupled with excellent customer service.

Over the past three years, MicroD has steadily achieved a 30 to 40 percent organizational and revenue growth; a significant accomplishment given that customers pay only a monthly subscription fee for website and product catalogue maintenance.

According to a 2012 Furniture Today report, the U.S. home furnishing industry (including accessories such as lighting and rugs) generates revenues of about $120 billion per year. Approximately seven percent of this amount, or $8.4 billion, is spent on advertising with the majority of the budgets invested in television commercials, radio promotions and direct mail ads. By some estimates, as much as 30 percent of the overall advertising budget may be spent for online advertising.

“We see the $2.5 billion online marketing spend in the home furnishings industry as a significant market opportunity for continued growth,” says Nigam. “Ultimately, all the ads have to end up on websites. With the strategic and financial importance of websites today, our products have become more than just a technology.”

Having started operations with four employees and less than 1,000 square feet of office space, MicroD today has nearly 70 employees located in its Charlotte headquarters and Hickory, North Carolina satellite office where it manages customer support, sales, product development and digital catalogues creation services. The company fields a global staff of about 100 with additional offices in India and the Czech Republic. Through its 20 year history, MicroD has maintained its focus exclusively on the home furnishings industry.

Advancing Software to Create Greater Value
With the advent of new technologies in the early 2000s, Nigam noticed a prominent opportunity in the form of Electronic Data Interchange. EDI is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means, which is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one trading partner to another trading partner without human intervention. Combining EDI and electronic catalogue creation has proven to be a game-changing achievement for MicroD. This business strategy generated many positive responses from MicroD clients. According to Nigam, “Combining best-in-class fabric, texture and product visualizations with the business process management tools has enabled us to significantly increase our value to the industry and our clients.”

The most obvious benefit from the newly incorporated technologies came when MicroD launched its state-of-the-art online showroom solution ePiphany in 2009. “We do not build websites as a web designer would,” explains Nigam. “What we do, is create proactive websites for traffic generation. That’s what brings clients to the store. And since 2009, we have been active in selling and running close to 500 websites and through our EDI services we have been transacting over 100,000 transactions a day. We are in the unique position of having the backbone of EDI, and the front end solutions for the eCommerce to get the job done.”

One of a Kind Product Portfolio
As the internet gained mainstream popularity in the late 90s, MicroD was the first to bring furniture presentation online with its ePreVue solution. In 2000, MicroD again led the way with internet-based visualization or ‘draping’ of upholstery fabrics on standard frames. These breakthroughs have forever changed the visual merchandising and custom product configuration capabilities in the industry.

ePreVue gives consumers the ultimate tool for product browsing and visualization. This consumer-focused search technology allows shoppers to filter by individual product features and personalize their furniture buying experience. The streamlined search and robust product catalogues so effectively engage consumers that they stay on MicroD client sites 2-3 times longer than the industry standard.

ePreVue achieves this deep customer interaction by empowering consumers to create custom furniture combinations, share furniture selections, save to favourites, create a room plan and contact the nearest store for more information. This not only increases customer interest and education, it also helps the retailer book greater custom order business.

The powerful furniture visualization tools found in ePreVue can also be used as an in-store closing tool for sales associates and designers. Sales professionals can help a client visualize fabric on frame, build a room plan to ensure fit, and view other coordinating items the client may also wish to include with their purchase.

Leveraging the company’s deep industry experience and Nigam’s technical expertise, ePiphany extends the online presentation capabilities into a web platform with complete business intelligence. This helps unify retailers, brands, and consumers in a way that has redefined the furniture buying and selling process. It also provides advanced search engine optimization tools that get a store “found” and ranked at top of relevant website searches. The built-in analytics tools provides ePiphany clients with valuable consumer buying and trend information, such as most viewed items, frames, and fabrics on a real-time basis. Powerful room planning, product customization, and merchandising tools also help clients accelerate sales and convert more shoppers to buyers.

These and other important capabilities in ePiphany more fully enable furniture retailers and manufacturers to leverage the increasingly important role of the internet in today’s furniture shopping experience to drive shopper traffic and increase sales.

Walter E. Smithe Transforms Online Presence
The impact of just how dramatically the MicroD solutions can improve an established furniture showroom website can be seen at Walter E. Smithe Furniture Company, a family owned furniture manufacturing business started in 1945. Today, owners Walter E. Smithe III, Mark Smithe, and Tim Smithe continue a successful tradition with industry leading product advancements that have allowed them to open 11 store locations and launch a new, cutting-edge website at www.smithe.com.

