Wayfair thinks AR/VR shopping is the future of retail

Wayfair co-founder Steven Conine thinks future-us will shop for furniture using 3D models of our homes.

Try-before-you-buy has gone digital.

Wayfair thinks AR/VR shopping is the future of retail

At the Jefferies Virtual Consumer Conference earlier this week, 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.”

Design teams use those models…

… to show customers how furniture would look and fit.

Wayfair previously experimented with AR in its View In Room feature, which lets customers digitally place furniture at scale in their homes.

Other furniture companies have similar tools:

  • West Elm’s Room Planner lets you map out a room, then drop in items from its catalog.
  • Ikea Place works like View In Room. You overlay items in your home using your phone’s camera.

3D tech is also hot in other retail:

  • Nike launched Nike Fit in 2019. Scan your feet with your phone’s camera and discover your true shoe size.
  • Warby Parker has added virtual try-ons to its app (read our recent Q&A with co-founder Neil Blumenthal).
  • Facebook announced a partnership with Modiface and Perfect Corp. earlier this month to add AR clothing and makeup try-ons to Instagram shopping.

Here’s a party trick for you: Use AR to let the people on 19 Crimes’ wine labels tell you their misdeeds.

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