The home décor industry is experiencing a remarkable surge, driven by shifting consumer preferences, increased disposable incomes, and a growing emphasis on creating personalized living spaces. As more individuals invest time and resources in making their homes aesthetically pleasing, the global home decor market has witnessed significant expansion. In 2024, the revenue in the Home Decor market segment worldwide is expected to amount to an impressive US$128.70 billion.
One of the key factors contributing to the industry’s growth is the online shopping platforms, offering consumers a vast array of décor options at their fingertips. The convenience of browsing and purchasing home décor online has propelled the market forward, creating a dynamic and competitive landscape for established brands and emerging players.
Home décor businesses must keep up with customer expectations – not just in terms of product quality but also in ease of searching, selecting, and purchasing products. It’s a buyers’ world where instant, personalized, and ultra-convenient shopping experiences are vital, and Inbox Commerce emerges as a game-changer. It integrates the power of eCommerce with the familiarity and convenience of RCS, WhatsApp, and email communications.
This blog explores how Inbox Commerce is reshaping the landscape of home décor marketing. It provides businesses a unique avenue to engage customers, showcase products, and create an unparalleled shopping journey that resonates with the users.
What is Inbox Commerce?
Inbox Commerce is marketing products/services, engaging with customers, and conducting transactions right inside emails and messages (SMS and WhatsApp).
Inbox Commerce simplifies the customer experience to make it quick and convenient for users to connect with brands. They can instantly buy products/services inside messages and emails without redirects to sites and apps.
A typical example would be RCS messages showcasing products and letting users choose and pay within the message. Similarly, brands can use a WhatsApp Business Account to offer their entire product catalog and accept payments within WhatsApp.
At the heart of Inbox Commerce are three technologies – RCS (Rich Communication Services), WhatsApp Business, and AMP for email. They comprise the foundation of Inbox Commerce and have become the most successful tech initiative in marketing and conversion.
Here are a few proven use cases that can leverage Inbox Commerce for maximum engagement and conversion in the home décor industry.
Showcase the product line and enable search within WhatsApp
Thanks to Inbox Commerce, users can look through a brand’s entire product catalog within a single WhatsApp message. They can click on a menu for an overview of multiple categories they can dive further into.
Users can browse individual products within each category, complete with images, videos, GIFs, detailed descriptions, etc. They can even search for specific products (it is easy to incorporate an in-message search bar), choose the desired item, pay, and complete the transaction inside the WhatsApp message.
Provide personalized consultations through RCS messages
Sometimes, customers don’t know if certain items would look perfect in their chosen space. Home décor brands can fill this knowledge gap by providing personal consultations for such prospective clients.
Home décor advisors can talk to people via RCS messages and share product images, videos, tips, and suggestions. They can also hop on a quick video call on WhatsApp and have the individual show the space they intend to redo.
Personalization contributes directly to conversion, and Inbox Commerce provides multiple avenues for one-to-one personalization, like sending tailored messages to specific customer segments.
Create special occasion experiences in AMP emails
New Year? Christmas? 4th of July? Whatever the occasion, it’s an opportunity for people to spruce up their homes.
Encourage people to meet their New Year resolutions or help them get into the holiday spirit with customized experiences offered via email.
Users just have to open their inbox, click on the brand’s email, and scroll through all the occasion-specific décor items without hopping to the web page. They can also interact directly with customer support agents, provide more information about their decorating goals, and get specific recommendations that fit their vision – all within the email.
Drive a little FOMO with time-bound sales through WhatsApp
Good friends are the first to share a great sale they saw, right? Using WhatsApp Business, home décor brands can become that friend for their prospective customers.
Send a message showcasing items on sale, displaying discount percentages via images and catchy text. Don’t forget to highlight that ’Get 40% off’ is applicable only for the next 5 days, so people know what they will miss if they wait too long.
Not only can users scroll through products and see how much they stand to save, but they can also complete the purchase without leaving that email.
Gather valuable feedback via RCS messages
Customers don’t want to spend more than a few minutes giving feedback, so brands must make it easy for them.
Use in-message forms in RCS messages to get feedback. Be it star/number ratings, tick boxes, or multiple-choice questions, customers can simply feed their answers into the message and be done with it.
Brands can go a step further to improve their image based on customer-feedback. For example, if someone says that the product packaging was ineffective and led to them receiving a chipped lamp, reply (in the same message thread) with offers to replace the product with better packaging.
By taking such initiatives, businesses can make customers feel genuinely valued, ensure that their reviews matter, and give them the delightful shopping experience they deserve.
Offer ‘How To’ and ‘DIY’ guides on AMP emails
Sometimes, people want to decorate home spaces on their own creatively. Home décor brands can quickly form a strong connection with these users. Instead of showcasing product lines, consider sharing ‘How To’ guides on sprucing up their homes without dropping too much money.
Since the pandemic, DIY has become increasingly popular; send guides that help enthusiasts build simple décor items for the house. Feel free to display relevant and reasonably priced products, and remember that DIY folks usually like to stick to a budget.
Marketers can send AMP emails with embedded video tutorials or highly illustrated text-based guides with images. AMP emails have several functionalities that help you make your educational content visually compelling.
Celebrate your customers and turn them into brand loyalists with WhatsApp
Once a user makes a purchase, send them a WhatsApp message saying that you (the brand) would love to see what they’ve done with their new purchases. Everyone loves to see their efforts acknowledged. Most of your customers would be thrilled if you feature pictures of their home décor setup on your social media channels (tag them, too, after getting their permission).
Brands could also turn this into a contest, which would encourage more customers to send in pictures and amplify engagement.
WhatsApp makes it easy to upload images and descriptions, so the above exercise would require no more effort than sending photos to a friend.
Simplify engagement and conversion with Inbox Commerce
Market analysts forecast a robust growth trajectory for the home décor industry. Urbanization, a growing global population, and an expanding middle class will fuel this growth. Integrating technology into the home décor shopping experience, like augmented reality for virtual room visualization, will enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.
Brands embracing innovation and catering to evolving customer needs will likely seize the vast opportunities. Exploring unique marketing strategies, such as Inbox Commerce, becomes essential for businesses to establish a strong presence and resonate with modern home décor enthusiasts.
Inbox Commerce unlocks new dimensions of convenience by meeting customers at their favorite online avenues for communication – RCS, WhatsApp, and email.
Talk to us to discover the untapped potential of this cutting-edge strategy and get the first-mover advantage for marketing your home décor brands.
To truly scale your marketing efforts, consider leveraging a robust ecommerce marketing platform. Book a demo today to discover how it can transform your business.
Connect with us to understand how you can benefit from our expertise and experience. Serving over 6,500 customers across 40 countries, Netcore delivers over one billion inbox experiences every day – including 500 million emails and 700 million push notifications. Netcore’s AI is trained on 25 billion+ interactions from 1,300+ eCommerce stores, making it an invaluable asset for home décor brands.