To stand out in a competitive furniture market, Smithe engaged MicroD in 2012 to create a sophisticated, well-designed and consumer-oriented online presentation that more effectively showcases their products and services and inspires consumer confidence to purchase from the site.

The new site displays over 80 manufacturer catalogues; many with capabilities to configure frame and fabric combinations for custom furniture designs. The website now contains over 46,000 pages indexed by the major search engines and boasts of an average of nearly 75,000 unique monthly visits from consumers and an additional 20,000 visits from mobile devices. Prior to partnering with MicroD, the Walter E. Smithe website had less than 3,000 indexed pages and averaged only 20,000 total monthly visits.

Other notable features on the custom website include an online Designer Chat, allowing customers to interact in real-time with a professional designer; and a Designer Matchmaker tool, which asks customers a variety of style questions and desired project scope in order to select the best professional designer for their service needs.

To maximize consumer accessibility, the entire website has been optimized for a variety of smart phones and tablet devices. Walter E. Smithe III comments, “We are proud of the new website and feel that the modern, cutting-edge aesthetic, strong functionality, and user-friendly interface that the MicroD team has created, accurately represents the Walter E. Smithe brand. Additionally, seeing the drastic increase in monthly web traffic and page indexes is astonishing. This online growth has positively translated into an increase of in-store traffic and sales.”

The Walter E. Smithe Company is just one of many organizations who have realized the value of ePiphany’s online photorealistic visualizations and a robust backend process as a tool to increase sales. With eCommerce spending expected to hit $327 billion by the end of 2016, it is apparent that the clear road ahead for furniture retail and manufacturing is online. MicroD is clearly paving the way for the eCommerce revolution in this industry.

The Man Behind MicroD
The growth of MicroD as a provider of comprehensive, integrated online solutions to over 500 websites and clients can be attributed to Manoj Nigam. An entrepreneur at heart, in his initial days he was involved in cars and robotics. Nigam holds a BS degree in engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India, a Master of Science Degree in Automation and Robotics and an MBA from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina (USA). During his Master’s degree work, his team built a biped robot which could serve in hazardous situations. Eventually his passion for robotics, technology, and the desire to simplify complex problems led him to develop the electronic data interchange platform of Exim Technologies.

Nigam is a technology expert with over 20 years of management experience. He has held many senior level positions including CIO, Vice President, and co-owner at Advanced Automation Inc, a 250 employee custom industrial automation products company in Greenville, SC. A man of exceptional product management skills, he was also instrumental in helping Home Point, a “dot-com” company that received $72 million in funding for designing a blueprint for B2B commerce in the furniture industry.

Today Nigam is the CEO and President of MicroD Inc. The company adds value to the home furnishings industry by providing its clients with a single-source solution for a variety of online and in-store technology solutions.

According to Nigam, the core values of customer satisfaction, talented employees, hard work and innovation are responsible for the growth and continued success of the company.

Supported by continued strong demand for its industry-renowned product presentation and ecommerce solutions, MicroD begins its celebration of two decades of service to home furnishings retailers and manufacturers with a major expansion of its operations in Hickory, NC.

January 8, 2013 — Hickory, NC — MicroD Incorporated, the global leader in integrated online furniture presentation and ecommerce website solutions, today kicked off its 20^th anniversary celebration with the grand opening of a new office in Hickory, North Carolina. Civic and industry leaders were on hand to join in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new 7,800 square foot facility.

Manoj Nigam, Mona Nigam, Mary Martell, Ron Martell, Mayor Rudy Wright

MicroD opened here in 1993 with 4 people and under 1,000 square feet of office space. Now with close to 60 employees the Hickory office continues to serve as the base for many of the company’s product development, sales, customer support, and digital catalogs creation services. Today the company fields a global staff of nearly 100 with additional offices in Charlotte, India, and the Czech Republic. Through it all, MicroD has maintained its focus exclusively on the home furnishings industry.

“We are grateful to our customers and colleagues that have enabled these 20 years of growth”, announced MicroD CEO and President Manoj Nigam. “We have proudly maintained an exclusive focus on the home furnishings industry. We continue to invest, innovate and expand our operations here and around the world in response to strong demand for the latest tools and technologies.”

In its early days, MicroD pioneered the use of the computer for desktop product presentations. As the internet gained mainstream popularity, the company was the first to bring furniture presentation online with its ePreVue solution. In 2000, MicroD launched this leading-edge internet based technology that allowed for computer-generated visualization or ‘draping’ of upholstery fabrics on standard frames for visual merchandising and custom product configuration purposes.

