04102015 RugStudio Testing New Color Technology with Jaipur, Oriental Weavers and Surya Rugs

SAN ANTONIO - RugStudio, one of the top three rugs-only web retailers in the U.S., reports initial tests of a new color matching technology shows signs that it will help reduce returns and boost consumer confidence when it comes to their color choices.  Called "Show Me the Color Widget", the new color technology was developed by 75 Trading LLC to provide online shoppers the ability to match colors in a rug or textile to easily-obtained color swatches from Pantone, Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, and five additional consumer-recognized paint brands.

The first testing in an A/B blind sampling of consumers visiting RugStudio.com began with Surya rugs.  "We began inputting Surya data because they deal with a lot of designers and have had color matching data for at least three years on every rug in their collections," explained Stephen Light, director of ecommerce at RugStudio.

Light said that Jaipur Rugs and Oriental Weavers Pantone Universe rugs were next rolled into the consumer testing program, which now shows a slight increase in sales - 2.3 percent - and about a 6% decrease in returns in our test group.  "We believe this is a very promising technology and plan on expanding our test group in the future.  We need more data on more of our product offering," Light said, noting the three rug companies in the test had color extraction data existing in their systems and were able to participate for that reason.

Asked about the new test program, Surya president Satya Tiwari said, "Surya has always been at the forefront of innovation when it comes to color and design. We were the first in the industry to publish Pantone TPX colors for our rugs several years ago and designers continue to tell us that they really appreciate the ability to match Surya rug colors against TPX colors. Ultimately, we want designers and consumers to feel as confident as possible in their rug selection. This new color matching tool integrates Surya's color data with data from leading paint companies to make it easy to locate paint colors that complement Surya rugs, and conversely, increase the chance that a particular rug will work with existing paint colors."

George Varney, a principal at 75 Trading LLC said the patent pending software was developed to provide online retailers with an accurate color matching tool that will realize increased sales, decreased returns and fewer "product not as pictured" complaints. He expects fewer customer service inquires as well.  "The technology is designed to reduce calls by consumers asking 'is this color yellow or gold' or 'will the rug look like the colors in the photo when it's in my home?'"

As a former online retailer of rugs, Varney himself experienced these customer service issues and returns first-hand.  "We saw the need for a matching system that was consumer-friendly and more accurate than automated color extraction/image scanning software currently on the market.  Interior designers are familiar with the Pantone system and have their color swatches, but most consumers will find it simpler to match the colors of a rug to those in paint swatches they can pick up at their local home improvement store," he explained.

Oriental Weavers' central regional vice president Butch Rives says he was asked by Varney to give his opinion of the system and after seeing a demo, asked his team to provide the color matching data for Pantone Universe rugs. "It's a neat process.  Ecommerce companies selling to consumers need it more than the manufacturer.  It's in the very early stages, but RugStudio has told me it has increased sales.  A lot of the other systems aren't really factual, but this is accurate.  Matching to compatible paint colors and paint brands sure makes it easy for the consumer," Rives said.

The problem for the rug industry at this time says 75 Trading's Varney is that many rug companies do not have the raw color date (i.e., Pantone, RAL, CIELAB, etc.)  needed for their rugs to be used with his software.  "We are addressing this with our soon-to-be-released image color extraction software which will extract the raw color data from manufacturer-provided product images.  In addition, manufacturers also have the option to physically measure color data directly from a rug with any number of readily available color measuring devices in the market.

"As manufacturers continue to make their color data available and retailers begin using our color technologies, we strongly believe there will be significant increases in sales and decreases in returns, complaints and associated costs and hassles," Varney said.  While he did not quote usage fees for the software, he said that the cost benefits derived would exceed the price of the service.

The results of RugStudio's testing of Show Me the Color Widget and more information can be found at www.75trading.com.

04.10.15