The retail sector was revolutionised when new technologies began to take hold at the beginning of the last century. Among those that are radically transforming the way the physical store is understood is augmented reality (AR), which offers retailers the opportunity to literally transform the way people shop.
The most enterprising brands have been able to exploit augmented reality both in terms of interaction with products, but also in relation to the physical space of the shop, putting the user at the center and giving them a unique experience.
CASE STUDY: IKEA’S AUGMENTED REALITY CATALOG
A well-known example of augmented reality applied to retail is that of Ikea, the Swedish brand that in 2017 developed ‘The Place’ app. It allowed shoppers to use augmented reality with their smartphone camera to place furniture objects in their homes in order to visualise exactly how the object might look in their environment.
Users could use an augmented reality catalog to project the furniture from the catalog as live 3D holograms, i.e. in augmented reality, into the room.
After selecting the object or ready-made sets, e.g. an armchair, the object would appear in a 3D version in the chosen location, allowing you to get an idea of the design, check if the effect obtained is the one you had hoped for in terms of size, matching with other furniture, colors and shades in that particular environment, to get a better idea of how it might look in that location.
Ikea continued to enhance the software, until in recent days it announced the launch of the new enhanced app, IKEA Kreativ.
This is capable of detecting the walls of a room as seen from the smartphone and virtually eliminating every piece of furniture in it, allowing the user to position and try to visualise the various IKEA products in 3D and AR, without having to move anything.
IKEA has paved the way for many other companies to follow suit in many other sectors.
At AR Market we develop Augmented Reality experiences easy to use, unique and customised for each business sector.
Retailers can create a new relationship with their consumers, for a new marketing and communication approach!
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