But for many consumers, imagining how a product will look in their homes is easier said than done. For manufacturers and dealers, that hesitation can mean the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity.

Ambientes Casablanca, one of the leading clay product manufacturers in the Americas, experienced this challenge firsthand. The company wanted to help dealers close more sales by empowering consumers with confidence in their choices.

Enter the Roomvo Partner Program (RPP). 

By equipping Ambientes Casablanca with industry-leading room visualization technology and more, Roomvo transformed the shopping experience for the manufacturer and its dealers, doubling leads for dealers and boosting dealer sales by 14% in just six months.

Read the full case study here.

Overcoming consumer indecision

Picture this: A customer walks into a showroom, falls in love with a tile design, but second-guesses whether it will truly match their space. Sound familiar?

According to Oscar Freddy Gomez Prada, Commercial Manager at Ambientes Casablanca, this problem was all-too common.

“Consumers often struggled with indecision because they couldn’t picture how the products would look in their homes,” says Gomez Prada. “This hesitation made it difficult for our dealers to close sales, especially on premium items.”

Ambientes Casablanca initially tried developing its own room visualization technology to show customers how products would look in their rooms. But the quality wasn’t up to par, and the costs added up quickly. They needed a proven solution that would make a real impact.

Transforming the shopping experience

Ambientes Casablanca partnered with Roomvo to integrate room visualization into its website and showroom shopping experience, as well as providing its dealers with cutting-edge room visualization technology. And just like that, the shopping experience was transformed.

Ambientes Casablanca has signed up 14 dealers for the Roomvo Partner Program (RPP) as of November 2024. As part of the Roomvo Partner Program (RPP), dealers get free access to Roomvo Assistant, a room visualization widget that lives on the website and allows shoppers to see tile and flooring in their homes before they purchase.

For dealers looking to truly maximize their web presence, subsidized Roomvo Sites offer SEO-friendly, fully integrated flooring websites designed to drive more website traffic, leads, and sales.

Closing sales

But Roomvo didn’t stop there. Ambientes Casablanca worked closely with Roomvo to train dealers on how to use visualization technology to close sales, both online and in the showroom. Plus, by syncing product data across its network, the manufacturer ensured accurate images, descriptions, and specs were always at dealers’ fingertips.

“Our dealers love Roomvo,” says Gomez Prada. “It makes it so much easier for them to close sales. The visualizer puts a smile on consumers’ faces and gives them confidence to purchase if they’re feeling indecisive.”

More leads, bigger sales

The impact of Roomvo was transformative: 2x more consumer leads generated for dealers, 14% increase in dealer sales within six months, and 7% increase in average ticket size.

Why? Because when consumers can see their vision come to life, they buy with confidence. And sometimes, they buy even more than they planned.

“Roomvo opens up new possibilities for consumers,” says Gomez Prada. “Even if they were only thinking of redoing their floors, now they see how great new walls would look and decide to do those too.”

For Ambientes Casablanca, the Roomvo Partner Program (RPP) has been a game-changer — for their brand and their dealers.

“Whenever I visit a dealer on the Roomvo Partner Program (RPP), I notice how much happier they are than those without it,” says Gomez Prada. “They’re so engaged, and all I hear is glowing feedback.”

Level up your shopping experience

Book a demo to learn more about Roomvo Partner Program (RPP) and give shoppers the confidence to buy while boosting your bottom line.

The post How Roomvo increased Ambientes Casablanca dealer sales by 14% first appeared on Roomvo.

That’s why we’ve proudly partnered with The Redwood since 2020, supporting the emergency shelter’s mission to provide safety, stability, and hope to women and children in need.

Together with our employees, we’ve donated close to $100,000 to The Redwood, helping ensure that survivors have access to the resources they need to rebuild their lives. The Toronto-based emergency shelter provides safety and refuge when it’s needed most, as well as vital services like counseling, legal counsel, housing assistance, and job training to help survivors rebuild their lives.

Urgent need for support

Domestic abuse remains a crisis across Canada, and organizations like The Redwood depend heavily on community support to provide essential services.

