Icovia adds tablet app for space planning

Appearing at Retailer Resource Center at High Point Market

Casual Living Staff -- Casual Living, 10/14/2011 10:00:00 AM

Icovia, long known for its space planning software for the home furnishings industry, is expanding its capabilities to accommodate the popular computer tablet.

Icovia Tablet Edition, a mobile version of its popular interior space planning software, will be launched in the National Home Furnishings Association's Retailer Resource Center on the first floor of Plaza Suites at High Point Market on Oct. 22-27.

Icovia Tablet Edition software will initially be available for the Apple iPad (downloadable from iTunes) featuring the Icovia 2D space planner solution with support for all other tablet platforms immediately afterward. Icovia Tablet Edition will integrate with retailers' Web-based Icovia Planner allowing consumers and sales associates to access and share designs across the entire Icovia platform. A Tablet version of Icovia's 3-D Room Planner as used by La-Z-Boy, Thomasville and others is also currently in development.

"Consumers are driving mobile commerce," said Steve Street, CEO of Icovia. "They've become accustomed to being able to find and purchase just about everything from a mobile device instantaneously. Now, we've extended that capability to the furniture showroom floor. With the Icovia Tablet edition, sales associates can quickly sketch a customer's room dimensions, and show them how the prospective new furnishings will fit in their space without leaving the showroom floor or the furniture they are interested in. It's a win-win for both the consumer and sales associate. The customer's engagement and satisfaction increase, associates can close more sales, and stores realize savings from decreased returns."

Icovia surveyed 300 furnishings retailers on buying trends before developing Icovia Tablet Edition. The survey revealed that, although consumers often make purchases with their smart phones, this does not translate to furniture, and a tablet has much greater appeal for room planning. Retailers and manufacturers also reported plans to go mobile.

Street said the company was pleasantly surprised to hear that retailers not only wanted a tablet solution but they wanted it from Icovia, integrated with their website planner, and the industry overwhelmingly wanted room planning on a tablet over other capabilities such as catalog browsing or configuring and visualizing furniture. "This has been one of our most comprehensive research and development projects and we have been overwhelmed by the support and interest from the industry," Street said.