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From Home Furnishing Business
MicroD Launches Online Custom Furniture Configuration
April 3,
2014 by in Industry, Retail Technology 
MicroD clients Bassett Furniture, Drexel Heritage and Ethan Allen already are using the program, which lets consumers, sales associates and interior designers to go beyond visualizing fabrics and finishes changes to customize and visualize various configurable options such as arm type, back, seat, base, trim and other configurable components of their furniture selections. The Design Your Own solution also allows visualization of case goods items that are offered with customizable options.
"Offering product customization is a key differentiator for today's furniture manufacturers and retailers," said MicroD Senior Vice President of Technology Ronald Gordon. "While MicroD has been recognized for years for its fabric and finish customization tools, our Design Your Own technology raises the industry bar by enabling more sophisticated furniture configuration and dynamic pricing on a uniquely designed efficient and cost-effective online platform."
The Design Your Own solution enables users to design and configure their upholstery and case goods purchases online or during an in-store design consultation. In contrast to earlier configuration tools, Design Your Own empowers shoppers to immediately and realistically visualize the impact of the choices they make for the configurable components. The software also dynamically updates retail pricing for the product at each step of the customization process.
In addition to rendering the precise look of custom products prior to purchase, Design Your Own also includes a design and merchandising module, MicroD's Accessorize. Wall and trim colors, as well as flooring, can be added to the on-screen display of the product to simulate the look of the custom furniture piece in the consumer's home. A matching rug may also be added to the scene to further enhance the shopping experience.
Design Your Own combines MicroD's custom upholstery rendering capabilities with new patent-pending technologies to advance the merchandising of custom furniture items. The goal is to empower consumers to make better informed, more confident purchasing decisions, and enables manufacturers to present online the full breath of their customizable product line.