How 3D Modeling Transforms AR Experiences for Online Furniture Stores?

Wondering how to boost online sales and customer engagement in your furniture eStore?

Take inspiration from DFS, the UK’s leading sofa retailer. By rolling out the world’s largest web-based AR initiative, they enabled customers to virtually place and explore over 10,000 sofa models right in their living spaces. This led to a 112% rise in conversions and a 106% boost in revenue per visit from shoppers using AR.

But the key to all this is 3D modeling. It helps to create detailed and realistic versions of furniture with true size, texture, and color. With this, customers can feel sure about what they’re buying. The result? More engagement and higher sales, just like DFS experienced. So, read on to understand how your store can benefit from 3D furniture modeling.

Why is 3D Modeling Essential for AR-Powered Furniture Visualization?

The online furniture market is expected to hit 2.326.74 billion by 2033. This shows a difficult path for furniture sellers. So, how do you plan to make your e-commerce store stand out? The answer is to create a more engaging shopping experience using AR technology for online furniture stores. 3D modeling can help you do just that by:

1. Offering Realistic Product Visualization: 3D modeling lets you create furniture visuals that capture every detail of proportions, textures, and colors to match the real object. This means customers can examine details like fabric patterns or wood texture and understand the actual size. The IKEA Place app is one such example. It automatically scales the furniture to fit your room with 98% accuracy.
2. Enhancing Interactivity: Just looking at pictures of furniture can get boring for customers. When they can spin sofas around and move chairs around their room, they find it more engaging. And the best part? They can do it with just a few taps on their smartphone. Brands like Overstock are thriving in this aspect by adding AR features. All customers have to do is take a picture of their room and virtually test out furniture placement, which makes shopping much simpler.
3. Providing Customization Options: 3D modeling makes customization in AR possible through detailed digital versions of furniture. When customers use an AR feature, they can switch colors, materials, and finishes, or even rearrange pieces like sectional sofas. As they make these changes, the 3D model updates immediately. Thus, shoppers can see exactly how their choices will look in their own space. When customers don’t have to imagine these aspects, it helps them make decisions faster.

Key Benefits of 3D Modeling for Retailers Using AR Technology

1. Improved Session Durations: 360-degree models let customers interact with the product. This means shoppers take more time to look around the product page. When they gain a better understanding of the furniture piece, their confidence in the product increases. Ultimately, this means that they are more likely to make a purchase.
2. Reduced Return Rates: The textures and finishes of the furniture are shown clearly with realistic 3D rendering. This helps buyers understand the materials and colors, leading to more confident decisions. Thus, when the furniture is delivered, there are lower chances of color or material mismatch.
3. Enhanced Time Savings: Instead of waiting for physical prototypes or costly photoshoots, designers can develop virtual furniture models that seamlessly work within AR systems. This digital-first approach accelerates product approvals and catalog additions because the same 3D models used for AR visualization can be easily updated starting from scratch.
4. Reduced Operational Costs: 3D modeling for AR-powered furniture visualization systems reduces the need for physical samples, photoshoots, and large inventories, as furniture photos can be digitally customized. This lowers production and storage costs for furniture retailers.

Key Hurdles in Implementing 3D Modeling for AR and How to Overcome Them

Although AR can enhance the customer experience, implementing 3D modeling poses certain challenges:

Cost-Effective 3D Model Creation:

Creating 3D furniture models can initially be expensive, as you need to hire skilled designers to model and texture the design manually and invest in tools with high subscription fees.

Solution: You can easily outsource furniture photo editing services to trusted companies whose teams handle everything from furniture image enhancement and 3D modeling to virtual staging using the latest tools. The best part? You only pay for the services you need, no extra costs for training, salaries, or software subscriptions.

Integration with eCommerce Platforms

The varied API structures and technical requirements across e-commerce platforms often complicate and prolong the process of incorporating 3D models. To add to the trouble, if the APIs are outdated, you may encounter glitches that affect the overall functionality of your 3D models.

Solution: You can use 3D asset management platforms to simplify the integration of 3D models into popular e-commerce sites. A simple tool like Sketchfab can help with this for most online platforms, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and even PrestaShop.

Handling 3D Modeling for Hundreds of Products

Managing thousands of high-detail models can complicate customization efforts, especially when you want to ensure consistent quality and fast load times across devices.

Solution: A good way to tackle this is by making basic models with adjustable parameters like size, shape, and other elements. You can then personalize them to create many different furniture pieces without needing to start over each time.

In short, making your mark in the crowded online furniture market is no simple task. That’s where 3D modeling can help. It turns a boring, static shopping experience into an interactive experience and adds a fun element with AR. For e-commerce sellers, now’s the perfect time to step up, get noticed, and give your customers what they want!

Author Bio:

Nathan Neal is a seasoned photo editing and retouching expert at PicsMatic, a leading photo editing company. With a versatile skill set encompassing fashion photo retouching, portrait enhancement, real estate photo editing, furniture photo editing, and 3D modeling, he brings extensive expertise to each project.

His creative prowess is warranted through a portfolio of over 10,000 edited photos, catering to a diverse array of brands and businesses, from startups to global conglomerates across various industries. Committed to excellence, Nathan keeps himself updated with the latest trends and practices in the photo editing industry.