Online furniture sales are one of the fastest-growing segments on eCommerce. However, purchasing furniture and home decor online may be daunting to many consumers.
AR helps them overcome these anxieties so that they can shop with complete peace of mind.
Real-time Visualization
Consumers feel more at ease making purchase decisions when they can visualize furniture in their homes, which in turn helps boost conversions, customer retention and brand loyalty.
Augmented reality enables users to virtually place virtual furniture models onto their living spaces using smartphones or tablets for a more realistic preview and makes design decisions in real time. Customers can iterate through various design variations while making informed decisions in real time.
IKEA’s AR Experience and Wayfair’s “View in Room 3D” features are two augmented reality furniture visualization tools that are revolutionizing online shopping experiences. Their research indicates that these features increase engagement, enable more accurate spatial planning, reduce product returns and save both time and money for both the retailer and consumer – making AR an indispensable digital tool for all home furnishings retailers regardless of size – be they small to mid-sized businesses or major chains.
Virtual Try-On
Many online shoppers struggle with visualizing how furniture will look in their own space before making purchases sight unseen. With return rates higher for furniture and home decor items compared to clothing or shoes, taking out any guesswork when it comes to purchasing sight unseen is vitally important.
Virtual try-on technology allows customers to virtually place new pieces in their living spaces before making a final decision to purchase them, enabling them to determine whether their measurements fit comfortably within their space and if it will compliment existing decor elements.
AR technologies that enable virtual placement can be accessed using either a camera on a smartphone or tablet, or through dedicated hardware like an in-store AR mirror or headset. For an optimal experience, augmented reality technologies must be powered by an effective framework comprising motion tracking, scene capture/processing/display conveniences. In addition, it should support various product categories.
Personalized Recommendations
Furniture shopping requires thorough product knowledge in order to make an informed purchase decision, which is why so many furniture brands and retailers use retail furniture software with AI to enable online customers to visualize products within their home or office environments.
These immersive technologies transform ecommerce from an endurance test into a fluid, engaging journey for consumers, offering personalized interactions and predictive analytics based on user behavior to boost customer retention and satisfaction.
As the ecommerce landscape rapidly shifts, companies must keep pace with customer expectations. Walker Sands research revealed that millennial and Gen Z shoppers expect more than just traditional store experiences online: They demand interactive experiences that enhance their shopping journey while deepening brand connection and creating emotional engagement. Therefore, providing interactive experiences such as virtual try-ons using AR is crucial for turning online shoppers into actual buyers.
Space Planning
Furniture retailers can improve the customer journey and meet rising customer expectations through AR. This advanced digital tool enables customers to explore furniture catalogs in 3D within virtual showrooms that closely resemble physical environments, providing an engaging shopping experience that enhances decision-making while simultaneously decreasing return rates.
Innovative technologies enable deeper engagement through design customization, enabling shoppers to explore different colors, fabrics and finishes on 3D models in real-time and instantly assess the effects on them in situ. This trend is quickly growing within furniture retail as technology-savvy customers increasingly demand it.
VR can take this experience even further, transporting shoppers into fully immersive and simulated showrooms that recreate the atmosphere of physical spaces. AI provides shoppers with real-time advice tailored specifically to their interactions and preferences – all adding up to create a new era in furniture e-commerce that redefines traditional shopping paradigms.
