The Future of Showrooms by Amy Hill

I was recently invited to join ThinkLab for a Clubhouse discussion on the future of showrooms. One of the questions posed to us was to challenge traditional thinking on showrooms. As our industry continues to move past the legacy ways in which we connect with our community, here are a few thoughts that I’d like to share to challenge the status quo:

Moving away from product-centric furniture museums to a shared community experience
This requires manufacturers, rep groups, and dealerships to change their mindset from a push to a pull. What I mean by that is instead of asking “what products are we introducing that we want to get in front of end users and influencers?”, we ask “what experiences do our audiences want to have, and how do we meet them where they are?” 

Access and the sharing economy
Not all manufacturers and multi-line reps have the resources and opportunity to rent a space long-term. With the increasing quantity of manufacturers specified on projects, having an opportunity to physically interface with more products seems like a win-win for all parties involved. So, why not increase access by introducing a shorter-term, less costly lease scenario where the space is owned by one entity and rented out on a short-term basis?

From fixed to variable
Traditional showrooms are expensive to maintain and refresh, hence why they are only updated at most once a year. Although there is some benefit to having a degree of consistency, changing up a portion (if not all) of the product applications on a rotating basis enables the community to see different solutions, learn different perspectives, and interface with more ideas, products, and their applications than before.

This is what excites me about the concept of Curio – a space for sharing ideas, and of co-creation for and by our own community. I think we’re just at the tip of the iceberg for the possibilities, and together we will make this a great space for connection, collaboration, and ideation.

A note from Amy Hill