Use of Augmented Reality in Furniture E-commerce

When it comes to products like sofas, wardrobes, chairs, or new pieces of art, these items are often more expensive and stay with customers longer than, say, a jumper. Furniture decorates our homes, flats, or gardens for years, and we interact with them daily. As a result, purchasing decisions in this category are less impulsive and require a more thorough verification process to ensure they fit perfectly in the intended space. Selling such products online necessitates rethinking the technologies and tools used to create an optimal shopping experience.

Where is furniture ecommerce heading?

In recent years, the furniture industry has undergone fundamental changes in its sales processes. The closure of physical stores, canceled trade fairs, issues with material availability, logistics challenges, and disruptions in subcontractor work are just some of the hurdles faced. Each day poses the risk of losing customers, revenue, production capacity, or deteriorating supplier relationships.

While some companies struggled to transition to online sales, others seized the opportunity. Now that many entrepreneurs have adapted to these dynamic changes, it's clear which brands view the online channel as a temporary fix and which are building long-term e-commerce strategies.

What are the tools for selling online effectively?

While many customers still want to see and touch furniture before buying, research shows that 8 out of 10 customers purchased at least one furniture product online in 2020. The e-commerce channel accounts for over 90% of growth in the industry, indicating a growing interest in buying furniture online. To meet this demand and capitalize on it, it's crucial to employ appropriate technologies and create a high-quality shopping experience.

Selling furniture online requires a unique approach due to the specific nature of these purchases. Customers need an experience that mirrors visiting a showroom, where they can see the furniture's real dimensions, variants, and scale. Photos and visualizations alone are insufficient to stand out from the competition and alleviate customer concerns, which can otherwise lead to abandoned carts.

Large e-commerce brands with ample resources use every advantage to attract customers and deliver the best shopping experience. However, new technologies have democratized the market, enabling medium and small businesses to present their products online in unique and cost-effective ways. For the furniture industry, one essential tool is AR, which allows customers to display true-to-scale 3D models in their interiors using just their mobile devices.

Web-based furniture Augmented Reality

AR is a must-have tool for the furniture industry. It enables customers to visualize true-to-scale 3D models in their interiors using only a smartphone. This technology helps customers make informed purchasing decisions and increases user engagement in the shopping process.

How does this work in practice? When visiting a brand’s website on a smartphone, customers can display the product in their own home, apartment, yard, or office. They can virtually stand in front of a realistic-looking digital product as if it appeared in real life. The furniture can be rotated and adjusted to fit the selected space, and the customer can then seamlessly proceed to purchase—all through their phone display. It’s worth noting that high-quality AR solutions also engage desktop users by generating a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone to jump into the AR experience.

A well-known precursor in using AR for furniture sales is Ikea with its ‘Places’ app. While this can be an interesting tool, at Ar-range, we advise against developing AR apps for our clients. Thanks to technological advancements, there’s no need to develop an app to create an impressive AR experience. Web-AR, which allows AR to be displayed directly within a mobile browser, is a much simpler and more user-friendly solution. Recent studies show that web-AR generates approximately 33 times less friction than traditional apps in terms of customer engagement. It’s simple—we want the customer to stay within the e-commerce store rather than get distracted by installing external apps. With web-AR, the experience blends seamlessly into the user journey alongside other sales tools and channels.

4 Reasons to include web-AR in your sales process

1. Higher Conversion Rates: AR has proven to add enormous value to the shopping experience. According to a Shopify study, products with AR content had a 94% higher conversion rate than those without.
2. Shortened Shopping Process: AR helps reduce the shopping process time by giving customers fewer reasons to hesitate, question, or doubt.
3. Stand Out from the Competition: AR provides a unique shopping experience that differentiates your brand from competitors.
4. Reduced Returns: Better-informed purchase decisions made through AR can lead to fewer product returns.

5 Steps to implement AR in your ecommerce

1. Grab Your 3D Models: The first step is likely already complete—you need 3D models of the furniture (or other products) you offer. It’s possible you already have these assets, perhaps shared with architects. These models are the foundation for generating high-quality AR product depictions for your store (both iOS and Android).
   Additional tip: 3D models are like the foundation of a building—they may not look impressive on their own, but they are the starting point for creating more. With a quality 3D model library, you have the freedom to use them not only in AR but also for static visualizations, close-ups, 360-degree animations, configurators, and even Instagram-based AR.

1. Choose the Technology: Large e-commerce companies like Wayfair and Ikea invest heavily in their own AR apps. However, the most user-friendly and budget-friendly option is web-AR, which doesn’t require creating or downloading a mobile app. It’s available directly on your website. Ar-range has developed an ‘AR widget,’ a ready-made tool that allows you to make your products available in web-AR in just 30 minutes, with no integration worries.
2. Generate AR Content: If you choose to build an app, you’ll need to design a new user interface, integrate it into your sales process, and tackle other challenges. But with web-AR, you can skip to the exciting part—content creation. Using Ar-range tools, you simply upload your 3D models, select colors and textures, and watch as the 3D files transform into a lifelike AR experience. Integration with your e-commerce site is straightforward.
3. Integrate with Your Website: With Ar-range, you won’t face any integration issues. AR content is presented via a widget on your website, giving you full control over which products are displayed where. It’s as easy as launching a live chat button on your site—all you need to do is paste a short code snippet provided by Ar-range.
4. Enchant Your Clients: When selecting a vendor for your AR solution, ask one crucial question: What happens after the launch? The answer will help you differentiate between good and bad business partners. You might think that once the AR solution is live, the job is done. It’s not. This is when the real work begins, as the success of your investment hinges on it. Regardless of the solution or vendor you choose, remember to communicate the new tool to your audience. People are often hesitant about unfamiliar technologies, so it’s your job to showcase the clear benefits of the AR tool you’re offering. A good AR developer understands both technology and the furniture industry’s marketing needs, making them an invaluable asset at this stage.

Summary

As the investments from major players like Facebook, Google, and Amazon indicate, AR will likely become a part of everyday life for all of us in the near future. It’s already significantly changing the way we work and play. Some even compare the growing accessibility of AR to the revolution brought by the popularization of smartphones. One thing is certain—it's worth watching how this technology becomes increasingly accessible to the furniture business, even for small brands. With digital tools from Ar-range, which offer full process automation, now is the perfect time to leverage AR as a competitive advantage before it becomes mainstream.