Background and challenges: EspritMeuble testifies about the solution Virtual Showroom

Presentation of the interviewee : Gaëtan Ménard

Gaëtan Ménard is the president of EspritMeuble.

Presentation of the company : EspritMeuble

EspritMeuble is the international show for furniture professionals (furniture, seating, bedding, kitchen, appliances). It takes place every year in mid-November in Paris Porte de Versailles.

In concrete terms, this show brings together 350 brands (40% French, 60% European) who come to meet their customers to present their new products and innovations. In 2022, EspritMeuble brought together 12,271 visitors from all over Europe.

What was your problem?

Our challenge was to extend the trade show experience and increase the ROI of the trade show presence after the event.

What were your objectives with this solution?

The objective is to offer a digital 360° visit to our exhibitors so that they can share with the public who were not able to attend the show (especially store salespeople). It is both to enhance their staging on their stand and to present their new products with a simple and fun tool for their sales staff.

The 360° tour is also broadcasted by the brands on their website and their social networks. It also enriches the digital stand of the brand on the digital platform e.espritmeuble.com.

Solution and feedback : EspritMeuble's testimonial on the virtual showroom solution

How did the solution address your original problem?

The 360° virtual showroom allows you to rediscover the brand's stand in a fun and simple way. The enrichment with digital contents (videos, photos, pdf, avatars, music) make it a rich experience for the brands which appropriate the subject correctly.

What facilities/difficulties did you encounter in its implementation?

The implementation is simple because of the step by step support provided by our partner Retail VR. The communication is made in the name of EspritMeuble, so it is very fluid and seamless for our exhibitors.

The first difficulty encountered is the need for the commitment of the general management or the marketing and sales management to ensure that the visit is well enriched with digital content and then well used by the sales force.

The second difficulty is to convert the exhibiting customers to the interest of the approach. The testimony of very satisfied brands remains the best argument to deploy this solution.

What are the advantages of this solution?

Satisfied customers and therefore a contribution to an optimization of their return on investment and their presence at EspritMeuble thanks to a very reasonable budget.

This approach is also part of the show's digital strategy to help communication between brands and their customers throughout the year.

What benefits did you perceive? Have you had any feedback on this use?

The first benefit, customers happy to discover a new solution within a controlled budget. It is an easy-to-use, modern and up-to-date tool that facilitates the distribution of new types of content... in short, an additional solution to develop business opportunities.

Why Retail VR? EspritMeuble's virtual showroom solution

Why did you choose Retail VR?

We were looking for a partner to initiate this 360° stand project.

We chose Retail VR because of the openness of the managers to test a new format, the simplicity of its platform, the quality of the exchanges and the quality of the service offered to our customers and exhibitors.

Together we have defined simple and efficient showroom delivery processes. In the past, we have already completed two editions together and the Retail VR team has proven to be extremely responsive and customer-oriented, which we are very pleased with.

Note that the services offered by Retail VR are progressing every year, it is important for us to rely on a partner able to contribute to our progress on the digitalization of the experience.

What next for this project?

On the way to the EspritMeuble 2023 edition with Retail VR at our side for our 360° stands!

About Retail VR

Retail VR, founded in April 2018, develops a 3D collaborative platform that creates virtual retail locations and showrooms, accessible to all sales, marketing and merchandising teams. It facilitates the uses of virtual and augmented reality for retailers and brands. Based in Nantes, the company employs 20 people, Web and 3D engineers, graphic designers and sales people to support more than fifty customers in France and abroad.

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