However, HomeTown also exists in an age which sees 2 additional dimensions:

•  Desire to make your own home, with things as personalised as possible

•  Retail is out, e-tail is in.

Hometown Wants To Sell More Than Just Furniture. It Wants To Give You A

Complete Home Solution.

So, the question posed is, In a time where everyone and everything is online, how does HomeTown redefine a saturated category?

We need to attract consumers, provide them relevant value, while still keeping an

eye on the bottom line.

Exploring Opportunities

Shift from collectivistic to individualistic society

This means that individuals are going

to leave behind the notion of joint families, and set up their nest earlier,

and on their own. This means more homes to

decorate!

Consumers today want personalisation.

They are spoilt for choice, and are fickle, so loyalty levels are low.

The TG is tech savvy.

This means that we need to actively involve the consumer, and

we need to move fast!

Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality through Holograms are no more an idea of the future. The future is now!

This means that there are pieces of technology that by themselves may be irrelevant, but put together may

create some magic!

CONSUMER TRENDS

SOCIETAL TRENDS TECHNOLOGICAL

TRENDS

Reigning Trends

Category Characteristics

Based on:

An interview with an industry specialist

Seasonal trend is from July to October This period has 60% of the entire year’s sale Season from Independence Day sale, dhanteras and ends after Diwali

During this season, consumers get conscious about how their home looks Main categories: Soft furnishing and hard furnishing Majority of sales: Hard Furniture – sofa sets, beds, etc Bulk purchases are characteristic of this season

S p e a k i n g t o A n d I n t e r v i e w i n g H o m e O w n e r s Digital Audit of HomeTown In Depth research into VR/AR

The APAC region is the fastest-growing market because of the growing consumer market in

countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and others. 

The market is dominated by major players such as Google, Metaio, Oculus VR, Samsung, -CyberGlove Systems and Microsoft among others.

The Global AR Market

Is expected to reach

117.4BN by 2022, at a CAGR of

75.72% between 2016 to 2022 The Global VR Market

Is expected to reach

33.9BN by 2022, at a CAGR of

57.84% between 2016 to 2022

New want for their ‘own’ feel in terms of colour, size

They want to touch and feel only chairs, and sofas.

Beds are seen, but not touched, or sat on

as the mattresses are sold separately

Customers don’t listen to the

recommendations of the store

managers; Ulterior motive of

suggesting a brand PRIMARY RESEARCH

S T O R E S

Customers only want their own design

Unsold pieces

High warehouse costs, high

store rental costs

PRIMARY RESEARCH

Make a home,

even if its rented

C O N S U M E R S

Experience

matters

P e r s o n a l i s e d

Friends and family play

large role

Word of mouth is the strongest

influencer

Stores Complain: Customers go online to

shop

Consumers Complain: No nice options

Time taken at a store is

high

CONSUMER PAIN POINTS

What you see is not what

you may get

Customers complain they can’t see if two

purchases will match each other

“I can’t see if it will match my

home”

?

Connected Sociology, Technology, Anthropology, Psychology

This helps in forming a holistic solution by accessing

multiple points in the consumers life .

Experience over Technology. Customer experience was our prime motivation. Everything else was just

a tool to achieve that.

IDEATION

25-45 YO, Upper middle class, with DINK, DIOK, formats

Young married couples renting a flat and buying a few

things, People buying a house,

People redoing/refurnishing their entire house.

Female led category

Females have better aesthetic opinion and consider their home their identity

Starting point for newly married

couples  

Consumer Characteristics

Based on:

Primary Research

Consumer Decision

Making Journey

S e a s o n a l a s p i r a t i o n s , Redoing home, S h i f t i n g a n d moving

TRIGGER

Future Group has covered consumer wants and needs in this category, either through acquisition, or development

NEEDS

We have ensured that our offerings trigger both store visits and home visits; both points of purchase in this c a t e g o r y h a v e b e e n touched

VISIT

Increased methods of evaluation for better consumer experience. Every point in our solution aids product comparison, and aided-comparison. SEO, SEM needs to be good so we can be present at

every point the consumer is    

EVALUATE

Store representatives will enable and fuel purchase, while increasing attach rate. Further, t icket s izes are maximised by offering a lager, more relevant basket to choose from

BUY

We have enabled sharing on every device at our end, so it can reach every device on their end. Complete e n d - t o - e n d s h a r i n g f r o m HomeTown to Consumer. This will be further driven by marketing activities, shaped and refined by a communication idea

SHARE

SCENARIO PLANNING

N o M a p p i n g

VIRTUAL CATALOGUE

at Store

VIRTUALLY Customizable

at Store

Log of selection & changes with Store Attendant

Virtual selection Shareable with

Friends & Family

Easy to Use; Satisfied

Consumer

. . .

1.

Video Link 1: h#ps://youtu.be/iMeBxiUnwC0

SCENARIO PLANNING

M a p p i n g 2.

360 degree video of Room/House

Mapping of Room/House

VIRTUAL CATALOGUE

at Store Customizable to

fit into House Layout

Log of selection & changes

with Store Attendant

Virtual selection Shareable with

Friends & Family

Easy to Use; Satisfied

Consumer Video Link 2: h#ps://youtu.be/yHyTEPddjt8

As the number of items increase, or the complexity of the solution increases, or the ticket size increases, so to must the sophistication of the solution, and the customer experience be enhanced.

SCENARIO PLANNING

W e C o m e t o Y o u

Appointment & then we come to

you!

Holographic Furniture Fit

Data Stored through Data

Capturing Gloves Holographic selection, Virtually Shareable

with Friends & Family

Easy to Use; Satisfied

Consumer

3.

Video Link 3: h#ps://youtu.be/-­‐q_MbOmNimA

Significant point of advantage: Salesmen can recommend more items on the basis of items at home and the décor, and increase ticket size

By combining these pieces of technology, we will be able to redefine the category for

consumers, and give them something no one else has.

TECHNOLOGICAL PROTOTYPE

Microsoft Holo Lens

This will provide a

b a s e f o r t h e

holographic features

Oculus VR

T o p r o v i d e t h e V R

experience in store, and to

customers at their homes

Eye tracking, Face tracking & Data

Capturing Gloves

To capture any motion the consumer

makes, right down to subtle body

language readings.

THE COST ASPECT Off the shelf Cost

$350

Basic components required to build and augmented

reality system: Camera

Small projector Smartphone

Mirror

Devices in Market with cost:

Google Holo Lens- $3000 Oculus Rift price: $599

Meta- $667-$3650

Laster SeeThru: $399

Online shop in virtual or augmented reality:

$15 000 – $25 000;

Data Capturing Gloves: $750; (VMG 30)

Trends and Technology alone doesn't make sense. It is only when things are

put together that they become usable and give value

Technology possible, but not yet being done large scale

Market will boom

Technology possible, but not yet being done large scale

Ecosystem being created slowly

First-mover advantage

Highly engaging

Easy to set differentiation

Brand strategy, communication strategy possible

Breaks clutter of the market

Simple to use technology, and easy to train staff

Lowers warehousing costs

Lowers store rent cost

Decreases unsold pieces & increases inventory turnover

What is DIFFERENT about this

idea?

Why could these ideas NOT work?

Not for those who seek quick cash

Will require long term planning to

execute

Recovery cycle for investments may

be long

Requires mettle and grit to enter

into

SCALABILITY

The B2B Market From the perspective of a B2B extension, this model is extremely sound.

Hotels:

If hotels can give us a mapped area of a room, we can provide solutions to them. Since

they have fixed room architecture, this will be easy to execute

Styles, colours, themes, models can be quickly seen, approved and purchased.

fin.  fin