Universal Launches New Web Site

March 29, 2011  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Internet on March 30, 2011

Universal Furniture has launched an all new Web site that personalizes the ways consumers can shop while expanding the extranet functions for dealers.

"We know that most consumers do their homework online before ever stepping into a store, so a great deal of thought went into creating a site that is easy to navigate and intuitive to use," said Steven Lush, Universal vice president sales for the eastern region and manager of the Web site project. "Our goals are to capture her attention with a fresh, vibrant website design; to make it easy to quickly find what she is looking for; and to drive her into the nearest Universal retailer where she can make her purchase."

Thus the site reflects the company's tagline and goal to create "good, affordable, smart design" that is both aspirational and attainable. Smart navigation options provide multiple browsing paths so visitors may browse the site by room, by item or by style. She can then narrow her search by filtering the results in several ways, including by size and by special smart product features. Whenever a piece catches her eye, she can choose to print it, e-mail to a friend, or save to a personalized favorites folder. Or, if she prefers, the site goes one step further, giving her the choice to digitally scroll through each collection€™s catalog, page by page.

The home page also presents revolving aspirational photography of the four Universal brands--Better Homes and Gardens by Universal Furniture, Paula Deen Home Collection from Universal Furniture, Pennsylvania House and Universal Furniture. It also includes micro sites with independent URLs for each brand and is fully optimized for maximum searchability.
 
"Consumers today are not only looking for style but for function," Lush said. "We have included detailed product information, FAQs focused on the questions that consumers really do ask, and a conversational blog with style tips and trends, which will allow us to highlight new collections and key items in greater detail."

Visitors also may sign up for a monthly e-mail newsletter.

For dealers, the extensive image library of high resolution photography may be downloaded without a login while the enhanced password-protected extranet now offers inventory availability, shipping status and sales reports.