Would Love Your Opinion on Brochure Website

[furnify]

Hi There,

Thank you for your time to take a look at my request to review my website.

furnify is mainly an online business which supplies office furniture mainly to businesses. If you wouldn't mind sparing a few minutes of your time I would love to know what you think about my website - www furnify co uk

If you can, I would appreciate if you can let me know the following?

• Overall thoughts when you first enter the site
• Please use the website as if you were an office manager, facilities manager or business owner looking for office solutions like say - office pods
• Let me know how easy it was to find the product you were looking for
• Send a Test Request a Quote using the button on the product page - Add UKBF in the text field so that I know its not spam.
• Then if you could also let me know what device you were using and browser
• Please give me your honest feedback and thoughts.

Thank you in advance.

Kind regards

Brendon

 

[UKSBD]

I think it's a great website, but.

If it's a brochure site don't confuse me by making the 1st section I look at an ecommerce site.

The menu, cart, general layout, etc. makes me initially think you are an ecommerce site.

The What We Do Section and About page make me think you provide an interior design, complete office, fit out and supply service who will go out and visit customers.

Landing on other pages doesn't portray that message though.

It's almost like you are trying to do 2 things with the same site.

 

[The Byre]

Health warning - a rather blunt review follows (sorry, but it is needed!) -

It gets a thumbs-down from me for bad copy. Let's look at the opening statements -

Welcome to furnify
Modern Office Furniture Designs
We help businesses of all sizes to specify, procure and install modern office furniture.

At furnify, we combine 46 years of expertise to create both contemporary and inspirational workspaces for the modern office, giving your business a more productive, creative and energised environment.

I have underlined the FOUR mentions you make about yourself and put in bold ONE occasion you mention the customer. If I am the customer, I want to know what you can do for ME. I am only interested in what advantages there might be in it for ME. The last thing I want to hear about is how great you are.

But let's move on to the next bit -

Furnishing an office takes more than selecting a modern reception desk, office desks, office bench desks, task chairs, wall storage and filing cabinets. It involves thoughtful office design, space planning and a look at the office culture.
It's also about how staff work while, at the same time, looking after their wellbeing so that they remain happy, healthy and productive.

Now you are lecturing me. And when you lecture someone, you imply that you know something that they do not - i.e. they are ignorant and/or stupid.

Think of the customer as being like a horse. Yesterday I had to catch a horse. Horses are very big and very powerful - just like a customer with money to spend on office furniture. You do not catch a horse by threatening it or by shouting at it. You use kindness and carrots.

In the same way, no customer is going to sign on the dotted line after you have told them that they are stupid.

But let's see what comes next -

Once our research into your work environment is complete, the fun begins! That’s after a design visit, in consultation with our clients, we select the right contemporary office furniture solutions for your space. It has to be perfect for the business and the people that work in it while complementing the office and raising it to new levels of functionality, comfort and professionalism.
We invite you to browse our easy-to-navigate website to see our full product selection.

Having got off to a bad start, it gets worse! The poor old customer gets mentioned twice, you talk about yourself SIX times!

And on top of all that, YOU get to choose my furniture! Apparently, I - the customer - am still too stupid to make such important decisions for myself!

I get to read a great deal of bad copy, but your site features some of the worst I have ever come across. The same self-indulgence is repeated across the entire site and on every page.

Yes, I am being blunt - but blunt is what is needed here. The site screams self-written copy.

I am sure that you provide a very good service. Well, here's a tip - so do good professional writers of advertising copy. And just as you charge for your products and know-how, so do they!

Good copy contains an arresting headline, a ten-second breakdown, a call-to-action and one or more reasons WHY I should buy from you.

Where are the customer reviews? Where is the proof that you can improve staff performance and productivity?

Here are two books that you MUST read before you go any further - 'Ogilvy on Advertising' by David Ogilvy, and 'Making Ads Pay' by J Caples.

When you have read both books, you will be in a position to hire a professional to write your copy and gauge their work. PM me if you need any further help.

 

[GraemeL]

Too expensive.
Thats what I get from the first entry to the site. Then I see the brands you are highlighting and I know you are too expensive. You will be seeking scarf wearing architects to specify your products. Will they look here? Doubt it. That end of the market is by personal contact.

Copy is full of features, but should have loads of tangible benefits and it does not. eg It does not spell out why a sliding seat helps me.

What do you do? You help. It says so here:-
We help businesses of all sizes to specify, procure and install modern office furniture.

But then the site takes me to products that you want to sell to me.

Dreadful copy, such as .......

