Website development for a designer upholstered furniture brand
Erba Idea is an Italian design brand that sets out its position right from the homepage: a return, the relaunch of a name with a new concept. The website created by our agency was designed to support this transition precisely, striking a balance between continuity and innovation.
The solution lies in the structure of the catalogue, which is divided into two parallel and comprehensive ranges. The ‘Idea’ range showcases the contemporary collection, whilst the ‘Heritage’ range highlights the brand’s historical legacy; both feature the same categories: sofas, armchairs, pouffes, coffee tables and chairs. Visitors can choose their own world without one taking precedence over the other, and the brand can appeal to a new audience without compromising its history.
The most useful feature from a commercial perspective, however, is the finishes section, which incorporates the Moodboard Creator. The Moodboard Creator is a tool developed by our agency and adopted across several projects in the furniture sector: it allows visitors to create combinations of materials and finishes directly on the website. In high-end furniture, the choice of finishes is the most time-consuming stage of the negotiation and usually takes place in the showroom, in front of the samples. Bringing part of this process online means the customer arrives at the appointment with a clear idea of what they want, reducing the number of meetings needed to finalise the deal.
The members’ area goes beyond simply providing secure access. The system allows for the management of different content for different user groups, so that each category of user sees only what is relevant to them. Price lists are updated in real time thanks to a direct link to the company’s ERP system, eliminating any discrepancy between published and actual prices. The system also automatically generates, in PDF format, product sheets and price lists – both for individual items and in a general version – which retailers can download as and when they need them without having to request them from the company.
The project is rounded off by a magazine section for editorial content, a catalogues area, an internal search function, and pages on the brand, its history, manufacturing processes and sustainability. The website is bilingual, in Italian and English.
Revitalising a brand without denying its history
When a historic brand relaunches, the temptation is to put the new at the forefront and the history in the background. With Erba Idea, we have avoided this hierarchy by creating two parallel and comprehensive ranges, Idea and Heritage, featuring the same product categories: this way, both the new audience and the loyal customer base can each find their own world without feeling sidelined.
Another key decision concerns the finishes. With upholstered furniture, choosing the upholstery is the most time-consuming part of the sale, and bringing this process online with well-organised materials and mood boards means anticipating work that would otherwise take place entirely in the showroom. These choices stem from understanding where the time spent negotiating actually takes place.
NewVisibility was founded in 2013 by Andrea and Luca, lifelong friends who had already been building websites for several years before giving themselves a name. Since then, we have worked with over three hundred clients. We’re a team on a human scale: you speak directly to the people working on your project, with no middlemen, even after the site goes live.
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NewVisibility, a web development agency in the province of Como, which designed the two-line structure and developed the bilingual website with its finishes section.
The two souls of the catalogue: Idea brings together the contemporary collection, Heritage the brand's historical legacy. Both feature the same product categories.
Because a brand that is relaunching needs to speak to a new audience without giving up its long-standing one. Two complete paths prevent either from feeling secondary.
A tool that lets visitors put together combinations of materials and finishes directly on the website, bringing the longest stage of the negotiation online.
Through a direct link to the company's ERP system: the prices published in the members' area always match the actual ones, with no manual updates.
Manage content tailored to different user groups, consult price lists updated in real time via the ERP link, and download product sheets and price lists automatically generated as PDFs.
To support the choice of upholstery, which is the longest decision with upholstered furniture. Organised materials and moodboards bring part of the showroom work online.
A suggested combination of materials and colours that helps customers picture the result, rather than assessing samples one by one without any visual context.