Wayfair-ing to a new reality
We all know that eating three meals a day is important. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook argues that Augmented Reality (AR) will be just as important in the future (Leswing, 2016). The economic indicators reiterate this prediction, as the global AR market is projected to reach $97 Billion by the next five years (Fortune Business Insights, 2022). And rightfully so, it is a new technology that allows brands to create more engaging and immersive experiences for their consumers. Brands report that this new technology increase interaction by 20%, and CTR by 33% (Eskenazi, 2018).
But engagement and interaction aren’t the only things AR offers, the utility it brings is unprecedented. And Wayfair found the perfect utility for this technology — it’s View in Room app. This app allows users to place an augmented version of the products available on Wayfair website in their rooms to see if they like it or not (Brewton, 2020).
The app, recently enhanced with newer technology, can show products on horizontal planes, as well as against vertical planes and hanging from ceilings with great realism and in real-time lighting casting accurate shadows. Gone are the days of painstakingly moving the couch around to find the ideal spot for viewing television, as Wayfair allows you to place and move multiple products by just using your fingers.
For furniture retailers, embracing AR is the logical next step. Apple estimates that consumers are 11 times more likely to buy furniture if they try it out first using AR (Forrester, 2020). Wayfair itself has seen success with AR, as they reported customers being 3.4 times more likely to buy from them when they used the technology.
Time will tell whether Tim’s prediction about this technology is true, but I can definitely see myself having three meals a day on a table that I chose using AR from Wayfair.
Fortune Business Insights, 2022. Market Research Report, s.l.: s.n.
