Carpet One Floor & Home’s Web site features ‘Visualize My Floor’.

By Sarah Zimmerman
With the recent announcement that FCNews, through a joint venture with FloorBiz, would be providing retailers with fully customizable, free Web sites along with support service (FCNews, Jan.29/Feb.5), the publication asked major retailers across the U.S. about the significance of having an Internet presence.

According to Bob Hill, founder and chairman of Floor Covering Associates (FCA) in Shorewood, Ill., customers in the past year have gathered more industry knowledge via the Internet than by any other means used in the past. “Some buyers come into the store today knowing as much about products, manufacturers, installation, etc., as professionally trained salespeople. However, this can be good or bad depending on the information’s source.” A retailer that can provide credible information can turn knowledge seekers into customers, he added.

John Pierce, vice president of Pierce Flooring and Design in Billings, Mont., shared these opinions. “The Internet is a staple in today’s homes.” He said older generations need to learn this technology or they and their businesses will be left behind. “If you’re not making dust, you’re eating it.”

Wayne Daul, general manager, H.J Martin & Son in Green Bay, Wis., agreed Web sites are extremely important in today’s marketing scheme and are rapidly growing in popularity. However, he believes it is difficult to discern just how great an impact sites have, specifically on store traffic. “It’s hard to say that our customer volume has gone up X% in the past year due strictly to our Web site because it would be similar to saying greater numbers of buyers come directly from print advertising.”

So what draws shoppers from Web site to showroom? And how have these companies improved their Web presence to promote business, both in knowledge and sales?

One trend that seems to be popping up on Web sites recently is virtual room design. Basically, this software allows a consumer to pick or download a digital image of a room she wants to remodel and design it using the retailer’s products, from flooring to paint. Carpet One Floor & Home’s site, for example, already offers this tool with its “visualize my floor” feature.

“Most customers use the Web for everything today, including room design,” said Steve Joss, president of Vertical Connection Carpet One Floor & Home in Columbia, Md., “but the majority of buyers are still using the Internet for information and ideas, not purchasing.” Therefore, he added, the Vertical Connection and Carpet One Web sites have helped business tremendously by accessibly generating ideas through such functions as virtual room design.

Bill Thacker, owner of Style Craft Carpet One Floor & Home in Salem, Ore., said he is impressed with the company’s new Internet presence and continues to see industry technologically advancing. “Customers can already go online to make inquiries, collect information, schedule room measuring, use the virtual room design tools and fill out credit applications.” He added that the site is especially useful because its information is correct and current.

H.J. Martin & Son has taken notice of such online programs. “If the Carpet One page works, we might piggyback on its site,” Daul said. “It seems to be a useful tool for customers to gain ideas and pricing before going to the brick and mortar store.”

While FCA does not currently have an interactive design program on its Web page, it is also inspired by sites like www.carpetone.com. Hill explained FCA is in the process of upgrading its Web page, and within the next two months hopes to offer the World Floor Covering Association’s ( WFCA) Elite Package as well.

“This should set us apart from the competition,” he said, enveloping virtual room design, including product catalogs and digital room images; style questionnaires, providing customers with succinct questions allowing them to categorize their style, and a feature called scrapbook. “Scrapbook is a really slick element, where clients can design a room online, save it, then come into a store and pull up the project at a kiosk alongside a professional sales advisor. These programs allow people to redo entire houses one room at a time while storing previous projects for reference.”

Along with virtual room software, simple Web site design and functionality is largely accountable for a company’s marketing/advertising success and, therefore, must be updated and maintained on a regular basis. H.J. Martin provides its site users with easy-to-navigate pages, photo galleries—including many pictures of past commercial and residential jobs—and a detailed, organized contact list complete with maps of store locations. “Many people find our site valuable and use it to gain knowledge prior to walking into a store,” Daul said.

FCA’s Web site is also updated on a daily basis, according to Hill. “Though the page is basic, we’re always working on our site as well as with manufacturers on including and updating links to our site on their Web pages.”

Aside from progress initializing the Elite Package, FCA offers exclusive online savings, detailed product lists—including maintenance tips—and masses of information about the company and its products and services.

Pierce, on the other hand, has stayed away from digital design programs and is focused on other avenues of the Web. “We figure the big manufacturers, such as Shaw, Armstrong, Mohawk, already have or will have similar features on their pages that we can link to, so we’re really concentrating on our site and what it can offer that’s different and/or better than the competition.”

Currently Pierce offers basic features on its site and touts its free in-home estimates available to online customers and the Pierce Advantage, guaranteeing superior products, pricing and service for 75 years. The site is continuously advancing. “Right now we’re working hard on Internet marketing of our improved commitment to the environment and redoing our landing or home page to make it more user-friendly.” There are still some things Pierce would like to be putting more effort toward, such as pushing online sales of specific products (area rugs) and raising its search placement (with Google or Yahoo, to name two).

In the future, Pierce sees big things coming—live interaction with a trained sales advisor and kiosks in high-traffic areas. “We’d like to allow people to get on our site, click a button and have direct interaction with a live salesperson, including product samples, etc.” The kiosks would allow buyers to access the Web page and leave their information for a sales rep to contact the following day. “Basically, it keeps our name and category in front of people.”