Fantastic Furniture | Digital Transformation & AI

Overview:

Fantastic Furniture, one of Australia’s largest affordable furniture retailers, embarked on its e-commerce and AI adoption journey a few years ago. With a strong physical retail presence, the challenge was to modernise operations and customer experience through digital transformation.

Challenge:

• Strategy buy-in: Leadership alignment on digital-first thinking was slow, as the company’s success had historically been store-driven.

• Capability gaps: Internal teams lacked experience in AI, data strategy, and digital-first customer journeys.

• Customer expectations: Shoppers increasingly demanded online experiences with real-time stock visibility, recommendations, and delivery tracking.

Approach:

1. Executive Workshops

• Conducted strategy workshops with leadership to build shared understanding of AI’s role in retail.

• Identified immediate value drivers (personalised product recommendations, customer service automation) and long-term opportunities (predictive demand forecasting).

2. Playbooks & Roadmaps

• Developed digital transformation playbooks that covered customer journey mapping, AI pilots, and governance structures.
• Prioritised initiatives into “quick wins” (chatbots, online merchandising tools) vs. “strategic shifts” (supply chain AI, predictive inventory management).

3. Capability Building

• Designed broad learning programs for managers and teams, building literacy in AI, digital strategy, and data-driven decision making.

• Embedded internal champions to sustain momentum.

Outcomes

• Launched an AI-driven recommendation engine that boosted online conversion rates.

• Improved supply chain forecasting accuracy, reducing out-of-stock issues.

• Shifted culture toward experimentation and data-informed decision making.

• Positioned Fantastic Furniture to compete effectively with global and local e-commerce players.