Your store may be full of exactly what customers shopping for furniture and other home décor desire. But how will they know that if your website has no product descriptions that sell them on your product? Better yet, what if you’re still not showing products online? Your failure to invest more time and energy into product descriptions and catalog data that sell may be costing you sales and the chance to help your business grow.
We’ll discuss what type of product details appeal to shoppers. Next, we’ll show you how good design can expand your audience. You’ll learn how important customer engagement is to keep your business relevant. Finally, we’ll go through examples of successful conversions depending on the goals of your store.
What Makes For A Great Product Description?
The best product descriptions that sell tell customers everything they need to know about a product at a glance. They see items showcased in their best light, can easily consume details about their makeup, and other information vital to customers.
Important Product Description Details:
- Product type: Sofa, Sleigh Bed, Bar Stool
- Style: Traditional, Transitional, Contemporary etc.
- Material: Wood, Metal, etc.
- Construction: Ex: Pocket wrapped coils for a mattress or Eight-way hand-tied for a sofa
- Brand and Collection Name
- Dimensions and other specifications
The most effective product descriptions outline the features of the product, followed by the benefit it provides. For example, you’d describe a recliner as being made of leather with automatic controls, then let the buyer know how well it would suit someone looking to relax after a long day.
Remember to tailor your language to a more conversational tone. This not only impacts shoppers reading the information on your website, but also caters to voice-activated smart speakers that are programmed for this type of syntax.
Displaying Pricing Information
Here are a few strategies you can use when deciding what pricing information to display along with your product descriptions:
- Exact Price – This is what customers will pay for the piece they’re reviewing. They won’t receive any additional markdowns on the price. Some retailers like to include shipping, tax, and everything else in the final dollar amount displayed. However, pricing may change when a shopper selects a higher grade fabric or leather. Be aware that your ecommerce website should accommodate for these price changes.
- Starting Price – To avoid the confusion on price changes based on upholstery grades, many retailers post a “Starting at price”. This price gives shoppers an idea if the piece is within their budget. Many times a footnote is added that pricing may change on fabric selections. The retailer then encourages the customer to contact the store for details.
- Contact Store – Again, this method might be used if your goal is encouraging direct engagement with your furniture store. This allows your employees to speak with customers, getting a firmer idea of what they’re looking for. This also gives them the chance to close a sale over the phone or encourage them to come by the store. You can also provide a contact form for customers to fill out to obtain more details about a piece.
The method you choose for creating product descriptions that sell depends on you and what you think appeals to your customer base.
Driving Commerce With Product Descriptions
The visuals presented by businesses on their websites or social media pages go a long way towards convincing customers to make a purchase. They’re much more likely to be drawn to a piece laid out in a perfect setting. Include clear wording showcasing how well-suited a piece of furniture would be for their home.
Use the following tips when designing attractive, appealing product descriptions for different items in your showroom:
- Work with a website provider that has access to manufacturer catalog data and photography
- Make sure products are shoppable on mobile devices
- Make it possible to share products on social media to foster “social commerce”
Going Beyond Static Images
You’re not limited to pictures on your website when creating product descriptions that sell. Have you ever thought about creating a video showcasing your products in different settings? What about providing customers with 3D models or room planning tools that gives them an idea of what it would look like in their own home?
Add a voice-over telling them important information about where the item came from and the impact of the purchase on the viewer. The goal is drawing someone in and immersing them in a world where they’re already the owner of a specific piece. Make it almost impossible to think about NOT closing on a purchase.
Make Descriptions Adaptable To Different Mediums
Don’t ignore the impact of well-designed social media pages in showcasing product descriptions that sell. Highlight specific products in a new or trending collection on your Facebook page. Your descriptions should answer their questions and inspire them to make the purchase. They should want to visit your website for that item and others that they find appealing.
Your Instagram feed can be filled with beautiful images and catchy captions designed to catch the eye. This type of visual stimulation encourages users to make a purchase. Your links should take users directly to the item they’re looking for, and not to unrelated items on your website. That annoys visitors and turn them off from making any type of purchase.
