The Customer Experience

So Furniture.com decided to create a "Fact Tag" for every product that it features. "It tells people about the dimensions," says Brooks. "Is the product oversized? Do you need to measure your doorways? What's the surface material or finish? How do you need to care for the fabric? What are the construction methods?" Brooks is so determined to make the furniture-buying experience more transparent that he has begun talking about posting manufacturers' on-time delivery records. In an industry famous for delays, that's heresy. "We want to reward companies that take the customer experience as seriously as we do," he says.

Furniture.com treats the delivery process as another major aspect of the customer experience. Once an order is placed, the design consultants hand it off to the customer-care department, which works with the manufacturer to make sure that it stays on track. Furniture.com sends out regular emails to customers about the status of their order. If there is a shipping delay, a customer-care staffer contacts the buyer in question immediately. "We don't want customers to have to call us to find out what's going on with their order," says Mauriello.

For Furniture.com, the shipping process doesn't end until the furniture is safely situated in the customer's home. The company outsources delivery to a high-end common carrier, such as North American Van Lines. But according to Brooks, customers hold his company, rather than the carrier, responsible for the quality of the delivery experience. "If the delivery guys don't wipe their shoes before they go in, or if they leave a scuff mark on the wall -- well, Furniture.com might as well have done that." That's why the company pays for each carrier's highest level of service. Specially trained staffers from the trucking company deliver, unwrap, assemble, and inspect the furniture, place it where the customer wants it to go, and take away any packaging. On delivery day, the buyer gets a call from the customer-care department -- "just to make sure that everything's okay," says Brooks.

Furniture.com also offers a "Satisfaction Guarantee." Customers who aren't happy with what they've ordered can exchange it -- without paying any restocking or handling charges. "That's a big departure from the old approach," Brooks boasts. "But the customer's goodwill is more important to us than anything else."

Brooks's ultimate goal is to challenge the underlying logic of the furniture-retailing business -- a business that views delivery times of 6 to 12 weeks as normal. Working with several North Carolina-based manufacturers, Furniture.com is gathering data about its customers' preferences -- whether people prefer sleigh beds to canopy beds, for example, or whether they tend to choose cherry over oak. Furniture.com and the manufacturers use this data to make a limited set of products that satisfy a broad range of customer demand. For each of those products, Furniture.com and its partner commit to a delivery time of as little as 3 weeks.

"In the world of e-commerce, 3 weeks is an eternity," says Brooks. "But in the world of furniture, it's a snap of the fingers. Our vision is to collaborate with customers and manufacturers to make this a better experience. This is an industry that has lots of room for improvement."

Biztravel.com -- Which Features Should We Feature?

Members of the development team at Biztravel.com are arguing -- again -- about Web design. Which new features, among the many options under consideration, should they include in the next version of their site? The argument is friendly -- it sounds like the kids on The Brady Bunch debating who gets to ride in the front seat -- but the stakes are high. The company, launched three years ago with blue-chip venture-capital backing (and with such corporate investors as Comcast, Intel, and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.), has been working to persuade frequent business travelers to leave their human travel agents behind and to rely on the Web. That means offering an online service that streamlines the booking process for airline tickets, hotel reservations, and rental cars. It also means rolling out innovations that traditional travel agents can't match -- and that people in Biztravel.com's target market won't be able to resist.

Biztravel.com unveils a new edition of its site every six weeks. Such upgrades have introduced visitors to a slew of killer apps. One feature, called bizAlert, sends a message to your pager an hour before your flight, complete with gate information and updates on any delays or cancellations. Another feature, called CalendarDirect, downloads an itinerary to your desktop-calendar program or to your PalmPilot. Perhaps most impressive, there's an automated upgrade feature that works with lightning speed to bump you from coach to business class -- and all you have to do is sign up for the service. (According to Biztravel.com, this feature snares upgrades for 85% to 95% of eligible travelers, compared with a 25% to 30% success rate for traditional travel agents.)