How Augmented Reality is Revolutionizing the Furniture Industry

Imagine wasting your valuable time going to a furniture store only to get confused about what looks good in your home! Or, you order a piece of furniture from the internet only to return it. It’s a hassle, isn’t it? 

Despite technological advancements, furniture brands and store owners have not been able to significantly alter their buy-from-the-store concept. The outcome? The furniture industry is one of the slowest-growing industries.

This is supported by Made Smarter’s research;8 out of 10 manufacturers claim that lack of expertise affects the scope and pace of their technological projects.

But times are changing! Furniture retailers are reevaluating their customer approach in light of significant advancements in visual commerce. The long-overdue shift in the furniture industry is being driven by 3D and augmented reality.

This blog post will shed light on how augmented reality can make a daylight difference to your furniture eCommerce business.

What is AR in Furniture Industry?

Simply said, with augmented reality, furniture businesses can offer a try-before-you-buy shopping experience with accurate product renderings. What makes it possible? Thanks to augmented reality (AR), customers can point their devices to any space in their home or workplace and select the item they wish to put there. They get a realistic 3D replica of the item placed over their actual environment, allowing them to play with its colors and patterns and move it around to determine its style, fit, and size.

Why do the top furniture shopping apps use augmented reality? Because you have a wider selection of furniture to pick from and it saves both time and money.

According to stats, AR increases customer engagement by 19% and provides higher conversion rates by 90%. 

For both large and small furniture businesses, this is a significant development. Rather than merely being an intriguing new technology, AR addresses major concerns buyers have when trying to buy furniture online or at physical stores.

Why Do You Need To Adopt AR in Furniture eCommerce Business?

• Give a Highly Engaging Shopping Experience to Your Customers

Choosing products with AR is not only efficient but highly enjoyable. It resembles design games that we’ve all played at some time. Customers explore all AR features of the app, testing every furniture piece, out of pure curiosity and enjoyment.

According to a survey, 55% of customers found AR shopping to be more entertaining and engaging than traditional shopping.

With AR, customers get to choose the color and material of the furniture as per their taste. To test the furniture, users aim their smartphone at any part of their room, and the screen starts showing the visual of that furniture in the given space. Customers can easily move around to find the perfect piece of furniture that fits like a glove. This engaging shopping experience will keep the customers coming back to your eCommerce store.

• Reach a Wider Target Audience

By using an AR app, you can reach new audiences and attract customers who live too far away from the showroom. By interacting with the AR mobile app, they can simply try out all the models from the catalog without leaving their homes and make a quick, stress-free purchase.

Because of this, major corporations like IKEA, Wayfair, Target, Houzz, and Amazon adopted augmented reality, thereby boosting their already sizable customer base. And given that purchasing AR 3D models is not overly expensive, even smaller firms may incorporate AR technology to boost their profits and enhance their shopping experience.

• Provide a Personalized Shopping Experience

The fundamental concept of AR in furniture is using AR apps on smartphones to visualize how the furniture will look in a real physical space. In the furniture sector, augmented reality offers a more personalized way of furniture shopping based on actual interiors rather than storefront displays.

With AR in furniture industry, a customer can peruse the full catalog, play with the design possibilities, inspect the selected product from all angles, and determine whether it fits in their room or not. Because of these advantages, physical furniture shops and online eCommerce stores cannot compete with customization in AR stores.

• Increase Shopping Confidence

Furniture sellers are essentially taking the guesswork out of online furniture shopping by enabling customers to place and visualize pieces in their own spaces. As customers engage with AR in furniture, they can answer important queries like ‘How big the furniture is’, ‘Can I fit this in my room’, or ‘Will it go with my walls’?

In the end, the customers’ discretion will decide whether they want to buy the product or not. But AR in furniture eCommerce platforms can certainly help them! Augmented reality provides greater assurance to the customers, which increases their buying confidence, as opposed to customers second-guessing a purchase in a brick-and-mortar store.

• Lower Your Returns Rate

It is no secret that furniture companies frequently experience higher return rates. The biggest reason behind this is that customers’ visions do not match reality when they try to fit in the furniture pieces. Nonetheless, the number of returns has significantly decreased with the aid of AR shopping. 

As augmented reality can instantly turn a customer’s house into a virtual showroom, they can be certain of the size and style of each product before they make a purchase. This advantage can reduce your returns rate significantly.

• Augmented Reality Brings ‘The Wow’ Factor

Augmented reality has transformed the way we do online shopping. This outstanding method of shopping has the potential to draw more customers and generate more buzz than traditional retail alone.

Several furniture brands have seized this opportunity and attracted interest and attention as more and more people are lured to this unique immersive technology.

Aside from this, businesses can use AR tools to differentiate themselves from rivals who are still relying on outdated traditional methods of selling furniture.

• AR Brings Store to Your Customers’ Home

Bring virtual showrooms right into customers’ homes with AR in furniture. The times have changed and most customers won’t just go to a furniture store’s physical location to make purchases. Your brand can use AR shopping to bring interior design ideas into people’s homes.

In each space, they can use a 3D visualization layout to see the furnishings and arrangements.

Thanks to augmented reality, buyers can view things they might not have considered while purchasing. For example, they might discover new lamps to match their nightstand to elevate the entire look.

• Time is money, and AR solutions can help you save both!

You can save unnecessary costs by using Augmented Reality. You will be able to view furniture pieces from many viewpoints, angles, colors, factures, materials, and in every conceivable version by using virtual prototyping. There is no need to waste time and money building numerous furniture items. Giving your customers a lot of customized options so they can quickly buy the product of their dreams is a fantastic approach to gaining their loyalty.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that if you don’t invest in AR technology for your furniture eCommerce store then you will stay far behind in this competitive market. But where do get these services? Well, you can either choose an outsourcing team for these services or an experienced eCommerce solutions company.

Technocrats Horizons offers a wide variety of AR-based eCommerce services and solutions to meet all of your needs. We provide a wide range of services to meet all of your needs, whether you need an AR tool for furniture design, interior design, or some other creative mobile application. Contact us right away for affordable AR services. 

About The Author

Gulshan Chandan

Mr. Gulshan Chandan, Customer Experience Head of Technocrats Horizons Compusoft Pvt. Ltd, is the driving force behind the company's success. With over a decade of experience in the industry, he is on a mission to redefine what it means to deliver exceptional customer service. Mr. Chandan is passionate about building lasting relationships with customers and is always looking for ways to go above and beyond to ensure their satisfaction.