Lexington: There's an App for That

October 14, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Internet on October 15, 2010

Lexington Home Brands is set to unveil what it called the industry's first iPad App that enables sales reps, dealers, designers and consumers to dynamically search the product line, view high-def collection videos, create and share design projects, and access all levels of pricing.

During High Point Furniture Market, Lexington will provide iPads to each of their sales reps, and will have devices available in their showroom for dealer use. The App will be sold through the iTunes Store starting in November.

"We have been utilizing interactive touch-screen technology in our High Point, Las Vegas and Denver showrooms for the past two years," said Phil Haney, president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands. "The rich imagery that we produce--via HD video and location photography--makes this an ideal marketing tool. We have found that dealers, designers and consumers love the user experience. The challenge in rolling out this program broadly, however, was the significant investment required for the 42-inch LCD touch-screen unit. With the introduction of the iPad, we were able to leverage our digital content on a device that is both portable and affordable, without sacrificing the quality of the presentation."

The few home furnishings apps on the iTunes Store today are essentially electronic catalogs offering content, but no functionality. The Lexington Digital Showroom App will allow users to search the company's extensive wood and upholstery product lines in any of five ways: by room, by item, by number, by collection, or by brand. Each collection is represented by an introductory video that positions the lifestyle for which that group was designed. There is also an area of the App that showcases the company's most recent introductions. 

Consumers and designers generally begin design projects by collecting tear sheets in a project portfolio. The Lexington App has functionality that allows the user to save any item in the assortment to any number of portfolios. Multiple projects can be managed through a simple folder system. Portfolios can be e-mailed to a friend or client from within the App on letterhead that can be fully customized by the user.

"In designing the App, we did not want to sacrifice speed by streaming content through a wireless or 3G Internet connection," said Lexington Senior Vice President of Marketing Robert Stamper. "The entire database resides in the memory of the device, offering incredibly fast search capability and no buffering of large HD video files. The value of the App is apparent in any of the following scenarios: a designer meeting a client at a job site, a sales associate working with a customer at a retail store without wireless access, a sales rep meeting with a new account prospect or training new sales associates. The App provides 100% of the information that would normally be contained in multiple catalog binders, bulky price lists, and on various web sites, in the case of videos. The iPad, with its superb resolution and reasonable price, is a great piece of technology for sales and design professionals seeking an alternative to carrying around printed collateral. We feel strongly enough about the platform to equip everyone on our selling team with a device."

Given the size and complexity of the App, the initial download is fairly large. Once the App is installed, the user determines the frequency of updates, which load very quickly. These updates are managed through Lexington servers, adding new collections, netting out discontinued items, and adjusting for any price changes. One major benefit of the App is the ability for Lexington to keep its sales materials and pricing up-to-date electronically rather than manually. The App will be sold on the iTunes Store for $49.99. Lexington will provide its authorized dealers with a promotion code which will allow them to purchase the App for free.

"It is fairly intuitive that the expense and limitations of printed collateral will open the door for electronic delivery alternatives," said Stamper. "While there will always be a place for collection catalogs, it is our belief that the iPad represents a viable technology option for mobile professional looking to present our lifestyle message. It allows us to deliver rich product imagery and functionality while maintaining control over the brand message. To that end, the iPad App will prove an extremely powerful selling tool."