Willab Garden Embraces Digitalization With Interactive Solution

Swedish retailer Willab Garden transformed their flagship showroom with interactive digital in a big way. With a product range of over 40 greenhouses, sunrooms and many custom options, their pricing structure is complex. Instead of replacing all paper signs in the store every month, the company sought a digital solution that would engage customers while displaying new prices and promotions, which resulted in the recent installation of 24 touchscreens across the store.

Modern flagship showroom
Willab Garden is a Swedish retailer of greenhouses, conservatories and other gardening and cultivation products. A new Willab Garden flagship store in Båstad, Sweden opened to the public in March 2021, where 40 greenhouse and sunroom models are displayed across 2,300 m² in an inviting, modern showroom. By summer 2021, Willab Garden will also open its new in-store restaurant to further enhance the shopping experience.

Complex customization and pricing made easy with interactive screens
At Willab Garden, customers tailor their greenhouses or sunrooms by selecting size, type of glass, color, roofing material, lighting, and many other customizations. Previously, customers needed a sales associate to answer questions about the products’ range of possibilities and prices. Now, this digital tool is available to facility and enhance the customer’s choice of options as well as enable them to elect how they wish to proceed with their enquiry—either digitally, in-person or a combination of the two.

To streamline the complex pricing structure, Joakim Engstrand, head of information technology at Willab Garden, envisioned displaying price information on interactive screens placed throughout the store. Joakim was already familiar with Elo touchscreens and was directed to the Swedish reseller, Sumzed, a company that offers complete digital in-store solutions for retailers.

One store, 24 screens

Joakim: I described what I wanted to Calle at Sumzed, and we developed a solution for our needs and requirements. Sumzed very fortunately could help us set up both the hardware and software, providing a complete package. It was a relief to be able to turn to one company. We were up against a tight deadline, and Sumzed managed against all odds to find a solution that was up and running before the grand opening. The result was an attractive solution that fit naturally into our store layout and environment.

The 24 22-inch Android-based touchscreens from Elo, mounted on floor stands, are situated primarily between pairs of greenhouses throughout the store, where they display information about the specific models next to them. All the screens are connected to EloView®, the Elo content- and device-management platform for Android units. This enables Sumzed to remotely manage the touchscreens and their content. The screen also grants access to the Willab Garden website, which is an important tool for both staff and customers.

Customer journey from selection to purchase
The software solution allows the user to select the product and model they want to learn more about.

Added Joakim: The most common question our salespeople get is how much the greenhouse or sunroom solution they view in the store costs. We present the price of the displayed model on the touchscreen, and the customer can then customize the configuration and price by selecting different sizes and options from our digital product guide. The order can be placed directly on the screen, which means the customer can actually start looking, configure and ultimately finalize the purchase right there beside the product – a complete customer journey!

Digital content in store
All in-store content is Web-based, and the product guide and configurator are also accessible from the Willab Garden website. Whether the customer starts configuring their product online or in-store, the experience is the same. Each choice is immediately visualized through the configurator, while the total cost is updated. All the information on the screens is generated from the website, and new models and product updates are visible immediately on the in-store screens as well, without any need for additional administration or updates.

We noticed that many customers visit the website before they come to the store and appreciate the familiarity with our system when they use the in-store touchscreen. Customers also appreciate our ability to show them on the in-store screens how to use the product guide, so they can do so at home as well with ease. We really believe that the screens provide a positive experience! For example we already notice how many people find the correct price immediately without having to ask us, says Johan, a store associate at the Båstad showroom.

Synergy between customer assistants and digital screens
Once the in-store solution has been evaluated, Willab Garden will roll out implementation of the touchscreens to additional stores. This summer, customer assistants will be on site in the showroom, using the touchscreens instead of computers to help customers. Hopefully, the combination of assistants and screens will create synergies that give the staff greater flexibility to provide on-the-spot assistance to the customer who is standing right there by the product of interest.

This puts the customer in touch with our physical and digital products simultaneously, which is one of our digitalization goals. The Sumzed toolbox includes analytics, for example data on which products customers click on the most. Our new digital system allows customers greater flexibility in store and provides us with exact information on how many customers we help per day. concluded Joakim.