Livspace, India’s largest home interior design and execution platform has opened four flagship Design Centers across top metro cities to bring an omnichannel design experience to homeowners. By integrating thousands of online Livspace looks, visualization through virtual reality and an offline, tactile experience, the company expects the Design Centers to solidify its leadership position in the home design space in India.

These flagships serve as an addition to the existing network of a total of 11 Design Center and Experience Apartments, spread across Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. With more such facilities in the pipeline — including flagships, small-format Design Centers, and Experience Apartments — this number is expected to grow to 25, over the next 12-18 months. A sum of INR 25 crore has been earmarked for this expansion through 2018. These Design Centers are expected to double revenue by mid-2018, owing to an increase in conversion rate, with each center contributing INR 4-6 crore by end of 2017.

True omnichannel experience has always been integral to Livspace since the opening of the pilot Design Center in Bangalore in 2015. Over the last year and a half, the company registered a 35% higher average conversion rate in Bangalore when compared to other cities, solely because of the Design Center. Livspace also gathered feedback from customers, who unanimously said they wanted more looks, a true feeling of being in a home, more technology integration to visualize the space, and extensive material libraries to select from, in order to reduce time-to-purchase.

In every Design Center the showcase of rooms — bedrooms, living rooms, modular kitchens, floorings, false ceiling, wall solutions, and, everything in between — is tailored to current design trends and preferences, and average budget range. Customers can touch, feel and select materials for everything from wallpapers, kitchen and wardrobe shutters, flooring, etc., in the appropriate selection zones. Once a design has been finalized, an automated order will be placed for all items and services like an eCommerce order. Within weeks of a customer walking into a Livspace Design Center, the company’s installation and services team make the customer’s home look like the selected design.

Inspired by high customer demand, given the buoyant new home purchases in metros, and by deep consumer research in the online-offline experience required in the interiors industry, Livspace Design Centers are modelled on a ‘home-in-store’ retail philosophy — simply walk in for a real-life experience of interiors that resemble your home, including kitchens, flooring, false ceiling, etc. This home-like environment is deeply integrated with the Livspace design platform, virtual reality, personalized design services, as well as the eCommerce experience with the company’s vast catalog of modular products, home services, furniture and decor marketplace.

Commenting on the launch, Anuj Srivastava, CEO and Co-founder, Livspace said, “The Design Centers are inspired by our eighteen-months-long studies in Bangalore and research in the omnichannel buying behaviour exhibited by over 5000 homeowners buying interior design solutions, which range anywhere from 6 lacs to over 15 lacs.  Our Design Centers — first of their kind in India — allow consumers to select one of the pre-designed looks on our website, customize them from our library of over 10,000 finishes, see the various looks in our Design Centers, get a virtual reality experience, and, do all this seamlessly between our website and physical locations. This omnichannel experience reduces the time customers take to finalize their order from 6-8 weeks in the traditional model to 2-3 with Livspace, by easing several key steps in the customer journey - selection, visualization, personalization, automated order placement and final installation from certified professionals. Additionally, the Design Centers inspire trust and also help in increasing the order size by over 30% in the purchase cycle.”

Commenting on the launch, Vishal Gupta, Managing Director, Bessemer Venture Partners, said, “The new home market is buoyant across metros and the broader interior and modular industry are flourishing. For companies which operate in a high-disruption potential and high-involvement environment like home design, only an innovative and well integrated online to offline format can ensure sustained growth and market leadership. The need of the hour is to integrate experiences across channels through an omni-channel approach. We are positive that Livspace, with its product and business thinking that’s creating the industry, is poised to acquire a larger market share away from the unorganized competition. Their experiment with VR in their Design Centers will further strengthen their true omnichannel approach.”

Speaking of the virtual reality experience, Ramakant Sharma, CTO and Co-founder, Livspace said “Virtual reality offers a very immersive visualization experience that’s revolutionary for the larger interior industry. At the Livspace Design Centers, with their dedicated VR zones, you can experience homes in VR, from an ever-expanding library. The deterrent with creating VR-supported designs has always been time and cost. But in the time to come, we have plans to integrate virtual reality into the Livspace Design Platform such that every designer can create virtual reality instances quickly and easily, and each customer will be able to view their home design — in real time on VR devices, or as 360 degree videos remotely. The integration will bring VR experience to all homeowners.”

Founded in 2014, Livspace.com is India’s first and largest end-to-end home design and execution platform offering complete interiors and modular solutions for new home and remodelling customers. Bringing together the best designers, contractors and vendors in one technology and omni channel platform, Livspace makes the process of home design more convenient, efficient and easier. Right from planning the layout of your apartment to installing your modular kitchen, Livspace is your one stop for complete home interiors.

Led by Helion Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners and Jungle Ventures, Livspace has raised over $27 million in investments.
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