Use Product Description In Digital Campaigns
You can use Twitter to send out different videos and images of items your store has on sale. Use it and other social media outlets to your advantage in digital marketing campaigns. They can be instrumental in encouraging both online sales and more foot traffic to your physical store. Make sure you let customers know where you’re located and how they can contact you.
The Necessity Of Customer Engagement
People spend lots of time online consuming different types of content. You must follow your audience to where they congregate and create content that draws them in. That means doing research on what channels they like to visit and their different shopping habits. It may be that you’re after an audience that’s more likely to walk into your store, so you’ll want to dig deeper to attract clientele within your local area.
You want to provide visitors with the ability to find out everything they need to about your products without having to go search other places. The more information they have in front of them, the less likely they are to make a bad purchase. This builds a bond between you and them, making them more willing to come back to you for other furniture purchases.
Display testimonials from other customers happy with their purchase. You should also encourage clients to post feedback on different social media channels and sites like Google. Someone new to your store depends on this type of commentary in determining whether to engage further with your business. They’ll be inspired by other customer raving about your service and the selection of items you have available in your store.
Understand what it is they’re likely looking for and make it clear you have what they need. Don’t pull bait and switches by putting one item in your ad and leading them to a completely different product page. Inspire confidence in your target audience by creating clear, understandable ads leading back to the items they want to explore – then wow them with those product descriptions and photos.
Shoppers that have a solid understanding of the products are more confident buyers and less likely to return the goods or leave a negative product review. Be sure to also display other products complementary to what they’re currently viewing – related items are a great way to increase the sales ticket.
Ideas For Showing Related Furniture Items
- Cocktail tables for living room sofas
- Lamps for new end tables
- Armoires matching new bedroom furniture
- Bookcases that go with a new home office desk
Different Types Of Conversions
What type of interaction do you want from customers based on your product descriptions? That’s going to drive the content across your media pages. Let’s look at some techniques you might apply depending on the actions you’re looking for from your clients.
Website Clicks – You may want to encourage customers to visit certain pages on your site. These could be products on sale or a new line of merchandise you’re promoting. Put up prompts letting them know what they’ll find and encourage them to click through to that section.
Newsletter Sign-ups – Here you’re looking to collect information from customers encouraging you to send them information about your store. Be careful about using pop-ups to capture this type of information. Test out different ways to ask for this information that customers find the least intrusive. In the future, you can send them specific content on products you think they might be interested in and store promotions.
Asking For Account Creation – Prompting users to create an account during the checkout process provides you with information about the customer making the purchase. It also makes it easier for customers to save details to make future purchases.
Social Media Sharing – The more customers share information about their purchases on their own social media channels, the wider the reach of your business expands. Put visible buttons in place making it easy for them to do this on your website.
Looking At Related Items – Use the information from other customer purchases to make other purchase suggestions to customers. Let them know what items other clients also purchased when looking at similar products.
Responding To Surveys Or Providing Other Feedback – Don’t forget to put up prompts encouraging users to leave reviews or other feedback. They can do it directly within a product description, in a specific area of your website, or on different social media outlets like Facebook. Make requests for them to respond to quick surveys about their experience making a purchase. This lets you know what works and where you could make improvements.
Making Sales – This can be the trickiest to accomplish. Experienced customers won’t be fooled by flashing buttons or other gimmicks. The best thing you can do is make it easy for them to make a purchase.
Once you’ve established trust, that goes further than anything else in encouraging them to spread the word about your store and come back for future purchases. That goes back to making sure clients find out everything they need from your product descriptions. It can be tricky for business owners to keep all this in mind and run their businesses. Not everyone has the time to manage the demands of maintaining attractive digital media outlets.
Let MicroD Assist Your eCommerce Efforts
MicroD is a full-service solution for ecommerce websites and digital marketing. We’ve built a platform that understands the intricacies of putting together product descriptions that sell to the audience you’re after. We provide furniture stores with a wide array of ways to create catalog displays and visualization tools for your website.
You’ll get to focus on keeping your showroom well-stocked while we manage your online efforts. You can drive both online sales and foot traffic to your physical stores with an improved digital footprint across different media channels.
Contact MicroD today and let’s talk about building a better website for furniture products.