Tools that Can Make Your Countertop Website Work

Online Share of the Countertop Market

The United States countertop business reached $76.8 million in 2023 and is expected to grow to $138.2 million by 2033, according to FMI. Estimating the share of revenue generated through the Internet or with its help is difficult. However, the importance of an online presence cannot be overestimated. According to The Farnsworth Group, online research before purchase is a growing trend among DIYers across demographics and product categories.

• 77% of respondents research their products on home improvement store websites.
• 58% use Google search.
• 42% use Amazon.

28% of respondents made online purchases in the Cabinet & Countertop category within the past 12 months. This figure is substantial but far below some other categories:

• Lawn and Garden: 77%
• Décor & Interior Furnishings: 49%
• Flooring: 36%

The relatively low purchase rating in the Cabinet & Countertop category is likely due to the complexity of the project, which involves measurements, calculation, product selection, and installation. However, this low rating also indicates high potential and suggests that the importance of an online presence will only increase.

Key Components of an Online Presence

Companies with a high-quality online presence and that provide their customers with online services that are as close to the showroom experience as possible have a better chance of succeeding. So, what does it take to build a high-quality online presence?

The definition of high-quality presence is vague and overused, so let's break it down by components:

• Discoverability: Customers should be able to find your company without knowing your brand. Your site should be easy to find by potential customers in your region looking for specific categories by very specific phrases: "countertops in my city," "granite countertops," "quartz countertops."
• Trustworthiness: Your site should convey trustworthiness from the very first click. You have only a few seconds to make an impression before the tab is closed, and your potential customer moves to another website on Google’s search results list. It should be up-to-date not only from a design perspective but also from a technological perspective and work on all desktop and mobile platforms. We've encountered countless instances where a once nicely designed website does not work as intended after an iOS or Android software update.
• Intuitiveness and Informativeness: Your site should be intuitive and informative. It should provide as many answers to potential customers as possible without human intervention, and this information should be easy to find.
• Engagement: The customer visits your site to choose the best product and product provider to whom they would be willing to entrust thousands of dollars to make their dream project a reality. Your ultimate goal should be to capture potential clients on your site, show them everything you have, and lead them to contact you or leave their information so you can contact them. The best way to capture their attention is with your products, good quality photos, detailed product descriptions, information on stock availability, project calculations, and visualizers.

Tools of Engagement

The first three points can be achieved with a professional website developer and proper Search Engine Optimization. We also recommend getting as much feedback as possible from your customers, friends, and relatives. They can help you improve minor details, making your site up-to-date, professional, and intuitive.

However, to reach a high level of engagement, you will need some professional tools:

• Product Inventory: Your customers should quickly find the product they are looking for.
• Pictures: Good quality pictures are essential, especially for natural stone slabs with their unique patterns.
• Stock Availability: It is essential to show your customers what you have in stock and what is possible to order.
• Promo Management: You should be able to catch the customer's eye with your special activities, such as New Arrivals, Sellouts, Remnant Discounts, etc.
• Edge Visualizer: Different edge profiles look different on various materials, so providing customers with a visualizer to see which profile looks better on the stone slab of their choice is a good idea.
• Room Visualizer: Enabling your customer to see your product in 3D space, Virtual Reality, or Augmented Reality is an engaging experience.
• Quotes: Customers love to be able to estimate the project cost before even contacting the company, so those companies that provide this service online have a higher probability of getting contacted.

Conversion

Engagement alone will not bring you revenue; it’s the conversion that matters. As selling stone slabs by pieces online is not common practice, our goal is to establish contact with the customer. Therefore, it is highly advisable that each step of engagement easily leads to contact. For example, each product, besides the photo and description, should have a “product inquiry” button. The same options should be available in visualizers and in quote calculators.

Countertop Software Providers

The market for software developers for countertop manufacturers is quite competitive. New players are developing new products, so it is important to follow trends and check for new product availability. However, we can recommend several well-established companies, including ours and our competitors, that can help you build your online presence:

• Slabsmith: Market-leading company providing slab scanning equipment, inventory management software, and digital layouts.
• SlabCloud: An online software explicitly developed for SlabSmith customers. It integrates flawlessly with their systems, enabling their products to be presented online efficiently, including 3D visualization and promo management. It is also compatible with other scanning software.
• KBF Cloud: An ecosystem for countertop fabricators that includes a Slab Capture tool, Digital Gallery, 3D Edge Visualizer, 3D Room Visualizer, and Instant website. It is good for smaller companies not using high-end professional scanning equipment to bring their products online quickly and professionally.
• SlabCapture: AI-based software designed by KBFCloud specifically to enable countertop fabricators who don’t plan to install high-end stone slab scanning equipment to take photos with a regular or even mobile phone camera and instantly remove background, correct perspective, and upload the images to your site.
• RoomVO: An augmented reality visualizer. It works well for flooring and tiles; the countertop integration is also available but needs many improvements. However, it is worth following up on.
• MSI visualizer tool: is a simple 2D visualizer designed specifically for MSI products. It is exclusively available to MSI distributors.

Conclusion

The future of the countertop business can no longer be imagined without a proper online presence. Artificial Intelligence's new possibilities are already changing the way products are presented and sold online. Search engine algorithms are constantly changing, and old methods may not work. Therefore, we advise you to build your online presence with a company that is looking into the future and swiftly adapting to new technologies, thereby also changing your online presence.