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Living Spaces Sees Dramatic Business and CX Results from Its Needle-Powered Advocate CommunityNeedle, the leader in advocate-powered customer experience (CX), along with home furnishings retailer, Living Spaces, today announced that in the first two months of deploying external advocates, Living Spaces has seen a substantial increase in both online customer satisfaction and sales using Needle's technology and community services. Living Spaces has always focused on delivering the best customer experience, and wanted its online customers to have the same high-touch service experience as the customers who shopped at its brick-and-mortar stores. However, with just one call center, Living Spaces' customer experience team was already very busy, and didn't have the skill set or the capacity to implement and manage an enhanced online chat experience. That's when the company turned to Needle. Needle sourced, motivated, and deployed an external group of advocates who were certified as Living Spaces product and brand experts. Using Needle's visual sharing tools and gamified platform, Living Spaces advocates started providing real-time advice and guidance to its online customers who were looking for help, especially as they were comparing products and making purchase decisions. After launching their Needle program, Living Spaces saw an immediate improvement in its online CX. Visitors to www.livingspaces.com had access to on-demand, instantaneous assistance from a team of passionate home design and furnishings experts. Beyond answering product questions, these Living Spaces advocates were able to give design advice and make specific suggestions based on the shopper's taste, space, and needs. Whether they were deciding on which throw pillow to buy, or wanting help redesigning an entire room, online shoppers received the personal touch that Living Spaces is known for delivering in its retail locations. "We knew people wanted more help on the website because they were calling us and asking about it, but we didn't feel like we had the time or the personnel to implement it on our own," said Pete Franco, director of ecommerce for Living Spaces. "Needle turned out to be just the solution we were lookng for. Integration on the tech side was easy, and it was a relief to have Needle recruit and train our advocates. Now our online customers have a better shopping experience and receive the same level of attention as our in-store guests." In addition to strengthening their overall customer experience, Living Spaces saw increases in other key program metrics - including a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 63, a 14 percent increase in average order value (AOV), and an eight-fold increase in online conversion rates. "The Living Spaces advocate community is really special," said Stephanie Walsh, VP of Community at Needle. "We were able to find interior designers with advanced degrees and real estate professionals who stage and flip homes for a living, who were not only knowledgeable, but incredibly passionate, about Living Spaces. They're also a high-performing group because they are uniquely qualified to help shoppers combine Living Spaces products in a way that matches their personal style, fits in the space they're trying to fill, and instills confidence." Stories about how advocates and shoppers are making meaningful connections are emerging daily - captured by the real-time feedback feature built into Needle's platform. One visitor to www.livingspaces.com clearly needed help as he clicked through the site. With Needle's technology, Living Spaces immediately recognized his need and presented the opportunity to talk with a design expert. The customer started his conversation by saying he was decorating his first apartment in L.A., and had no idea where to start. The advocate he was chatting with asked for pictures of the space. Together, using real-time, visual sharing tools, they created a design theme that the customer loved, and bought. See more examples of real-time interactions between Living Spaces advocates and customers here. "Living Spaces is a company committed to delivering great customer experiences - which means from the beginning, there was great alignment with Needle," said Scott Pulsipher, Needle President and COO. "Armed with our tools and technology, the advocates we manage with Living Spaces are engaging in some of the most authentic, effective conversations happening anywhere online. We're very pleased, although not surprised, that Living Spaces has realized a positive impact on sales and CX in such a short period of time as a result of our program. And we believe this is just the beginning of a mutually-productive relationship." About Needle Needle helps companies bring the power of human connections to e-commerce. Founded in 2010, Needle's software identifies online customers who need help making a purchase decision and matches them, real-time, with certified advocates have first-hand knowledge of the products they're considering. The result is a truly awesome customer experience that builds trust and increases satisfaction with customers, while delivering incremental revenue and long-term customer value for businesses. Needle is a privately held company based in Salt Lake City. For more information about how Needle works and for whom Needle works, visit www.needle.com. About Living Spaces Living Spaces was founded in 2003 and serves California and Arizona with 12 retail locations and a distribution center in Rialto, CA (News - Alert). Living Spaces offers a wide range of furniture and home décor, including over 150 living rooms, 70 bedrooms and 100 dining rooms, as well as an unparalleled selection of rugs, pillows and other unique home accents. It is also the home of "Elements," an accent gallery of unique one-of-a-kind pieces sourced from the far corners of the globe. Additionally, the Revive Sleep Center inside Living Spaces offers the latest in sleep technology and features top brands like Sealy, Serta, Circadian, Tempur-Pedic, iComfort and Optimum (News - Alert). To learn more, visit www.livingspaces.com.
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