After merging with leading B2B software and services company Exim Technologies in 2003, the company made a major commitment to develop for the web that resulted in the integration of electronic data interchange (EDI) and numerous advancements in online furniture merchandising. In 2009, MicroD once again delivered breakthrough technology for the industry with its ePiphany platform; the first fully integrated merchandising and marketing solution with product presentation, room planning, website development and hosting, and ecommerce capabilities.

According to Nigam, “Combining the MicroD draping and presentation tools with the EXIM Commerce business-to-business (B2B) transaction capabilities was not only a major leap in technology; it gave the industry the tools needed to truly embrace customers on the Internet. Because it brings all necessary components for online success together in a single solution, ePiphany, combined with Exim Commerce has tremendously expanded market interest in our products; from both retailers and manufacturers.”

As the Internet has become essential to success in the home furnishings industry, MicroD continues to serve both business-to-business and business-to-consumer needs. Manufacturers use ePiphany websites to build their brand awareness among consumers as well as support their retail partners. Using state-of-the-industry interactive catalogs, room planning, and other integrated MicroD solutions, retailers can more effectively engage consumers with a fast, easy, and rewarding shopping experience that will drive them to stores for their final purchase.

“In addition to continuously improving our ecommerce tools, we are working on mobile and 3D presentation technologies that will allow our customers to stay ahead of growing consumer expectations for a faster and more engaging shopping experience,” added Nigam. “With mobile device use skyrocketing, we have made product presentation on all ePiphany websites mobile-optimized so consumers can conveniently shop from their smartphones. After launching the iPreVue App in 2012, we are continuing to work on making more presentation and sales tools available for our customers on mobile devices such as the iPad®. We also see online 3D product presentation as a tremendous opportunity for home furnishing companies.”

 “Over our history, we have seen tremendous change in consumer expectations to what now mandates faster and more convenient interaction than ever before. In order to keep our customers ahead of the curve, we believe that we must address these issues at once because they are all needed to thrive in today’s multichannel business environment. That is what drives our expansion and keeps MicroD focused on our commitment to make our customers’ products look great online while making furniture shopping easier for consumers.”

About MicroD

More than 85% of the top 100 furniture retailers and brands trust MicroD’s online solutions. Select customers include Ashley, Bassett , Drexel Heritage, Ethan Allen, Kittles,Henredon, Klaussner, Lane and  Lexington  among others.  Nearly 2,500 solutions are in use by furniture retailers, suppliers and manufacturers throughout United States and Europe. More than 650 manufacturers are connected through Exim Commerce to exchange close to 100,000 EDI documents each day with leading retailers such as Kittles, Bassett Retail Stores, Mathis Brothers, Sleep Country Canada, American Furniture Warehouse etc.

For more information, visit www.microdinc.com

To view additional event photos, visit: www.facebook.com/microdinc

Charlotte, NC – Oct. 29th, 2012 – MicroD announces that industry veteran Alex Boyer has joined MicroD as Sr. Executive – Strategic Business Development. Boyer brings over 20 years of experience in the furniture industry with leadership background in sales, marketing, and merchandising. Before joining MicroD, Boyer wasDirector of Sales for Repzio. He has also worked for Furniture Classics Ltd , Two Palms Casual, Pulaski Furniture, and Hickory Chair Company.

“We are excited about having Alex as part of the MicroD team.  His passion for the furniture industry, coupled with his strong customer-centric sales and marketing experience makes him an ideal leader in our organization,” stated Manoj Nigam, President and CEO of MicroD.

“I am really excited by the opportunity.  I am able to apply my industry experience and knowledge in helping manufacturers and retailers leverage MicroD’s online marketing and merchandising solutions to gain brand recognition and sales growth. Internet and web-based initiatives are critical to the continuing health of home furnishings retailers and manufacturers. Being part of the energetic and talented executive team at MicroD and assisting clients in their Internet strategy and execution will  be rewarding.” stated Boyer.

Contact Alex by calling: 704-927-3190 or by emailing: AlexBoyer@microdinc.com.

About MicroD
MicroD delivers the expertise, technology, and services to transform your online presence and drive customers to your stores. We create premier websites for the furniture industry. For more than 20 years, MicroD has led the way with innovative furniture merchandising solutions. That’s why more than 85% of the top 100 furniture brands and retailers rely on MicroD. MicroD Incorporated is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and also maintains an office in Hickory, NC. For more information, visit www.microdinc.com

Reprinted from FurnitureToday

Furniture Today Staff — Furniture Today, August 29, 2012

DALLAS — The Furniture Industry Data Exchange committee, known as FIDX, has come up with a simpler solution to help companies create e-catalogs.