“There were 62 femicide victims from November 2023 to November 2024 in Ontario alone,” says Marie Colucci, Associate Manager at The Redwood. “The support we get is critical to us continuing to provide safety and hope to those in desperate need.”

One of the most impactful ways to support The Redwood is through its Safe Haven Store — a carefully curated donation platform that allows donors to purchase essential items for survivors.

Making a difference

Recognizing the importance of this initiative, Roomvo donates to The Redwood as part of our annual charitable giving drive.

“We’re proud to support The Redwood and the incredible work they do,” says Pawel Rajszel, Roomvo CEO. “As the leading technology provider in real estate and home decor, we’ve helped countless home buyers find their dream homes and brought over a billion products to life for consumers. But it’s not enough for us to do well; we must also do good.”

Roomvo matches all employee donations dollar-for-dollar during the festive season, helping provide essential services during the biggest time of need and bringing holiday magic to the women and children living in The Redwood.

“Roomvo’s contributions over the past four years have helped brighten up the holidays for 676 women and children that call The Redwood home,” says Colucci. “The women and children enjoy themselves at the festive holiday party, have a visit from Ms. Claus, and wake up to gifts outside their door.”

How you can help

Roomvo’s ongoing support is helping The Redwood continue its life-changing work, but the need remains great.

“The Safe Haven Store helps donors make a direct impact,” says Colucci. “And that’s something we can’t thank them enough for.”

Join us in making a difference. Click here to support The Redwood and help ensure that every woman and child has the opportunity to thrive.

To learn more about how Roomvo helps millions of people realize their dream home each month, click here.

The post Roomvo donates nearly $100,000 to The Redwood to support women and children fleeing abuse first appeared on Roomvo.

Now, with Roomvo’s groundbreaking new technology, those days are gone.

Roomvo has partnered with the Houston Association of Retailers (HAR.com) to launch AI Remodel, our proprietary AI designer that lets homebuyers unleash their creativity and truly envision the potential of a property.

HAR.com is the most successful consumer-facing US REALTOR® association website, with over 70,000 listings across Texas. Thanks to AI Remodel, homebuyers on HAR.com can now experience a home’s full potential before ever setting foot inside. With just a few clicks, buyers can virtually customize a home’s floors, walls, countertops, and exteriors — transforming any space into their perfect vision.

AI Remodel opens up an entirely new way for buyers to reimagine properties — not as they are, but as they could be. Here’s a closer look at how AI Remodel is set to transform the real estate industry.

Where innovation meets imagination

Roomvo is the leading innovator in interior decor and real estate, with millions of consumers harnessing our technology each month.

Our powerful AI technology powers the AI Remodel tool, bringing a new level of interactivity to the homebuying experience. Imagine stepping into a home’s virtual canvas and painting it exactly how you want in just seconds, using our proprietary AI designer. This is the future of home customization, and it’s here now.

“AI Remodel allows consumers to visualize a home’s possibilities before they even step foot through the door,” said Mario Arriaga, Chairman of the Board at HAR.com. “This innovative tool is one of many ways HAR is pushing the envelope with AI to create a more engaging, efficient home search.”

A partnership that redefines the homebuying experience

“Partnering with HAR is an exciting moment for us,” said Brandon Shidlowski, VP of Sales at Roomvo. “This collaboration is all about empowering consumers — giving them a chance to see every possibility, every design option, and truly understand the potential of a space.”

This isn’t just about selling a tool. It’s about giving homebuyers the authority to create their dream spaces, turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. With AI Remodel, Roomvo’s power to redesign is literally at your fingertips.

Real design, real possibilities

Ready to start imagining your dream home? It’s simple. While browsing listings on HAR.com, click the “AI Remodel” button on any photo of a property. From there, you’ll instantly be able to experiment with different furnishings, compare before-and-after images, and even access product information used in your virtual redesign. It’s like a design studio that fits in the palm of your hand. Try it out yourself.

Redesign, reimagine, revolutionize

Join us in embracing the future of homebuying. Visit HAR.com, explore the new AI Remodel feature, and start transforming your next home into the masterpiece you’ve always imagined. Check out HAR’s press release to learn more.

