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MADE TO ORDER
Creating a new bespoke and inspirational experience when designing your living room
The brief
Argos is offering a new bespoke experience for customers choosing to buy a sofa, offering greater customisation and inspirational content.
Argos is offering a new service that gives customers complete control when designing the sofa of their dreams that completes their living room. We want to empower the customer to be inspired when making key decisions on large items, as well as improve the search, filter and browse experience.
The problem
Currently, customers can only choose from pre-set ready-made sofas, and have a poor experience with filtering and browsing, with the filter bar bringing back irrelevant products, thus creating a poor customer experience. Furniture landing pages are also uninspiring and don't offer customers enough information and inspirational content to help drive decision making, with a significantly larger range of choices and options available to them, including feet type, sofa size, and fabric and colourProviding a made to order service will also help to drive down stock holding costs as Argos would not be holding any physical items until building the sofa.
The outcome
First iteration launched in August 2024 on desktop, mobile, native app (iOS ad Adnroid) saw swatch sample orders increase by 32%, and an uplift in annual revenue by £3.4 million. Market share increase by 1%, just shy of the 1.5% target but still enough to move Argos into the top 10 of the upholstery market.
Background
The upholstery market currently is worth £3.27 billion, with made to order products dominating it with a 60% share.
However, Argos only makes up 2% of the upholstery market. With a £41.5million increase in budgets, we aim to increase our market share by at least 1.5%, starting with sofas and a further drive for beds and other furniture in the future.
Discovery
I conducted multiple workshops with engineers and product owners to understand the key friction points and potential opportunities for a new inspirational made to order experience. We worked through outstanding questions that we would want answered, in order to figure out any gaps in knowledge, constraints and capabilities, and who the relevant stakeholders would be to collaborate with, as each node within the purchase journey is owned by a different team. It was also important to do this early on in the process to also map out goals and outcomees from both a customer and business perspective, our measurements of success, and to compare it against costs and risks to understand which solutions would have the greatest value.
Furthermore, I conducted a journey mapping exercise, where we looked at the customer decisision making across all nodes within the current sofa buying journey. This was especially important in order to understand possible friction points, the customer satisfaction levels throughout the journey, as well as potential solutions at each stage of the journey to offer a better, inspirational and bespoke experience to them.
Key call outs that came out of the exercise was issues with filtering and browsing, as well as a lack of important information surfaced eaarly to the customer like dimensions, fabric details or comparison information. It was also apparent that the sofa buying journey was consistent with every other category type on Argos, such as toys, hardware and electrics, and clothing, which made it feel like a less than premium experience and may impact consumer's views on Argos as a trusted furniture brand.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor analysis was undertaken to understand how other players in the market offer an MTO experience, especially from those that have a greater market share in upholstery MTO than Argos. This included brands like Darlings of Chelsea, Sofas and Stuff, Sofology, Loaf, Snug, Swyft, John Lewis and Nkuku.
Trends with competitors showed that more inspirational imagery, as well as lifestyle imagery, seems to be important to the customer when deciding what sofa to buy, as opposed to CGI and 3D rendered images on a plain white background. This was due to the fact that it can influence a customer to think about the sofa in their living room better. Bundles and recommendations were also important to persuade customers to add accessories like throws and footstools. This was already a problem for Argos where we tend to offer customers pre-determined bundles that don't offer them much flexibility, nor an ability to look at sofa styles.
In addition to this, in order to alleviate the concerns customers have in an ever increasing digital world where they wish to see the product they are buying first before spending such a large amount of money, most competitors also offer the option of ordering up to up to 5 free fabric samples - whilst Argos only offers one. This is incredibly important when building trust with your customer base.
After the journey map and competitor analysis session, we analysed customer feedback reviews to validate any concerns that we found. The top issues we found were:
1. Availability: Products showing as in stock that are actually out of stock
2. Search and filtering: Search and browse bringing back irrelevant results
3. Lead times: Lead times unclear for customers
Previous insights
A review was conducted previously by Living Room Refresh, which looked at Habitat's furniture experience. Key call outs from that review included:
1. Showcasing customer reviews can be utilised better. Customers tend to trust other customer reviews over brand signposting and marketing, as they feel it is more personal and doesn't have a hidden agenda.
2. More interactive imagery content. Customers want to be able to zoom into images and see more details, as well as see more content of furniture in a living room as opposed to on white backgrounds.
