How it Started
CITY Furniture’s origin story began as a single waterbed store in the 1970s, evolving and expanding to become the 27-location South Florida furniture powerhouse that it is today. As the company experienced growth, they faced a challenge familiar to many enterprise retailers: a significant portion of their customers couldn’t secure financing, leading to lost sales and walkaways. CITY Furniture needed an alternative to financing that could approve those customers and help them take home the furniture they needed.
By partnering with Acima and integrating the Acima digital lease-to-own (LTO) solution, CITY Furniture transformed their checkout process, empowered non-prime consumers and drove measurable growth in sales and customer satisfaction.
The seamless, omni-channel LTO solution from Acima helped CITY Furniture capture a broader market and set the stage for long-term success.
The Challenge
In South Florida’s unique market, a significant number of consumers are new Americans, thin-file or non-prime. Many CITY Furniture customers—particularly non-prime consumers with limited or no credit—faced barriers to financing.
“There were a large amount of people that just outright would not buy or could not buy,” said Joseph Moransais, Senior Manager, Retail Enablement at CITY Furniture. Without viable financing options, these customers often left the store empty-handed or abandoned their online carts. CITY Furniture was missing revenue opportunities. They needed an alternative to financing that could:
The Solution: Acima’s Digital Lease-to-Own Platform
CITY Furniture partnered with Acima to integrate their digital LTO solution, which offers consumers a purchase option that is an alternative to financing. Acima’s platform provides:
The integration allowed CITY Furniture to offer LTO as a purchase option, empowering customers who were declined by traditional lenders. “Instead of being declined for a store credit card and then having to start over with another application for Acima, our customers were already pre-approved,” Moransais explained. “The smoother digital experience helped us capture more sales and make customers happy.”
The Results
Acima’s LTO solution delivered immediate and significant results for CITY Furniture, transforming their sales metrics and customer experience.
1. Increased LTO Revenue Share
Within just seven days of implementing the Acima LTO process, CITY Furniture started to experience the benefits. “We saw a big lift in our Acima business in just seven days,” Moransais said, highlighting the rapid impact of the streamlined process.
2. Increased Average Order Value (AOV)
Acima’s LTO option enabled customers with limited buying power to access purchasing power, driving higher AOV. “We would see so many customers who had very limited financing options that otherwise wouldn’t buy, or maybe they would only have access to a few hundred dollars. But with Acima, many of them can access the leasing power to bring home the furniture they want, and we saw a definite increase in AOV,” Moransais noted. This uplift was partly due to overall company revenue growth, but Acima’s accessibility played a key role.
3. Reduced Walkaways
Acima’s LTO solution addressed the critical issue of walkaways, particularly in South Florida, where a Moransais encountered a large percentage of customers who couldn’t qualify for traditional credit. “It’s huge,” Moransais said of the LTO impact. “Many people hit a dead end with financing. There was just no other way. Acima was the alternative to financing that helped get them the furniture they needed.” By offering another checkout option, Acima turned potential lost sales into completed transactions.
“When we integrated with Acima, we reduced walkaways immediately, and it’s not even at its full potential yet.”
— Joseph Moransais, CITY Furniture
4. Empowered Store Associates
The partnership enhanced CITY Furniture’s sales process by giving associates a reliable tool to close deals. In-store representatives were a game-changer. “Having Acima reps in the stores created a significant lift in our LTO numbers,” Moransais shared. “Our best reps can simply tell the customer, ‘You’ve been declined with two different traditional credit issuers, but you’ve been pre-approved for lease-to-own. Let me walk you over to the Acima counter; they’ll complete your agreement and get that furniture delivered to your home.’”
This handoff process made associates more confident and efficient, allowing them to focus on new customers while Acima reps finalized agreements.
5. Foundation for Future Growth
Looking ahead, CITY Furniture sees Acima as a cornerstone of their expansion strategy, especially as they open larger stores. Moransais is optimistic: “We’ll keep working together to improve our processes and our tech, and it will accomplish even more of what we wanted to do, which is to raise access for those customers that otherwise wouldn’t buy.” The partnership’s scalability and focus on non-prime consumers can help drive CITY Furniture’s goal of sustained revenue growth.
While Acima’s digital LTO platform has seamlessly enhanced the checkout experience, CITY Furniture and Acima are collaborating to further optimize integration with the retailer’s point-of-sale system.
“It’s not even at its full potential yet,” said Moransais, expressing confidence in the partnership’s future. As these enhancements unfold, CITY Furniture anticipates even greater boosts in sales velocity, associate productivity and customer satisfaction, solidifying Acima’s role as a key driver of their growth strategy.
Why Acima?
Acima’s LTO solution stands out for its:
For CITY Furniture, Acima’s partnership has been “fantastic,” with Moransais praising the resources and in-store support that make a tangible difference. “With Acima, the non-prime customers who used to walk away from the store with nothing now have a chance to access up to $6,000 of leasing power,” he said, underscoring the customer confidence Acima inspires. “We can send them home happy and deliver the items they want for their homes.”
Conclusion
CITY Furniture’s partnership with Acima demonstrates the power of a digital LTO solution to unlock new revenue streams and help underserved customers. By lifting LTO revenue share, boosting AOV, reducing walkaways and empowering associates, Acima has become a vital part of CITY Furniture’s future.
As Moransais put it, “It’s just going to keep growing the revenue year over year. I have no doubt about that.” For enterprise retailers looking to capture the non-prime market and compete in a digital-first world, Acima offers a solution that reduces friction and moves merchandise out the door.
Ready to boost your sales, reduce walkaways, and empower more customers like CITY Furniture? Acima’s digital LTO solution is built for enterprise retailers, offering seamless integration, rapid approvals and omni-channel flexibility to drive revenue and loyalty.
Join the growing network of retailers transforming their checkout experience. Apply to become an Acima partner today at acima.com/partner-application and start unlocking the non-prime market.