Interested in learning more about Roomvo? We’re here to help! Book a demo and select ‘Real Estate’ as your industry.

The post Roomvo partners with leading real estate website HAR.com to launch AI Remodel first appeared on Roomvo.

For the fourth year running, Leap Tools — the creator of Roomvo — has been ranked as one of the fastest-growing companies in North America on the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500.

Now in its 30^th year, the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 ranks the fastest-growing technology companies in North America based on revenue growth from 2020 to 2023.

Roomvo’s Chief Executive Officer Pawel Rajszel credits the company’s rapid revenue growth to raving customers, transformative innovations, and continued expansion into home decor that empowers consumers to bring their dream spaces to life.

“We’re proud to have made the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for the fourth year running,” said Rajszel. “We’ve made huge leaps again this year, especially in bringing AI to the forefront of our products and platform. Roomvo is not just a visualizer anymore.”

Continued innovation

Over the past year, we’ve launched many new products, features, and improvements to help our customers create even more outstanding shopping experiences. Here are just a few:

• Roomvo Studio: Tired of spending lots of time and money on creating marketing content? With Roomvo Studio, you can create lifestyle images and immersive videos for all your products at scale, for a fraction of the cost. Better, cheaper, faster – with Roomvo.
• Roomvo Inspire: Using our proprietary AI designer technology, Roomvo Inspire allows shoppers to transform their entire room in seconds, making it easier and faster to start their project and get to a purchase decision.
• Roomvo Direct: Take your PDPs to the next level by incorporating Roomvo’s visualization capabilities directly onto the page, for an even more tailored and interactive experience.
• AI Chatbot: Roomvo’s AI-powered chatbots are virtual sales assistants that never sleep and provide immediate, personalized responses to any consumer inquiries. This means more leads for you and a better shopping experience for your customers.

Continued expansion

Thanks to this commitment to innovation, Roomvo has attracted thousands of retailers and manufacturers in over 80 countries to its platform, with millions of consumers using Roomvo each month and over a billion products brought to life. As the new year beckons, we’re excited about our continued expansion in 2025.

“We believe everyone deserves a beautiful home,” said Rajszel. “Over the next few months, we’ll be taking a giant leap forward towards that mission by enabling consumers to effortlessly redesign their entire spaces. We’ll be making Roomvo even more accessible for brands, without the usual sky-high requirements, so that consumers can access the magic of Roomvo in many more places.”

Rajszel added: “Thank you to our customers for supporting our success. And thank you to everyone at Leap Tools for working tirelessly to keep our customers at the cutting edge and help shoppers realize the home of their dreams.”

To stay up to date on the latest Roomvo innovations, sign up for our monthly newsletter at the form below.

The post Roomvo/Leap Tools ranked among North America’s fastest-growing companies on the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ first appeared on Roomvo.

U.S. shoppers spent $38 billion online between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday in 2023, up 7.8% year over year. And for many online shoppers, home decor purchases are third on the shopping list, with 41% scouting for deals on home furnishings.

With so much opportunity available in this short space of time, home decor retailers must ensure they’re doing everything they can to maximize sales, especially those specializing in rugs, wall art, and other home furnishings.

By showing shoppers how products will look in their homes, room visualization keeps customers engaged and instills the confidence to purchase. Here’s a closer look at how room visualization can help you maximize e-commerce sales on Black Friday weekend.

Shoppers who use the Roomvo visualizer spend 3x more time on home decor websites and view 4x as many products.

Engage shoppers

E-commerce retailers need interactive, engaging content to hold a customer’s interest, especially at this time of year when there are so many enticing deals elsewhere. Here’s where room visualization first starts to shine.

Let’s say your shopper is exploring new rug options for their living room. With Roomvo, shoppers can experiment with different sizes, patterns, and colors. Customers can even play with different design ideas, moving and rotating rugs to find the perfect placement.

By allowing customers to visualize home furnishings in their own spaces, you’re offering an immersive experience that keeps them engaged for longer. Shoppers who use the Roomvo visualizer spend 3x more time on home decor websites and view 4x as many products.

