Revenue Journal®

If you want to see a perfect example of a company that makes it easy to buy, take a look at Home Reserve. What an exceptional site this is. Let's look at what they do right.

First, the home page.

What's the first question when you're shopping for furniture? Cost. Most people have a specific budget in mind for a given room or situation. And, that's the first big question Home Reserve answers, right on top.

As you come to this site, first your eye goes to the two people, and, immediately, to the prices. Then to the pictures and the fabric swatches.

Home Reserve uses the circle motif to draw your eye to important areas of the site, including the shop button, the photo gallery, and the swatches. One thing I find interesting about this is how the first circle you see is emotionally comforting - the two people obviously enjoying each other as they look at color swatches. Does this encourage you to assume that all circles will be emotionally satisfying? Hmmm.

Once your price question is answered, you want to know more details about the fabrics, the construction, the quality (especially for those prices!), and the styles. All of the answers to these questions and more are only one click away from this home page. Note how they have separate sections for different types of buyers (pet owners, with kids, decorating an office, etc.).

Note how they also show a man with a packing box, so you get the idea that these couches and sofas are delivered in boxes. The copy next to the man answers the next question: Is this the kind of furniture you assemble? Yes. Note the specific copy: "A screwdriver is the only tool you'll need, and items will be available for use immediately." This is so much more effective than the generic, meaningless phrase "These couches are easy to assemble!"

The purple Shop button is hard to miss. If you click on that, you see one of the best product display pages I've ever seen on the Web.

Using simple line drawings is brilliant. In one glance, you can identify which style you want, then pick the type of furniture you want in that style. There are also simple clickable icons for the subsequent choices: Fabric, pillows, etc. Once again the answer to most questions is only one click away.

Note that this page (and, in fact, every page on the site) mentions that you can sign up for their newsletter. And, note that the newsletter offers something useful: Notification of new fabrics.

On the fabric page, which appears below, you can enlarge each swatch by clicking on it, and get a good look at the fabric up close. Note that they also let you navigate by need and type (Washable, Pet Fabrics, Blues, etc.). You can also order swatches for $1 each - with no shipping charges. Smart.

Someone really thought through all the ways that a buyer would want to look at information. That's one of the most impressive aspects of this site. So many companies show their product one way - usually in the way most convenient for the company - and force the buyer to navigate down an unfamiliar and sometimes illogical path.

HomeReserve.com also includes some audio testimonials from customers and a nicely produced video showing how the products are made on the What You Want to Know page (sounds more friendly than "FAQs," doesn't it?).

There's also a video ad that shows 20 or so people putting together an entire couch in a minute.

The press clips page doesn't just list articles - it shows the logos of the publications and sites that mentioned them, and a short quote from each article.

Throughout the entire site, the copy is warm and personal, and engenders trust. For example, here's how they answer one of the questions on the What You Want to Know page:

Do you Scotchguard?

We don't, because it's much less expensive for you to do it yourself. Stores like Wal-Mart sell Scotchguard by the can. Just spray it on. It's the same material and process that furniture stores use.

They've just let you in on a secret, and have also given you the opportunity to save some money. How nice.

Home Reserve is a third-generation furniture company that set out to make it possible to sell couches over the Internet. Their goals were to sell the couches for a price that 20- and 30-somethings could afford, offer built-in storage spaces, and make sure the covers could be taken off and washed. The couch also had to be shippable via UPS. They researched the maximum box specifications for UPS shipments, and then designed a product that would fit in the box. One of the big breakthroughs involved vacuum-packing the cushion stuffing so it was small enough to fit into the UPS box.

This is a properly structured customer-centric Internet business from start to finish. Here's why:

1. The company offers one type of product, and the website answers every possible question about that product - a perfect candidate for search engine optimization

2. The product - even though it is furniture - is delivered via UPS, which is the most common way to receive an Internet order

3. The company has used audio, video, image close-ups, and link-dense copy to take full advantage of the web as a selling tool

4. All of the copy is welcoming and specific. It all has a homey feel to it. As you read it, you feel as if a friend is writing you a letter.
   

Here's an interesting comparison - a link to their old site (from 2004), which they list on their site map. Note that the emphasis there was on the storage space inside the couches. That's a typical product-oriented approach, versus the "walk with the buyer through their buying process and answer all their questions" approach, which is what they are doing now.

No matter what you sell, studying this site will help you to understand how to support your customers' buying process. Here's the checklist of how they accomplished this. First the customer's view is presented, then the lesson for you and your website is in brackets.

1. The whole site is designed around answering questions, starting with the most pressing questions first. [This is key. You must know the questions your customers ask, and the order they ask them in, and that knowledge should drive your website design.]

2. As a question is being answered, you are invited to drill down for additional information. [The answer to a question invariably raises additional questions. Create a "branching tree" map of the main questions, and the related subsequent questions. If you get stuck, think in terms of "how" and "why," as in, "We ship your couch to you UPS." How do they do that? Why does that matter to me as a buyer?]

3. The product meets the buyer's needs. It's cheap - the usual equivalents available on the Web start at $500. You are given several style and many fabric choices. The product is easy to order and assemble. You can remove all the fabric and wash it. You can store items inside the couches and chairs. You can even buy the fabrics themselves. This is customer-driven product design. [One of the problems with marketing is that marketers are usually promoting products or services that were not designed for the customer from the start. When your product designers start a new design, what's the first thing they do? If your answer isn't "interview current customers," you will not end up with a customer-driven design.]
   

HomeReserve.com has really set the standard for a site that supports the buying process, at all levels.