Occasional tables are used in various environments from receptions to waiting areas, breakout spaces and even in executive offices where there is soft seating. They are designed for the user while seated, offering a space to support beverages like coffee (hence the alternative name – coffee tables), magazines or books. These low table solutions can be placed in front of (or next to) a sofa or upholstered seating, normally within arm’s reach for comfort and convenience. In today’s workplace, with the introduction of home comforts into the office, the occasional table needs to be more flexible to address the requirements of modern users. Our range of tables below have all been chosen for their high quality and to help answer today’s office requirements.

Strikes me you are a web designer, not a furniture seller?

 

[fisicx]

It’s not a brochure site. It’s an e-commerce site where I can’t buy anything.

The images all look photoshopped.

 

[Paul Carmen]

The site look OK, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, it looks like an ecommerce site but isn't.

I'm not even sure what you do really, as the copy doesn't make it clear what you deliver for me (as the customer). Your site is just confusing, why would I want you to pick my furniture and fittings, is that the service you're offering; e.g. a customer picks you to effectively come in and design their office? If not, its just confusing and the flowery internally focused language offers no features and benefits for the customer.

When we produce copy and add a call to action to a site its about what the benefit is to a customer, why would they use you, what's the hook etc. This should be the case whatever the business.

This confusion flows through the entire site, effectively showing products rather than services in many areas. Either you're offering a service or selling products, which is it, at least define the journeys?

When I do click on a product or try to book a service I'm taken to 'Request a Quote' or 'Request A Design Visit', what are these services? Why is it not explained on the site, its barely mentioned but it appears to be your main call to action?

Even when I go to this, the language used makes no sense, you need to follow the KISS principal online at all times (keep it simple stupid), what does 'Where can we email you?*' mean, is this the email address, if so put 'Enter your email address'.

I don't think you need a brochure site, unless you plan to physically visit people, or they physically visit you, and you show them things/services online; e.g. like you would from a brochure if you were a travel agent, or send them your URL to let them browse the site as a brochure (which it isn't usable like currently). It looks more like you probably need a lead generation site of some sort.

I think you need to take a step back and understand:

• who your customers are
• where they look and what they search for
• what do they want
• who's the competition
• what's your USP
• how do you attract them with the correct landing pages, CTAs and onsite processes

 

[Alan]

Its been said above, e-commerce site with cart turned off.

Step back is required. What do you want the website to achieve for your business and work from there.

 

[fisicx]

Using Magento is pointless for a site like this. If all you are offering is a office design service you only really need a simple site with a description of your services and a contact form.

Why on this page:

https://www.furnify.co.uk/en/formbuilder/project

Do you have a compare and wishlist on the left?

Why does the form begin with "What would you like to talk to us about?" and then ask for my name?

The more I look at the site the worse it gets. The images are really bad. Look at this image for the dandy sofa:

Spot the obvious error?

And the description says "Two-tone upholstery". The sofa doesn't look two-tone to me. And the chair on the right isn't a sofa.

In your opening post you suggest we image we were a "office manager, facilities manager or business owner". If I were any of these I wouldn't be on the site for more than a few seconds.

 

[KM-Tiger]

... scarf wearing architects ...

LOL! Out of that world now, but have met many of those over the years.

Can only concur with what others have said. The site totally lacks focus on the information it should be providing.

Question is should the OP bin it and start again. or could it be rescued?

 

[furnify]

I think it's a great website, but.

If it's a brochure site don't confuse me by making the 1st section I look at an ecommerce site.

The menu, cart, general layout, etc. makes me initially think you are an ecommerce site.

The What We Do Section and About page make me think you provide an interior design, complete office, fit out and supply service who will go out and visit customers.

Landing on other pages doesn't portray that message though.

It's almost like you are trying to do 2 things with the same site.

Thank you for taking the time and invaluable feedback.
Regards
Brendon

 

[fisicx]

Question is should the OP bin it and start again. or could it be rescued?

Start again. But this time with a proper marketing plan. That will then drive the content which in turn will define the site structure and the appropriate platform.

 

[Aleksander_Gramm]

My comment may seem an off-topic, but it can help OP and others.
I read comments and made some conclusions. This site was built without understanding the target audience. This is a set of sites are like the trees that hide the forest. Could anybody see furnify here?
Unfortunately, I am not the representative of the OP's target audience. I can't review the site as a client. Because this website can't help me to understand for whom it was created.
There are two main problems for business sites:
1) Most clients don't have a clue what they want and many often times point to other sites and say "i like that" can you do something like that.
2) Most business sites have similar layouts. It is a challenging task to create a custom design. It is impossible, if you don't understand your target audience.
The good site starts from a marketing research (I like to say "a marketing audit". So, I agree with @fisicx (again) OP needs a good marketing plan.

 

[fisicx]

Not sure the op is coming back....