Give customers the confidence to purchase

Once customers have narrowed down their options, room visualization can help them settle on the winner.

Shoppers can see two products side-by-side in their room with Roomvo’s Compare feature, helping them reach a purchase decision quicker. And when they’ve made their minds up, room visualization gives them the confidence to purchase.

Room visualization shows customers exactly how rugs, wallpaper, artwork, flooring, paint and more will look in their rooms, solving one of the biggest challenges in shopping for home decor online: uncertainty. 

“Rugs, wallpaper, artwork — these are big investments for a customer to make,” said Moira Nowak, E-commerce Manager at online home decor retailer Andrew Martin. “Just showing them a 2D image isn’t enough to convert them. Customers need that visual experience if they’re shopping online and not in the showroom.”

Andrew Martin found customers are 2.4x more likely to purchase when exploring products with Roomvo.

“Roomvo is giving our customers the confidence to convert, which has resulted in more sales for our business,” said Nowak.

Andrew Martin found customers are 2.4x more likely to purchase when exploring products with Roomvo.

Prepare to succeed with data and insights

To maximize sales over the Black Friday weekend, preparation is key.

Roomvo customers can review room visualization analytics to see which products shoppers are most interested in ahead of the holiday weekend. Then, they can position popular colors, styles, materials, and SKUs front and center on their websites for maximum attention.

After the holiday weekend, you can review the data to evaluate which products performed well and adjust your strategy for the rest of the holiday season.

Reduce returns

The more sales you make, the more returns you’re likely to see. U.S. returns totaled $743 billion in 2023, and the return rate rises even more during the holidays.

To reduce returns in home decor, shoppers need a better idea of how their finished renovations will look. Roomvo offers an ultra-realistic simulation of home decor products in the customer’s home, helping close the imagination gap. When customers know what to expect, they’re far more likely to pick the right products, reducing costly returns.

Maximize Black Friday sales

With enticing deals everywhere you look on Black Friday weekend, keeping shoppers engaged in your products can be a real challenge.

For thousands of home decor retailers, room visualization is a key part of the solution.

Roomvo’s fun, frictionless shopping experience makes it easier for shoppers to find their perfect match, putting your products top of the holiday shopping list and helping you maximize sales.

The post How to maximize Black Friday e-commerce sales with room visualization first appeared on Roomvo.

Costly photo shoots, busy photographers, and time-intensive scheduling make “plan product shoot” the task no marketer or merchandiser wants to see on their to-do list.

While some businesses might utilize CGI to create product visuals, the output is usually poor. The process is also unscalable, leaving companies reliant on freelancers to do the work.

Whether it’s paint, flooring, tile, countertops, or wallpaper, retailers and manufacturers need a one-stop content creation solution that can produce high-quality images and videos at scale.

Enter Roomvo Studio.

From product thumbnails to close-ups, lifestyle visuals, and HD videos, Roomvo Studio leverages cutting-edge 3D rendering technology to deliver professional-grade images and videos at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional methods.

“We know the importance of high-quality product imagery and videos, as well as the need to create this content quickly,” said Murtaza Abedin, Head of Product at Roomvo. “We’ve already brought more than a billion products to life in people’s homes through our room visualization platform. Now, we’re excited to transform how product content is created to inspire shoppers at the beginning of their purchase journeys.”

Here’s how Roomvo Studio can help your business embrace a smarter, faster, and more affordable approach to content creation.

A new way to create product content

Shed the constraints of your costly content production process and deliver stunning product visuals for marketing campaigns, web, social media, print, or anywhere else.

Professional-grade imagery

High-quality visuals are key to a strong brand identity. Roomvo Studio creates images in 4k and videos in 2k, helping you keep standards high and maintain a consistent aesthetic across all your content.

Cost-effective production

Photographers, assistants, studio hire, set dressers, editors … the cost of producing product photos and videos through traditional photo shoots adds up quickly. 

Roomvo Studio enables high-quality images and videos at a low cost by eliminating physical photo shoots and manual editing.