3. Less aggressive marketing and store closures means that the Habitat brand is less front of mind.
4. There is a growing frustration with how users access customer service, and as such a large portion of returns occurs.
5. Customers prefer to speak to a colleague in person, and in-store shopping trumps the online experience, particularly with large purchases, as customers want to feel like they've been advised adequately on where they are spending their money.
6. Nothing about the website is inspirational or makes them want to come back for more, so we have low returning consumer bases.
7. Customers don't feel like we provide care options early enough in the journey, only being shown it post-purchase, which then makes some purchases rendered obsolete.
8. Customers struggle to understand how the fabric will look and feel on a sofa. Small swatch images that showcase a range of colours in one category do not accurately display all the details.
9. Customers mostly like to "try before they buy", something that they can't do in an online experience which affects their level of trust when bying a large item.
10. Accessibility issues with dimensions and measurements. Measurements are difficult to read on images and can't be read by screen readeers, so it locks out a whole market of customers.
Search and filtering
Market data showed us that most customers tend to search for "sofa", "2 seater" and "3 seater" sofas, and then will filter by colour afterwards. This is particularly problematic as our search capabilities do not have any logic in place and instead pull results that relate to every individual word typed out. For example, a "3 seater sofa" will bring up sofa beds, all sofa types, and 3 cushion sets. This ruins the customer experience by providing them a huge list of products that aren't relevant to their experience.
In addition to this, our filtering experience is equally as poor, with colours grouped into categories. As such, even if a customer filters for "blues", they will get some green sofas. There were also 3 colour variants - beige, brown, cream, white - which all had similar colour sofas. This ultimately ends up locking out the customer from sofas that may fit their requirements.
As such, we know that this is an area that we want to improve to help them make a better informed decision at the top of funnel.
Mission Statements
After conducting multiple workshops to understand the friction points for customers and opportunities available, I wrote some mission statements that will shape the outcome of the project.
Mission Statement 1:
As a customer, I want to be aware that I can choose sofas that I am fully in control of designing the way I want it
Mission Statement 2:
As a customer, I want to be inspired when I come onto Argos to buy a sofa, so that I can make the best decision for my living room
Mission Statement 3:
As a customer, I want to see more relevant information specific to my needs so that I do not feel misled or confused when choosing to spend such a large sum of money
Mission Statement 4:
As a business, I want to increase our share in the upholstery market, so that more customers understand that we are a premium site to help with their living room needs
Mission Statement 5:
As a business, I want to improve our user experience across all points of a buying journey, so that conversion rates and mid-journey drop offs significantly reduce
Mission Statement 6:
As a business, I want to inspire customers when looking for furniture so that we can retain them for future purchases and also grow our customer base through great reputation and word of mouth
Ideation
Due to technical constraints, the project has been split into 2 phases, in order to provide value to customers overtime and optimise the current sofa purchase journey
Phase 1:
Optimise the existing right hand rail, provide more relevant content and signposting, and include greater use of imagery
Phase 2:
Completely revolutionise the right hand rail, improve filtering, further optimise media gallery, and enhance recommendation pieces
Initial concepts
The project went through many feedback-led iterations, with multiple rounds of testing done to understand how customers interact with various aspects of the new proposal. This included looking at the product lister page (PLP), product details page (PDP) and the basket and checkout.
Product Listers Page
For phase 1, I had originally tested the concept of utilising inspiration on the listers page, with product tiles that were category led by the product ranges. If the customer clicks on one tile, they would then see all the sofa variants available within that range.
Initial testing was mixed, with most users stating that sofa range isn't that important to them. When a user searches for a sofa, they typically already have an idea in mind for what type of sofa they want.
Insights showed that users will typically search for a "sofa" and then filter by type or colour afterwards, so adding an extra step through providing range tiles proved to be counter productive for them.
In addition to this, grey backgrounds were not allowed as images were shot on a white background, and it would cost too much to remove the background and add a custom background in.
Product Details Page
The product details page went through the most amount of changes due to customer insights as well as technical constraints that we had not considered during initial discovery.
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Initially, I tried to enhance inspirational content on the page through the greater use of lifestyle imagery. This included a full-bleed banner at the top of the page that showcases the sofa to make it feel premium, as well as 3D rendered imagery so that the customer can rotate it and see all angles of the sofa.
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The initial goal was to simplify the amount of content on the screen, but provide enough visual content to the customer to understand the product and its fabric in as much detail as possible.
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Technical constraints included the fact that we can only photograph sofas in a square frame, meaning that the full bleed banner did not work, but I also discovered through testing that the 3D imagery does not tend to work for customers as it can be an accessibility issue for those with cognitive disabilities, as well as it being generally difficult to manouver.