FIDX has developed a standard Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, available for download at www.fidx.org, for use in creating online catalogs of simple, non-customizable products.

While processing transactions in e-commerce has been relatively simple, building the electronic catalogs has been more difficult, officials said. Several years ago, in order to accommodate the complex configurations associated with custom ordered products (primarily upholstery), FIDX developed a robust standard using XML technology. However, more robust means more complex, which resulted in limited use within the industry, according to officials.

The new Excel-based spreadsheet is a less complex solution for use with non-customizable catalog items, officials said. The goal is to increase the use of industry standards, thereby reducing time and cost associated with building and implementing a company’s e-catalog.

Use of Microsoft Excel, a common technology, should allow more flexibility within a company and reduce the need for IT department support, according to FIDX.

“We’re interested in making it simpler for people to do things in the best possible way,” said Mary Frye, president of the Home Furnishings Independents Assn., which jointly sponsors FIDX along with the American Home Furnishings Alliance and the National Home Furnishings Assn.

The MS Excel solution can be used only for simple, non-customizable products. The XML solution should still be used for more complex, configured-to-order products, the committee said.

Representatives from the three sponsoring associations along with Ashley Furniture, Furnituredealer.net, Grey Suit Retail, MicroD and Wayfair.com participated in the discussion about the Excel electronic catalog standard.

Memphis, Tenn., July 28, 2012  – Home Accents leader Stein World has relaunched its website, www.steinworld.com, to provide greater functionality to both dealers and consumers. Debuting at the Las Vegas furniture market, the new cutting-edge site was developed in partnership with industry supplier MicroD, and features a visually stunning interface and a robust merchandising platform.

The site’s advanced capabilities benefit both consumers and dealers. New lifestyle photography captures and inspires consumer visitors while a dealer locator encourages and facilitates retail shopping. Advanced dealer tools support product selection, ordering and fulfillment.

“We are extremely proud of the new website and excited by its ability to market and merchandise our broad assortment of accent furnishings, lighting and mirrors,” says Jack Johnson, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Our new site will help inspire consumer demand for our products, drive sales and support our dealers.”

The site’s newly improved functionality features advanced dealer ordering capabilities including real-time updating of product availability. Consumers will appreciate new features such as room planning tools, interactive lifestyle images and a more user-friendly product catalog.

“We’re very pleased to be working with Stein World as they reset their web strategies.  Jack and his organization have listened to the millions of consumers who are now using the web as a primary shopping/research tool and they have taken action to be sure that Stein World is where those consumers want them to be.  It’s been a true honor to work with Jack and the other members of the Stein World team.”, said Johne Albanese, Sr. Executive for Strategic Business Development for MicroD.

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FOR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PRESS RELEASE, PLEASE CONTACT JACK JOHNSON AT 662.891.2570

About Stein World

Stein World finds, creates and delivers the finest and most unique hand-painted home furnishings in the world. Established in 1985, the company has a rich history as one of the leading pioneers of the furniture industry. For more than 50 years it has delivered exceptional products—such as accents, mirrors, chairs, lighting, occasional tables, vanity sinks, media consoles and casual dining sets—by developing true partnerships with talented artisans and manufacturing partners. The organization is committed to providing classic designs, stylish silhouettes, fashion-forward colors and quality craftsmanship—all at an affordable price.

Headquartered in Memphis Tenn., Stein World operates a 350,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art distribution center and ships its distinctive products to dealers across the United States and Canada. It shows and introduces products at major furniture markets including High Point, Las Vegas, Dallas and Tupelo. For more information, visit www.steinworld.com.

About MicroD

For more than 20 years, MicroD has been the leader in online and in-store furniture merchandising solutions. More than 85% of the top 100 furniture retailers and brands count on MicroD software and services to engage and inspire consumers through visually stunning and informative websites and product catalogs. MicroD is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and also maintains offices in Hickory, NC. For more information, visit http://www.microdinc.com.

iPreVue App: an iPad Application for Manufacturer Reps

The iPreVue App is available as a 30-day trial in the iTunes store. Please contact MicroD if you are interested in learning more about how you can join the program! Email:Solutions@MicroDinc.com.