Nimble response time

By speeding up the creation of product and lifestyle images and videos, you can respond to market demands quickly.

Is one of your LVT flooring products taking off? Create a gallery of beautiful lifestyle images and put them front and center on your homepage. Is flora and fauna-themed wallpaper suddenly everywhere on social? Make a 20-second sizzle reel of your busiest, boldest prints and post it on Instagram.

Unleash your imagination

With traditional shoots, you get a selection of images and videos to use in your marketing — and then you’re on your own. 

Not so with Roomvo Studio. Now, if you have an idea for a visual marketing campaign, you can strategize with the Roomvo team and create new assets in no time, helping you stay creative throughout the year. 

“As a marketer, the ability to create beautiful imagery out of essentially thin air feels like magic,” said Chad Neufeld, Marketing Director at Roomvo. “If I’ve got an exciting visual campaign idea, I now know that I can make it a reality. I’m no longer limited by anything other than my own imagination.”

Creative cross-selling 

If you’re a manufacturer, e-commerce seller, or big box retailer that works in multiple product categories, Roomvo Studio can bring your offering together into one cohesive campaign. Showcase unique combinations of your flooring, tile, paint, countertop, and wallpaper and help spark your customer’s imagination.

Set up to succeed

Studio sounds great in theory — now how does it work in practice?

Let’s say you’re a manufacturer that’s been working through the same arduous content production process for years. You’ve got everything down to an exact science, but now you’ve started working with a new e-commerce partner who expects multiple close-ups, lifestyle photos, and high-definition videos.

To speed up production, you partner with Roomvo to get the content you need. After syncing your assets with Roomvo, you choose from one of Roomvo Studio’s 3D room scenes or request a custom scene. After, identify which products you need photos or videos for and pick colors and laying patterns for the products. Then, select your preferred camera angles or video tracks — and let Roomvo Studio go to work.

Next, you choose from one of Roomvo’s 3D room scenes or request a custom scene. After, identify which products you need photos or videos for and pick colors and laying patterns for the products. Then, select your preferred camera angles or video tracks — and let Roomvo Studio go to work.

In a fraction of the time you’re used to waiting, your beautiful lifestyle images and high-definition videos are rendered. Your e-commerce partner is thrilled, and your products are set up to succeed.

Everyone deserves a beautiful home

By offering a smarter, faster, and more cost-effective alternative to traditional photo shoots, Roomvo Studio empowers retailers and manufacturers to produce stunning, professional-grade visuals with ease. 

“Our mission has always been to make a beautiful home accessible to everyone,” said Abedin. “Now, the world’s top manufacturers and retailers can present their products with the best possible images and videos, helping shoppers choose the right products to transform their homes.”

Whether you need images for marketing campaigns or videos for social media, Roomvo Studio’s innovative 3D rendering technology provides endless creative possibilities, allowing you to stay agile and responsive to market demands. With Roomvo Studio, the only limit to what you can create is your imagination. Embrace the future of product content creation, and set your brand up for success.

The post How Roomvo Studio is revolutionizing product content first appeared on Roomvo.

No matter what it’s used for, the backyard has long been a crucial part of the family home — and its importance continues to grow.

78% of homeowners invest in improving their backyard each year, and 16% say they spend more on their outdoor spaces than interior home improvements.

And let’s not forget what’s out front either. Curb appeal is not just a point of pride for homeowners; improving how a house looks from the outside can add as much as 10% to its value.

To help homeowners re-design their homes — both inside and outside — thousands of home decor manufacturers and retailers worldwide have partnered with Roomvo to show shoppers how their renovations could look with the power of room visualization. But until now, Roomvo was primarily designed for indoor spaces, leaving room for improvement outside.    

“Optimizing Roomvo for outdoors was one of the most common requests we received from our customers,” said Murtaza Abedin, Head of Product at Roomvo. “We’re always looking for ways to innovate, and outdoor spaces are becoming increasingly important. So we got to work to ensure we’re bringing the full magic of Roomvo to outdoor spaces.”

Here’s what’s new.

