Furniture Lee: Digital platform for local middle-scale wood furniture manufacturers to enhance their customer loyalty and sales

Abstract

In Sri Lanka, the wood furniture industry is a major part of the manufacturing sector. During the last decade, many developments in Sri Lanka’s industrial sector have affected the wood furniture industry. Because of the rapid advancement of technology and the internet, online shopping has become the most popular mode of shopping all over the world, including in Sri Lanka. Imports are putting growing pressure on Sri Lanka’s small and medium scale wood furniture enterprises. With the rapid change of marketing trends and the liberalization of the economy, consumer’s needs and buying patterns are getting changed. To stand ahead in the marketplace, small and medium-scale manufacturers have to identify the customer needs and produce furniture that meets customer demands. Exploring the important factors for customer satisfaction in the Sri Lanka furniture market helps to understand the critical success factors to enhance future sales and to boost the competitive advantage for medium-scale furniture enterprises. The objective of the project was to analyze the issues that led to the dissatisfaction of online furniture buyers and middle-scale furniture manufacturers with the current marketing procedure, and to design, implement and evaluate an IT-based solution integrating advanced technologies. The perception of consumers’ purchasing behavior and consumer habits, social and economic factors, and technological aspects were evaluated with the help of research and further analyzed through interviews and questionnaires conducted with online furniture buyers and medium-scale wood furniture manufacturers, to deliver an innovative IT solution for market wood furniture which were produced by the middle-scale manufacturers through a digital platform. As a result, the IT solution “Furniture Lee” was created."