Icovia Releases Version 5 of Icovia Business Edition for the Furnishings Industry

Furniture World Magazine

Icovia announced the release of Icovia® Business Edition 5, the latest version of its online, interactive 2D room planning and sales lead generation tool for furnishings manufacturers and retailers. Icovia Business Edition version 5 offers over a hundred new features to enhance the customer experience in designing and visualizing their interiors with furnishings products, as well as improved reporting and lead follow-up tools for the seller. “The home furnishings industry overall has recognized the value of incorporating web marketing into its communications mix for reaching customers,” commented Steve Street, CEO of Icovia. “Icovia Business Edition is currently built into the websites of over 380 retailers and manufacturers, and launched by more than 20,000 consumers daily. The 100+ new features in version 5 deliver the enhancements that are most in demand. Shoppers are empowered with an even easier-to-use interface offering considerably more design options, while simultaneously placing greater emphasis on the retailer’s products. We’ve also made it easier for sellers to follow up on leads and zero in on those products that most interest the customer.” Highlights of Icovia Business Edition version 5 include: - Faster performance. Version 5 has been re-written to optimize response time and usability. - Enhanced customer experience. Icovia now offers a library of over 1,300 furniture and household symbols that can easily be dropped into a floor plan. New design tools allow shoppers to design rooms and experiment with textures and patterns for floor surfaces, create curved walls, or even hang photos, among other options. Once spaces are designed, customers can “furnish” their rooms, and make direct requests for product information in the space planning tool. Users can even print detailed product brochures, along with selected promotions, coupons with the retailers store information. - Improved sales lead generation, follow through and reporting. Icovia now offers a ‘dashboard’ that reports how customers are using Icovia, including their time spent planning and the specific products they selected. Whenever a customer goes to save a floor plan, he/she is prompted to first register. Immediately, both the contact info and saved plan are made readily available to the retailer. Monthly activity reports make it easy to forward leads to marketing and sales teams, helping them close more deals. Icovia will also announced that it will launch a 3D version of its interactive, online room planner at Las Vegas Market. Icovia® 3D helps home furnishings retailers and manufacturers increase their website traffic and sales by empowering shoppers with an instant online ability to “furnish” their homes with products from the manufacturer’s online catalog. Commented Steve Street, CEO of Icovia: “Icovia 3D helps retailers and manufacturers sell more product for three reasons. First, it gives shoppers more visual information, which increases confidence in their buying decisions and leads to faster orders. Secondly, retailers can promote products as bundles and bolster their bottomline by selling whole rooms of furniture. Third, this tool inspires repeat visits, and our research shows that customer loyalty increases with repeat visits.” Icovia 3D provides online shoppers with all of the capabilities they need to design and visualize their interiors in both 2D and 3D views. Once Icovia 3D is added to a retailer’s or manufacturer’s website, prospective buyers can create rooms of various shapes and sizes, and then drop in products from an online catalog. Users are further engaged by their ability to customize these interiors with selected fabrics and finishes, room lighting, wall colors, and flooring. Icovia 3D ultimately gives the shopper the power to make intelligent buying decisions while simultaneously alerting the retailer or manufacturer to their most qualified prospective buyers. Demos and test drives of both programs will be performed during the Las Vegas Market at the World Market Center, Building A Suite 536 or email: info@icovia.com. About Icovia: Icovia was founded in 2000 and has become the industry leading online room planning solution for retailers, manufacturers, interior designers and homeowners. The Icovia Room Planner simultaneously delivers value to both businesses and consumers by providing powerful, easy-to-use interior design tools that combine free usage with registration-based features to identify potential buyers as actionable contacts. Icovia's technology serves a number of markets, including home furnishings, real estate, and interior design. Current customers include La-Z-Boy, Kohler, Nautilus, GMAC Real Estate and William-Sonoma. Icovia is headquartered in Londonderry, NH. For more information, visit www.icovia.com or call 1-603-206-6206.