Better realism

Roomvo now offers much greater accuracy when visualizing outdoor spaces, delivering more realistic shopping experiences and giving shoppers more confidence to purchase.

Optimizing Roomvo for outdoor was no easy feat. Outside spaces are larger, lighting conditions are brighter and more variable, and surfaces are far more complex.  

“Think about a brick walkway or paved outdoor space,” Abedin explained. “The grooves between the bricks or slabs have more depth than indoor tiles, for instance. We had to improve our capabilities to render these surfaces more realistically, as they’re a lot more three-dimensional.”

Greater flexibility

In addition, Roomvo can now detect and adapt to different outdoor surfaces more easily, allowing shoppers to select exactly which surfaces they want to renovate.

For instance, when shoppers upload an image with both grass and pavement, they can choose to apply products only to the paved area rather than paving over the grass by default. This improvement gives shoppers a lot more flexibility in their designs.

In optimizing Roomvo for outdoor, the engineering team was excited to bring together other innovations happening across the company. For instance, Roomvo now allows shoppers to paint almost any surface type. At the front of the house, this innovation means shoppers can experiment with different colors for eaves, gables, gutters, fascia, columns, chimneys, porches, and more. 

Improved conversions

Another recent innovation is Roomvo’s ability to automatically detect what type of room or space shoppers have uploaded using artificial intelligence (AI) and only recommend relevant products. So if a customer uploads a picture of their backyard, vendors can choose to suggest outdoor products only.

“We can recognize whether someone is uploading an outdoor space and then only show outdoor products,” said Abedin. 

This feature helps retailers and manufacturers better target their offerings, making shoppers 5x more likely to purchase when they visualize products with Roomvo.

New horizons

With more and more shoppers looking to redesign their outside spaces, Roomvo’s optimization for outdoor has come at the perfect time. By maximizing realism, offering shoppers more flexibility in their designs, and only suggesting relevant products, Roomvo’s improved outdoor visualization capabilities are already delivering improved shopping experiences and increased conversions.

Try Roomvo outside and experience the full magic of room visualization in an outdoor space.

The post New horizons: How Roomvo is transforming outdoor visualization first appeared on Roomvo.

I sat down with Mohamed Rashid, SANIPEX GROUP’s category manager for tiles and slabs to learn more about the business — and how Roomvo is helping.

SANIPEX GROUP works with clients from all over the world. What do your clients value most?

Customers value our commitment to quality, comprehensive one-stop-shop services, prompt delivery, and robust after-sales support. The assurance of design-led and aspirational products, tailored to suit a range of tastes and budgets, is also highly appreciated.

Our emphasis on guaranteed quality, durability, and endurance in every product resonates with customers, as does our collaboration with exclusive suppliers who prioritize attention to detail, exceed innovative standards, and adhere to European sustainability criteria.

SANIPEX GROUP offers porcelain and ceramic products. What are the advantages of these materials?

Clients value the low-maintenance benefits of porcelain and ceramic tiles and slabs, with superior stain and water resistance when compared to natural stone. As a top choice for design professionals, porcelain is lightweight and versatile, offering endless potential for indoor and outdoor spaces.

What were the challenges you needed to solve before partnering with Roomvo? 

While we offer a bespoke CAD rendering service, we needed a convenient, user-friendly solution to help customers visualize our tiles and slabs in their rooms, anytime and anywhere. By showing customers how our products would look in their space, they can get a visual understanding of their preferences and needs.

How does SANIPEX GROUP use Roomvo?

Our website offers designers, architects, and homeowners easy access to Roomvo. The room visualizer is great for giving our clients an immediate impression of how their finished projects will look.

Why did you choose Roomvo over other room visualization platforms?

It is quick, effective and easy to use. We received strong recommendations from our suppliers that are already using Roomvo, including Del Conca and Sant’Agostino. It’s a tried and tested solution.

In the showroom, our sales team uses the room visualizer to assist clients in envisioning their spaces quickly, helping to streamline the decision-making process, particularly for homeowners and individual customers.

What results have you seen with Roomvo so far?

