Inside the Calligaris Omnichannel Revolution

Calligaris needed a flexible, intelligent solution. They discovered Magento Commerce.

The Italian furniture design company needed a flexible eCommerce solution.

Calligaris was started in 1923 with just one chair. Today, the Italian furniture giant offers more than 800 products, available in 15,000 variations, to customers in over 100 countries. With 650 points of sale and two flagship stores worldwide, you can find Calligaris tables, chairs, and accessories in stylish homes from California to Sydney. Their fine furniture is created by a team of expert designers, architects, trendsetters, and artisans, and is subject to rigorous testing and fine-tuning. “We can experiment, change, and innovate,” the company boasts, “because we know who we are and what our brand represents: Design that is contemporary, flexible, and intelligent.”

The same could not be said of the company’s digital operations. Their proprietary eCommerce platform was limited and expensive to maintain. It did not allow Calligaris to independently manage content updates, catalog updates, and promotions. Their corporate website was not even responsive, and there was no mobile version. Yet Calligaris had plans to connect their network of physical stores to their online channels. They wanted a 3D product configurator, and interactive in-store kiosks. In 2017, Calligaris went looking for a flexible, intelligent solution to their problems. They discovered Magento Commerce.

Thanks to WEBFORMAT’s technical expertise, we implemented a dynamic site, complemented by interactive in-store kiosks, installed in more than 40 countries, that deliver a personalized shopping experience that is avant-garde for our sector.

Roberto Mirabella
Marketing Director, Calligaris S.p.a.

An interactive kiosk experience.

Calligaris, together with their Magento Solution Partner WEBFORMAT, wasted no time on their total digital transformation. They developed their new corporate and eCommerce websites with Magento Commerce 2. The platform integrates at a system level with their proprietary PIM for managing catalog and product details, while the TYPO3 CMS allows the team to manage the blog, news, and press releases, without having to bother developers.

The Magento Commerce 2 API seamlessly integrated with the existing Calligaris systems, and links to their new in-store kiosks. WEBFORMAT developed the kiosks to give customers up-to-the-minute access to the product catalog, with content targeted to a region, a country, or even a single kiosk. The PWA-powered kiosks even work in remote stores where internet access is spotty or non-existent.

WEBFORMAT also integrated a Javascript 3D product configurator into the Magento product page. Now customers can choose a dining room chair, select the perfect frame, then compare colored fabrics, all on the web. Based on WebGL technology, the configurator creates lifelike models generated by AutoCAD, 3D Studio models, or even a 3D scanner. Finally, Magento updates product availability and price based on promotions, price lists, and currencies. Customers just add their dream chair to their cart, or a wishlist. Again, thanks to PWA, it even works on mobile, online or offline.

On the corporate side, the brand’s fully-responsive website now offers a store locator with a dedicated page for each Calligaris store. Each location can customize their information including address, opening hours, map, and news. Store managers can even create their own promotions to drive sales.

In-store, online, everywhere.

Creating a truly omnichannel experience was easy with Magento Commerce 2. The relaunched Calligaris site unveiled a whole new brand identity, and vastly improved the user experience across all touchpoints. Customers can now create a wishlist on the website, generate a code, and visit a store to check-out in-person. Or they can create a wishlist using the in-store kiosk, take their designs home to show their family, and check-out through the website. Offline and online shopping is artfully combined.

The in-store kiosk is now a valuable new sales channel that offers customers the full Calligaris catalog, even in small stores. The kiosk provides promotions and communications for different languages, countries, and specific stores, even those without a reliable internet connection. And by connecting the kiosks to the company’s ERP, customers see up-to-date pricing and availability.

Thanks to the versatility of Magento, Calligaris can independently manage their corporate communication channels, including their B2B and B2C eCommerce websites, kiosks, and more. Calligaris also reduced the time-to-market to update their catalogs when new collections are released — once a dreaded annual chore. There’s even room for whatever digital channels will come along in the future. To Calligaris, Magento Commerce is more than just a platform: it’s the central hub for the brand’s new digital strategy.

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Originally published at https://magento.com.