Commune: In Motion— Singapore’s fi rst cloud-based, omni-channel furniture retail solution

Maltine Soe, Commune’s Systems Architect

In August this year, Commune unveiled Commune: In Motion – Commune’s cloud-based, omni-channel furniture retail solution and mobile augmented reality (AR) application. It is set to transform the shopping experience and reduce the time taken to serve customers by about 70 percent.

Speaking to Maltine Soe, Commune’s systems architect, he shared that Commune recognises that customers today demand a more personalised and customised experience, creating a need to meld the digital and physical into a cohesive whole.

While the app is designed primarily to integrate online and offl ine data across various touch points to improve overall shopping experience for consumers, its fi rst benefi ciaries are actually its salespeople.

“Our salespeople very much welcomed our new app, they waited so long for it,” said Soe, who revealed that the application took about a year to develop.

Just what kind of diff erence did Commune: In Motion bring to them?

“Now that every salesperson carries a tablet containing this new app, it makes the salespeople much happier and more confi dent, which in turn improves the mood of the consumers because, suddenly, our salespeople have a heavy weight lifted off their shoulders. With a tablet, you know you can answer any question, there is a certain energy that is borne out of it,” said Soe.

“The mobile POS – the tablet which our sales people use now replaces the sales counter. Our salespeople can access information about any Commune products right away.

If the salespeople want more information about our Bowen collection, such as where are the stocks available, they can fi nd out through the app. So apart from the AR application, the mobile POS is also part of the Commune: In Motion.

Sometimes, customers come in with questions such as ‘I have a budget of $600, I am looking for coff ee table that is 1.4 metres and I want something in light-coloured wood, what do you have?’ When faced with this type of question, any salesperson won’t be able to give an immediate answer. But the Mobile Pause allows you to answer that question right away. All they have to do is to look for the available lengths and prices through the fi lter or sorting options. In the past, when a customer asked a question,

The AR app helps customers to visualise Commune's products in any space

you had to walk to the counter and back…it adds up to a lot of ineffi ciency over the days. Now, staff can provide information in a faster and more effi cient way and answers can be given in a confident manner when the information is more centralised.”

“Commune: In Motion is very much about an integrated experience in our stores for our customers and members both online and offl ine.

A common scenario: Customers may come in and say, 'I was looking at something online and I really like it and I am wondering if I can fi nd it in your stores.’

My salespeople can view customers’ basic information such as their favourites list through their accounts if they are members and almost immediately fi nd answers to questions like: What is he/she interested in?

The mobile POS – the tablet that replaces the sales counter If there is equal viewing of dining tables, dining chairs and benches – you will know right away that he/she is looking for dining sets and he is considering a bench.

My more experienced salespeople will also be able to identify the stylistic preference of the customers. For example, if customers clicked on the Tusk and Rover collections, they will prefer the industrial, rustic style and you can propose things faster to them. You don’t even have to ask, what style are you into. Sometimes the customers may not be able to name it.”

“Most viewed collections give you an idea of the customer’s stylistic inclination, since collections are organised by their aesthetics. Our marketing department can also use the raw data itself from consumers’ usage on our app, such as the number of pages browsed and what items they tend to click on, to start to fi nd customer profi les.

So if a customer clicked on the items from the Rover and Bruno collections, he likes the industrial style. Aside from that, we also know that he is also looking at a certain price point. We can then start to cluster and group them, so that marketing can make data-driven decisions. There are many diff erent clusters and profi les, such as customers who are only looking for discounts, or table wares, and we can decide what promotion to roll out for the diff erent clusters. It Is much more eff ective as we no longer waste the bandwidth and the advertisements. We should get our ads out the smart way.”

“Commune: In Motion also solved the problem of long training time needed for part-timers and new full-timer. In the past, the newcomer has to know the products—what are their main selling points etc. Usually, a more senior full-time staff will guide you through but it’s a really long process.

Sometimes senior staff have information that other staff don’t have, such as photographs from customers, how a sofa in black now looks at a customer’s living room. Now you can just access Mobile pause and you have information such as care and maintenance, accessories to match and lifestyle shots for visualising.”

“We integrated all our diff erent systems into one. There used to be fi ve diff erent systems that salepeople had to access to fi nd diff erent information, like stock, shipping etc. Our salespeople had to carry around a fi le all the time.”

Commune: In Motion will be implemented progressively in the rest of the overseas retail stores by the end of next year. Commune currently owns 3 stores in Singapore, four in Malaysia, one in the Philippines and 61 in China. ℗