We have noticed increased product engagement on our website, including increased product views and website sessions. Reviewing our annual report, we observed a 71% surge in product views on the Roomvo visualizer compared to the previous year, averaging 10 products per session.

What feedback have you had from your customers?

We have had very positive feedback so far. Roomvo has been helping customers plan their projects. The visualizer is accessible and easy to use, and it delivers immediate results.

The post How Roomvo transformed the customer experience for SANIPEX GROUP first appeared on Roomvo.

Few people have a better understanding of the UK flooring industry, so I was excited to sit down with David and get his take on the burning issues: how the industry is faring, what challenges it’s facing, and how manufacturers can build stronger relationships with contractors. Here’s what I learned.

What state is the UK flooring industry in, and where is it headed?

A lot of people thought flooring would be hit hard by the pandemic, but it’s proven to be almost bulletproof. Especially in the residential sector, the flooring industry has bounced back brilliantly, with floor layers and flooring products in great demand. Homeowners had saved so much money during the pandemic, and suddenly they wanted to spend that money on home improvements.

But there are challenges too. Compounded by the war in Ukraine, we initially saw a scarcity of raw materials and a bottleneck in supply, which has had a lingering effect on material prices.

What other challenges is the UK flooring industry facing?

Of all the issues that I speak to contractors about, skilled labour shortages are the number one worry. A lot of veterans are starting to retire, and many young people today just don’t see the flooring industry as an inviting career. You can go into schools and talk about a career in flooring, but it just doesn’t have the same attraction as some of the other career paths on offer.

The industry has put a lot of effort into presenting flooring as a more attractive option to young people. As well as that, governments need to offer more apprenticeship opportunities to get people into the trade.

How can manufacturers build strong relationships with contractors?

Many contractors have long-established relationships with manufacturers, and trust is all-important. One factor that inflationary pressure has highlighted is the need for manufacturers to be transparent with contractors at all times. For instance, if manufacturers are raising the prices of their products, they need to be honest about the reasons why. 

Earlier this year, I wrote about a contractor who discovered that one of their carpet tile suppliers had artificially raised their prices and blamed it on inflation. When the contractor found out, it did real damage to their relationship.

How can room visualization help manufacturers build new relationships with contractors?

Visualizers are a true unique selling point (USP) for manufacturers. Having a room visualization platform gives them a status boost and really helps set them apart from their competitors. 

Contractors can go through all the manufacturer’s products and see what works in different environments. Rather than just imagining how products will look, contractors can upload a photo of their installations and visualize the flooring in place immediately. Contractors can also share the visualization with their clients to show them how the finished project will look.

Every year I speak to more and more businesses using room visualization. It’s definitely the way forward.

What benefits does room visualization have for domestic contractors?

Room visualization is a great way for domestic contractors to make products come to life for the end consumer, instead of asking them to rely on their imaginations. If a contractor came to my house, took a picture of my room and showed me exactly how my new flooring would look in my home, I would be much more likely to purchase.

What consumer trends are you seeing in UK flooring? Are any particular materials or colours popular right now?

In terms of colour, cream, beige and champagne continue to be popular for upmarket residential projects. But we’re also seeing a shift towards more colour variation, especially greens and blues, and a slight shift away from the ever-popular grey towards warmer tones.

As for materials, LVT herringbone continues to be popular for its looks and longevity. Linoleum and rubber retain their niche places in the market too.

Carpet tiles are  an interesting one, as they are usually the material of choice for offices. We thought carpet tiles would take a hit during and after the pandemic, when so many people were working from home and it looked as though offices were becoming redundant. But the market has survived and thrived. In terms of style, some commercial clients are looking for quieter designs and patterns. Also coming into vogue are multi-directional, biophilic designs that are more in touch with nature. For residential carpet, we’re seeing a trend in textured and distressed — and wool is back on trend.

Is sustainability a big focus for the flooring industry?

It definitely is for many manufacturers. It’s in a brand’s interest to deliver more sustainable products and market themselves based on that, especially when they’re dealing directly with the consumer. 

