Wayfair’s “Try-Before-You-Buy” Augmented Reality Experience
Designing your home has become easier recently through virtual design tools. Now, home retail store Wayfair has gotten in on the action, developing a way to choose and design furniture with an augmented reality (AR) function built called View in Room 3D into the latest version of its app.
Augmented reality (AR) overlays digital images onto real-world imagery and offers a realistic “try-before-you-buy” visual experience that assures shoppers of their purchase decisions.
How does it work?
With View in Room 3D, Consumers point their smartphone cameras toward a space in their home and select a product from the online Wayfair catalog. The AR tool overlays a 3D digital rendering of the item, such as a table or chair, into the live view of that room to visualize exactly how the piece will fit into the physical space. Much easier than dragging a sofa around.
The true-to-scale digital renderings of furniture can be moved around and viewed from various angles — sans tape measure. If the chair a shopper wants to buy doesn’t fit in the space or doesn’t look like what you’d envisioned, the phone’s live camera view will reveal this.
Wayfair also integrated AR into its interior design app Wayfair Spaces. Consumers are more involved in the room design process in that they can choose room decor too, not just furniture. Rather than using a smartphone, shoppers use a Magic Leap VR headset in their homes and view a selection of 3D digital rooms designed by Wayfair stylists. They can also place Wayfair furnishings into the computer-generated room to furnish and decorate it.
The intrigue of AR
Customers can shop for items by looking at them in the context of their own physical space. Shopping for home decor and furniture, complete with pricey products, long shipping dates, measuring out rooms, and the sad possibility of having to return a whole couch because it simply didn’t work, is a stressful ordeal. AR also has animations and feedback on actions to make the experience more fun and seamless.
“Information in context is a powerful tool,” said Shrenik Sadalgi, head of Next Gen Experiences at Wayfair. “Information is a lot more powerful — in context.”
Context engenders a confidence that converts shoppers to buyers because they can visualize how Wayfair products will fit into their own homes. It takes the stress out of shopping for home products and makes consumers more confident that their choices will work in their homes, thus, increasing confidence in Wayfair, loyalty to the brand, and trust in the company’s reliable practices.
Was it effective?
Wayfair saw a surge in sales during the pandemic as consumers bought office furniture to work at home and decor to brighten up their living spaces since they would be spending more time there.
As a result, the company’s stock has risen more than 36% this year, putting its market cap at just above $32 billion.
But now, as Wayfair faces the possibility of declining sales post-lockdown, the company intends to use AR to become an e-commerce challenger. It has been looking to artificial intelligence and augmented reality to help bolster its e-commerce offering and help customers make better purchasing decisions, keep customers returning to Wayfair, and improve the customer experience.
Wayfair Co-Founder Steven Conine predicted that “At some point in the future every home in the US will have a 3D model associated with it. We could have a design services team in our store who could give you a very personalized experience and actually help you visualize products in your space, help guarantee that it will fit, it will flow well and it’s the look and style you want.”
The company thinks this technology could be useful in enhancing user experience even in brick-and-mortar locations. Wayfair is experimenting with a brick-and-mortar pop-up shop that features a design services team that can help customers furnish their spaces.
Is AR here to stay?
Boston Consulting Group’s benchmarking study estimates that 80 million people are engaged with AR monthly in the United States, a figure projected to grow to 120 million by 2021. While AR’s return-on-investment metrics can be elusive, consumers using AR mobile apps are 11 times more likely to purchase than consumers who do not use the tool.
Augmented reality technology has proven to be one of the top innovations opening up new growth points for businesses worldwide. Analysts predict that the AR market will reach $198 billion in 2025. In 2022, the number of global mobile AR users is expected to reach 3.5 billion.
Providing AR experiences can be a competitive edge in many industries with a large market to tap into. The improving technology also allows for greater efficiency in the workplace and a seamless customer experience. If your capabilities and technology department can handle integrating AR into your business model, do it — it’s an innovative and fun way to get consumers aware of your products and make that crucial final purchase.
