The furniture sector is finally going online, thanks to new technologies like augmented reality, 3D modeling, and computer vision. AR and VR transforms the purchasing experience by enabling customers to experience furniture in their own home. This will undoubtedly lead to a better and more collaborative purchase experience. 

Online shopping is becoming more and more accessible to the average person. More and more people turn to online retailers first, new product categories have started to gain popularity. The availability of reviews, both written and video, have made it easy for people to quickly judge products before making a purchase. This has led to a growth in online sales. People are accustomed to trying on garments in a store before buying them. Now,many people have turned to buying clothes online due to the availability of free shipping and exciting offers. 

How exactly will technology boost online furniture sales? 

Now that furniture is available online, it is time for the category to shine. However, new strategies are required to do this. User reviews help customers understand the quality and feel of different products. But, they cannot help a buyer see how the piece actually fits in a room. Furthermore, given the size of furniture items, it is not possible to drop them off at the nearest UPS box if they do not quite match the decor. 

Augmented reality enables customers to “try out” furniture 

Customers can see an augmented reality view of their room and drop in full sets of furniture for consideration. Augmented reality and 3D rendering are fundamental for driving and changing the shopping experience. The home furnishing business deals with a lot of expensive products that are hard to imagine in your space. This makes augmented reality services a wonderful shopping service that will boost the commerce of the furniture brand. 

Wayfair, Ikea and Houzz have been pushing the envelope with Augmented Reality solutions for furniture “try-on”, but WSI has even bigger plans for the technology. One plan involves adding more assets for consumers to virtually stage and enabling customers to “try out” multiple furniture brands together. 

2) 3D rendering aids enhanced design experiences and customer inspiration 

WSI uses Outward to create 3D renderings of their products. These 3D renderings aid in their design processes and helps them provide customers with realistic photorealistic images of their products before the product has been actually manufactured. The 3D renderings are used to replace some of the photography of their products and allows customers to see the furnishings from all sides. 

The creative teams need to envision the whole room, including pieces they own and pieces there are considering to purchases. By employing personalized home design solutions utilizing advanced 3D visualization technology they can create perfectly-scaled, 360-degree room renderings based on each customer’s individual style.  

3) Using phone as a measuring device 

With AR and 3D rendering, a phone becomes an on-demand gateway to “trying out” new furniture in your exact setting. As you start to encode the products in 3D, you also capture the measurements for those products. Once you do that, there are lots of practical applications for this technology, including using the phone to help customers determine if a furniture delivery will fit through their front door. 

Online shopping is here to stay and is only gaining more and more momentum as the years go by. With technology paving the way for more immersive and impactful online furniture shopping experiences, the future results already look promising. Personally, I can see these kinds of experiences taking off with consumers. Who wouldn’t prefer shopping for a new headboard and nightstand from their own bed? Or, waving a phone around a narrow doorway instead of bringing out the tape measure? 

Now, question is are you ready to step into the future of ecommerce? 

Tulfa – The name that’s boosting AR 

Tulfa helps the world’s leading brands create customer experiences that transform the way they do business. Our immersive creations in the AR/VR product modeling is build on the core principles of design thinking and user-centric design. This empowers brands to build personalized connections with their customers through every interaction, every touchpoint, and every channel. 

Call us to know more.