MicroD Inc. introduced a powerful iPad-based mobile application at the 2012 April High Point Market. This application, branded as iPreVue App, is designed for the manufacturers’ sales representatives, providing them with a multitude of time-saving and revenuegenerating tools to present and create product line-ups; to browse, configure and visualize products; and to place orders.

iPreVue App offers features for both case goods and upholstery manufacturers to represent their product catalogs on any version of Apple’s iPad. The high-resolution images and merchandising features in this application utilize MicroD’s exclusive fabric- and finish-draping as well as visualization capabilities consistent with the product displays found on world-class websites that use MicroD’s ePreVue and ePiphany platforms.

iPreVue App is the only industry iPad application that supports both case goods and upholstery catalogs with dynamic fabric and finish visualization, providing ordering capabilities for both standard as well as highly-configurable custom products.

Features and Benefits:

• Select manufacturer-authorized retailers
• Browse and visualize catalog items
• Add items to purchase orders for retailers
• Review order histories
• Add notes and bookmark items for later review
• Quickly email tear sheets and product information pages
• Conform to manufacturer rules for merchandising and order minimums
• Container Order configuration
• Add new customer information and manage current customer information
• Integrate with the manufacturer’s ERP or management information systems
• …and much more!

Because iPreVue App is a native iPad application, sales representatives are able to use the application with or without an Internet connection. Once the user has an Internet connection, the stored order information and notes can be transmitted to the manufacturer and emailed to the retailer.

About MicroD

MicroD delivers the expertise, technology, and services to transform your online presence and drive customers to your stores. We create premier websites for the furniture industry. For more than 20 years, MicroD has led the way with innovative furniture merchandising solutions. That’s why more than 85% of the top 100 furniture brands and retailers rely on MicroD.

MicroD Incorporated is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and also maintains offices in Hickory, NC. For more information, visit www.microdinc.com.

Charlotte, NC (April 17th, 2012) – MicroD Inc. introduces a powerful iPad-based mobile application at the upcoming High Point Market for home furnishings. This application, branded as iPreVue App, is initially designed for the manufacturers’ sales representatives, providing them with a multitude of time-saving and revenue-generating tools to present and create product line-ups; to browse, configure and visualize products; and to place orders.

iPreVue App offers features for both case goods and upholstery manufacturers to represent their product catalogs on any version of Apple’s iPad. The high-resolution images and merchandising features in this application utilize MicroD’s exclusive fabric- and finish-draping as well as visualization capabilities consistent with the product displays found on world-class websites that use MicroD’s ePreVue and ePiphany platforms. iPreVue App is the only industry iPad application that supports both case goods and upholstery catalogs with dynamic fabric and finish visualization, providing ordering capabilities for both standard as well as highly-configurable custom products.

“Consistent with MicroD’s mission for providing leading-edge technology solutions for the home furnishings industry, we believe the iPreVue App brings substantial benefits in terms of time savings and ease of product line ups, product visualization and order placement—especially since many of the leading manufacturers’ representatives are now equipped with mobile devices like iPhones, iPads or other tablet devices,” said Manoj Nigam, President and CEO of MicroD Inc. “This unique and robust application is a further example of MicroD’s commitment to the industry in continuing to develop and introduce comprehensive solutions as a technology partner for the furniture industry’s leading manufacturers and retailers.”

Among its many features, iPreVue App will allow sales representatives to select manufacturer-authorized retailers, browse and visualize items, add items to purchase orders for those retailers, review order histories, add notes, and bookmark items for later review. Additionally they will be able quickly to email tear sheets and product information pages, conform to manufacturer rules for merchandising and order minimums, add new customer information, and manage current customer information: all while seamlessly integrating with the manufacturer’s ERP or management information system.

Because iPreVue App is a native iPad application, sales representatives are able to use the application with or without an Internet connection. Once the user has an Internet connection, the stored order information and notes can be transmitted to the manufacturer and emailed to the retailer.
After iPreVue App’s initial introduction at the High Point Market, MicroD expects to have a full production version of iPreVue App operating in many of the manufacturer showrooms at this summer’s home furnishings’ Las Vegas Market. Additionally, MicroD’s longer range plans are to offer iPreVue App as a merchandising tool for retailers.

About MicroD
MicroD delivers the expertise, technology, and services to transform your online presence and drive customers to your stores. We create premier websites for the furniture industry. For more than 20 years, MicroD has led the way with innovative furniture merchandising solutions. That’s why more than 85% of the top 100 furniture brands and retailers rely on MicroD.

MicroD Incorporated is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina and also maintains offices in Hickory, NC. For more information, visit www.microdinc.com.