Dive Brief:
- La-Z-Boy has integrated new 3D cloud technology that will help create custom product visualizations using its inventory images, the furniture retailer announced on July 15.
- With the technology, the company can generate images for any combination of product and style. The 3D tech will let interior designers show ideas to their customers and allow at-home shoppers to imagine their spaces with the retailer’s furniture.
- In the next few years, the scalable tech is expected to deliver 16 million on-demand, photorealistic product images, the release noted.
Dive Insight:
The expansion of 3D Cloud technology usage will streamline La-Z-Boy’s operations and replace the previously time-intensive process of manual rendering.
"The downstream impact of the expanded technology is positive. It gives our customers an improved shopping and design experience, while supporting our team with tools to move faster and align with merchandising priorities,” Gerardo Ornelas, vice president of enterprise digital transformation for La-Z-Boy Incorporated, said in a statement.
In addition to its new 3D rendering capabilities, La-Z-Boy plans to integrate technology into other functions such as room scanning and AI, Ornelas said.
Beyond modernizing its tech infrastructure, La-Z-Boy has also shed some of its subsidiaries to focus on its core businesses. Last month, the company sold its American Drew and Kincaid wholesale casegoods divisions to Banner House.
Following the sale, the company said it would turn its attention to its North American upholstery business and execute on its Century Vision strategy, the turnaround plan the company aims to complete by 2027.
Additionally, the company recently said it plans to finish its Midwestern and Eastern distribution transformation this year, an undertaking that will bring together 15 regional centers into three centralized hubs. The company is in year two of a four-year distribution overhaul that is ultimately expected to cut warehouse footage 30% and heavy-furniture delivery mileage 20%.
In Q4 earnings, La-Z-Boy reported $570.3 million in sales, flat compared to the year prior. Its retail segment, which is composed of company-owned La-Z-Boy stores, saw an 11% sales bump year over year in the quarter. Meanwhile, its full-year sales increased 1% from a year earlier to $2.1 billion, and its retail segment grew by 8%.