Sofa modifications
Sofa modifications were opted to be placed inside of a sidedrawer that opens out on top of the PDP. This was to save space and to improve filtering so that customers can focus directly on creating the sofa of their choice.
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Whilst the sidedrawer itself tested well, customers found them to be too content rich and busy, and struggled to navigate through them with ease. When selecting the fabric and colour, customers thought that the different columns were different stages for selection, rather than a list of options to them.
Phase 1 final iteration
After mixed results from moderated testing, the designs were revised and updated to reflect the insights.
Key insights were that customers enjoy the cleaner content on product tiles, but want more important information surfaced here in order to make better informed decisions. They also enjoy the changes to the PDP, but found it to still be lacking in inspiration and difficult to navigate throughout the page. After several rounds of iteration, I landed on the final UI.
Product Listers Page
Upgrades include the use of fabric swatch previews to the product tiles now, which allows the customer to get a much more accurate idea of what colours and fabrics are available to them. I also included a counter to show how many colour variants there are, so that they are aware of all the variants available to the customer.
There are two types of fabric tiles now - one specifically for MTO sofas and another for readymade sofas. MTO sofas have their own specific tag to inform customers that they can modify it, and they also include necessary fulfillment messaging to let the customer know as early as possible that there is up to a 9 week lead time depending on their location.
Finally, the inclusion of a "from" price dictates the cheapest possible variant for the sofa, which updates dynamically depending on whatever filters the customer puts in place.
This tested well with users who found that the product tiles were clean, simple to understand and easy to scan. Users also understood the difference between MTO sofas and readymade sofas, and that the price can change depending on what variants they select.
Product Details Page
Due to technical constraints, we aren't able to get all the APIs in place for day 1 release, so we have kept the right hand rail in its current state, but added the option for modifying colour and fabric, and leg finish. This is so we can give customers an entry point quickly for having more control in their purchase journey.
In addition to this, I redesigned the media gallery, to make use of larger, square, inspirational imagery that is the main focus of the screen. Lifestyle imagery is the first image on screen as research showed that customers interact with lifestyle imagery the most. There are then numerous photos of the sofa from varying angles and close up shots that are easier to interact with than 3D rendered imagery, allowing for better accessibility.
Furthermore, dimensions and line drawings are also added to the media gallery as Baymard recommendations stated that customers tend to look for dimensions information here mostly. This was further validated through user testing.
Sofa details
Due to the constraints regarding the right hand rail, sofa specifications, signposting and more details now sit underneath the media gallery in accordions.
I made the choice to have all accordions closed upon entering the PDP as it will reduce visual clutter and allow customers to choose what information they choose to interact with. Initial insights showed that customers don't tend to look at product details, but look more to specifications and measurements data.
The inclusion of video content was also added as well to give the customer more relevant information of the made to order process in an easily digestable format, so that we can manage their expectations for why the sofa will take up to 9 weeks to be delivered. This was included as insights showed that customers still expect lead times to be short even in MTO cases.
Testing showed that users have no issue finding this content on the page, and found the new additional content and signposting to be relevant and useful to their search process.
Sofa modifications
The sidedrawers were tidied up to reduce visual clutter and improve scanability down the page.
Colours and fabrics are sorted in descending order of price, with the total price of the selection shown to the customer. This tested well with customers who understood the varying price differences. Customers also understood which fabric each colour corresponds to.
Customers stated that they would like to see some visual cues of the sofa changing as they select each fabric, but this capability isn't available yet. This may be revised in future iterations.
Phase 2 final iteration
After the August 2024 release, more capabilities will be available for us to further optimise the experience, bringing in more inspirational content and interactive elements for customers, as well as significantly enhancing our recommendational products so that customers can buy whole living room sets as opposed to individual accessories.
Product Listers Page
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Further optimisations include a grid view now. Some customers expressed difficulty with knowing which product tile the MTO tag related to as it floated on white space. In order to counteract this, we have added grids to the product tile to separate product tiles and provide breathing room.
Testing indicated that this is a welcome feature to customers as it improves scanability across the page.
Carousels were also added to the product tiles so customers could see previews of all the images. This tested well as it allowed them to see all the relevant imagery without having to click into the PDP, thus improving the navigation throughout their purchase decision making.