It’s not always so straightforward with some contractors, particularly those facing financial restraints. They have less capacity to prioritize sustainability but many are gradually coming around to the benefits of sustainable practices. Eco-friendly products are sometimes assumed to be more expensive, so the motivation to be sustainable is lower. I’m not normally in favour of tougher government regulations, but they sometimes work in shepherding businesses towards more sustainable business practices.

The post ‘The industry is almost bulletproof’: Q&A with UK flooring expert David Strydom first appeared on Roomvo.

Earlier this month, we sat down with owner Rich Seland to talk about the difference Roomvo Kiosk has made to his business.

What challenges were you facing before you partnered with Roomvo?

Getting customers to picture their renovations with just samples has always been challenging. They’d often ask if we had any room photos to get some inspiration. But honestly, it was more of a way to spark their ideas. They still had to lean pretty heavily on their imagination.

I first encountered Roomvo at a convention, where I immediately saw the potential for bringing our products to life. Customers could go to our website, upload a photo of their room, and see all our flooring visualized in their space. The kiosk really caught my eye too. It was a feature I hadn’t seen before, and I was very interested in bringing one into our showroom to improve the overall experience.

How has Roomvo Kiosk improved your showroom experience?

It really helps their imagination. When they can see our flooring options on the big screen, their eyes light up, especially if they’ve uploaded a photo of their room. It’s given our customers another reason to purchase from us, and it’s definitely an advantage that we have over our competitors.

How do you use Roomvo Kiosk as part of your sales process?

A lot of the time, customers see a product on our website, and they want to come into the showroom to see it in person. They usually give us a call first. At that point, we encourage customers bring in a photo of their room so that they can try out this new feature.

When the customer comes into the showroom, we start with a one-on-one consultation so we can learn more about what they’re looking for. Then, we’ll walk around the showroom and pick up a few samples that fit their needs. We take the samples to the kiosk, lay them out on the floor, and say, “Hey, do you want to see this in your room now?”

Then, we’ll upload the customer’s room photo to the kiosk and scan the QR codes on the samples to bring the products up on the big screen. It creates a lot of excitement. People are amazed by it.

How has Roomvo Kiosk helped collaboration between customers and your team?

It’s a really fun experience. It’s not just the customers who are excited, but our sales team too. They know they’re working with cutting-edge technology. And not many stores are utilizing room visualization right now, so it’s something we’ve really differentiated ourselves with.

You have a big product selection online, but not all of your products are stocked in-store. How has Roomvo Kiosk helped you with this challenge?

Sometimes customers will come into the store having seen a product online, but we don’t have it in the showroom and we don’t have physical samples. But almost every product is on the kiosk now, so we can show our customers what each one of our products will look like in their homes — even if we’re missing the sample — and then order it in if they want to purchase.

Purchasing flooring is a big investment. How does Roomvo Kiosk give customers reassurance that they’re making the right decision?

It’s about helping customers and letting them know that they have our support. Once our sales reps have taken the time to ask the right questions and show them how their renovations will look on the kiosk, they feel a lot more confident. They feel like, “This is my store, this is my community — I’m not going anywhere else.”

For customers who don’t purchase on the spot, how has Roomvo Kiosk helped you follow up on potential sales?

We can email customers the visualization images so that they can share them with family and friends. At that point, we get the customer’s contact details too, so we can follow up with the customer by phone or email if we haven’t heard from them in a while. It’s been really successful. So far, there’s only been one customer who didn’t eventually purchase.

It’s a helpful tool for interior designers too. We’ve had a few designers come into the store who were shopping for their customers, and they wanted us to email them the products and the room scenes so they could show their clients. Since then, they’ve been giving us more and more business.

What feedback have you had from customers on Roomvo Kiosk?

It’s been nothing but positive. You can see the reaction in their faces — their eyes widen and they have a big smile. And they’re definitely more likely to purchase.

How has it been working with Roomvo overall?

I’ve been really impressed with the company. Anytime we have a question, we get an immediate response from our customer care rep Brett. 

I also like that Roomvo keeps improving and rolling out new features. It’s been a great partnership and a massive benefit for our company so far. We’re looking forward to many years of partnership in the future.

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