I also surfaced dimensions earlier onto the product tile as research showed that it was the most important thing a customer looks for when deciding on a sofa. Usually, customers know what size sofa they need for their living room space, so having that information shown as early as possible improves efficiency in their search experience.
There is also now a link next to the swatch previews that then showcases a list of all the colours and fabrics available so the customer has more clarity on what variants are available to them. Testing proved this to be successful as customers have all the information available and allows them to think about comparisons earlier in the journey.
Product Details Page
The right hand rail has now been cleaned up and made much more easily digestable, particularly by simplifying payment and fulfillment options.
In addition to this, the product information that sat as accordions under the media gallery now sits in the right hand rail that opens in sidedrawers similar to the sofa modification options. This significantly improved findabiltiy as well as contexualising the customers' decision making as they can look at the images whilst opening up sidedrawers. Users stated that this approach was cleaner and easier to find key information, as well as better filtering meant reduction of visual clutter and more focus in their decision making.
Media gallery
The media gallery is now fully interactional. Customers can click on images to view them in full view, as well as zoom into them and inspect the images in more detail. They also have the power to filter between all images, customer generated content, and professionally shot content. Providing relevant alt text under each imagery also provided more context for customers.
Additional help
Currently customers have access to the habitat digital showroom online. This serves as a way for customers to speak to experts and get advice on sofa sizes, fabrics, colours and anything else before they purchase. The feedback from the service shows that it is well received a way to bridge the gap between online customers and those who prefer to shop in-store, offering them a personal service from the comfort of their own home.
However, where it is currently surfaced on the PDP makes it difficult to find also clarity over what the service actually provides is quite vague.
As such, I worked with the content management team (CMS) to bring our showroom page directly to the PDP in its own sidedrawer. This provides the customer much more context that is easily digestable so that they understand how to use the feature.
This tested well with customers as they felt apprehensive about potentially being on camera with a colleague, but the additional context lets them know that they won't be visible, and they now have the freedom to seek advice and guidance without having to leave their home with a live conversation.
Additional signposting
Moving the additional details to the right hand rail proved to be successful for customers in terms of findability, but relevant signposting for dimensions and measuring before purchase were also included.
Adding in a table view for the dimensions was an accessibility improvement as images with measurements cannot be picked up by screen readers, and smaller screen resolutions can make it harder to read. As such, the table of contents was shown to improve scanability and also make the content accessibile for all audiences.
Signposting for measuring before ordering was also welcomed as it provides customers with the relevant warning of how to measure and make sure the sofa can get through doors, hallways, and narrow spaces to get into the living room. This was particularly important for customers as one of the most frequent issues that Argos encountered was returns for sofas that weren't able to fit in homes. This also includes other issues like road restrictions prohibiting delivery as well, so the relevant signposting should benefit both customers and costs for Argos to hold returned sofas in fleet.
Recommendations
Recommendations are important to the sofa purchase journey as it allows customers to style an entire living room, or look for alternative products that they may feel inspired to also choose as an accessory.
The current issues with the recommendations process is that we only surface alternative products with no logic of similar parameters already determined by the customer, and essential extras are often only one arbitrary item that is predermined which customers don't have any control over.
As such, the new recommendations feature showcases different style options that a customer can click into and select as many different items that they want within each style. This is part of our "one to many" approach where we hope to increase basket sizes for customers.
Testing showcased that customers felt inspired by the new recommendations feature, finding it useful for seeing different styles, but also having the freedom to choose any other items they want. As such, more control for customers meant that they felt more inclined to add more items to their basket.
App designs
On top of designing the end-to-end journey on desktop and mobile web, I also worked on the native app designs. There were a lot of complexities with consistency between the app and web journey, with certain APIs not being able to be used in the app, as well as rich text links not being possible.
Working with a different Product Owner for the apps resulted in more complex collaboration with them and the web PO, ensuring that both sides were content with the proposals, and understanding any discrepencies that can occur. For example, the decision to leave out CTAs to buying guides on the app was taken due to the issues it would cause with taking users out of the journey. This also meant that I had to reduce the amount of rich text links I used on the web journey as well so that app users weren't locked out of so many features. More signposting for important features was then added into the app, as well as utilising hard coding certain content into the app that couldn't be pulled through via an API.
Summary
Since the launch of August 14th, we have seen:
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- £3.4 million increase in revenue from MTO products.
- Increase in swatch ordering by 32%.
- Increase in fabric swatches, including moss green velvet being the favourite.
- 4% increase in upholstery visits with findability tracking at 68.3%
- 12% increase in app usage for upholstery items.
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