7 Top Furniture Augmented Reality Apps and Examples in November 2024

How Augmented Reality helps furniture and decor industries

In recent years Augmented Reality has become a technology of great potential. That’s why it is more and more applied to different businesses in order to make them more advanced and up-to-date. Quality improvement of consumer experience leads to an increase in income and the number of loyal customers. Nowadays, the furniture and decor industries widely use AR to develop efficient strategies for business marketing.

Let’s move on to the main examples of the Augmented Reality usefulness in this sphere:

• Try before you buy. In-store Augmented Reality makes the decision-making process for buyers much easier. The option of trying on any unit of furniture in a real environment creates a comfortable atmosphere and raises the level of confidence. Thus customers become more certain to purchase any item, especially when it comes to high-priced products. The try-before-you-buy feature is what leads to a decline in returns and the level of consumer dissatisfaction.
• Product customization. The Think Mobile survey claims that 77% of consumers will previously experience a product with the help of Augmented Reality to see it in different colors and textures etc. Consequently, adding AR to an online store enables shoppers to customize a chosen item and find a suitable location for it. This is the perfect way to reduce customers’ hesitations and boost the growth of purchases.
• In-store engagement. According to OuterBox Design, up to 80% of customers search for different kinds of information about the to-be-bought products to make sure of what they are buying. Augmented Reality is able to revolutionize both customer and employee experience through numerous touchpoints. It can reduce the time spent on various procedures for workers and create a top-notch in-store navigation with tips, reviews, loyalty programs etc.

Key studies

According to Perkins Coie’s report, the retail industry is listed among the top 10 spheres that are going to fundamentally change due to Augmented Reality innovations.

Recent surveys show that in the U.S., AR is highly popular with over 90% of shoppers, which proves its effectiveness.

Interactions Consumer Experience Marketing claims that furniture and decor account for 60% of all the items purchased with the help of Augmented Reality, compared to 55% for clothes and 39% for groceries.

The AR influence on the retail industry is measured in the following numbers:

• 40% of respondents are ready to give more money for a purchase, which they can previously try on in Augmented Reality.
• 61% of customers are more attracted to the online stores that provide them with the AR feature.
• 71% of consumers are willing to buy more, if they can make their choice with the help of AR.

This eventually makes us understand that the furniture industry can be totally transformed with Augmented Reality applied to it. This can help track a customer journey and reduce related problems down to zero. Online shopping that is close to an in-store one is what rebuilds the whole system of retail business, changes brand behavior and creates a new type of consumer.

Mobile vs. Web AR app

It would seem that the furniture industry is mainly conventional and there are only a few ways possible to make it technologically advanced. Surprisingly, it is the other way round. Creating an online and in-store absorbing experience is what nowadays became a new strategy for tech-savvy brands.

A satisfied customer is the starting point of business success and at the same time, it is one of the hardest goals to achieve. So the burning issue for most companies these days is to opt for suitable technology that can surely provide them with satisfactory ROI and a high adoption rate.

At present, we face the indispensability of our mobile phones, as we are constantly browsing, downloading, and sharing something on our social networks. What's more, we are getting used to shopping online, which is by far more compelling when we have access to Augmented Reality. That's why to keep afloat and continue developing, modern furniture brands and retailers have to adopt an exceptional digital experience.

It is not a secret that their mobile devices absorb more and more people. For instance, eMarketer predicts that grown-up Americans will spend 4 hours and 26 minutes a day on their mobile phones by 2022. It actually constitutes one-fourth of active hours for adults during the day.

The facts mentioned above directly influence other statistics. Among the analyzed most popular retailers in the USA, 99% have websites with mobile optimization.

Apart from mobile-adaptive websites, there is another issue with mobile applications. Nowadays, it isn't easy to stand out from the crowded mobile application market. The Statista data show that 218 billion apps were downloaded in 2020 compared to 141 billion in 2016. Among these downloads, the majority are messaging apps and social networks.

What's more, according to CleverTap, up to 40% of consumers eventually remove an application as unnecessary or as the one that doesn't meet their expectations. And 19% of users delete their applications when they lack some storage space on their mobile devices.

Obviously, furniture is not the product that is often bought. Hence it is more challenging to convince customers to download applications for getting an immersive experience.

That is where WebAR could be very helpful. It helps launch Augmented Reality content (like 3D models, motion graphics, CTA buttons, etc.) right in customers' browsers. No app is needed! As a result, customers can instantly discover and try on virtual items and products in their physical surroundings.

Where to find more Augmented Reality furniture examples?

On Catchar, you can come across the best AR furniture apps and examples. You can always apply filters to sort them by date, frameworks, rating and type. There are profiles attached to each and every project that help our visitors discover more information. As a result, visitors can look over reviews posted by the Catchar team, detailed screenshots and watch videos that explain many how-tos. After downloading and exploring apps or WebAR experiences, you can rate them and give your feedback. On Catchar, you can also find various digests that cover the topic of Augmented and Mixed Reality furniture projects.

How to promote furniture AR experiences?

It is not a secret that to develop a successful business, the right promotion strategies are required. And AR apps may become a crucial component of such strategies for furniture stores. Below you can find some useful tips for your marketing campaign:

Create a demo video. To support your advertising campaign, it is helpful to produce a short and engaging video with instructions for your AR applications or experiences. In its turn, this can help you avoid major questions and misunderstandings.

Display in-app instructions. Make it easy for the customer to use your app or website. Give comprehensive instructions and add detailed screenshots or even in-app videos that can simply show how to work with all of it.

Share with Catchar. Catchar team can help your branded Augmented Reality experience to get promoted and furthered through over 30,000 connections in social networks, newsletters etc. You can achieve your common goals quickly by scaling AR apps worldwide and getting your early adopters on Catchar.

Make your AR content shareable. To encourage people to download your Augmented Reality applications, you can enable them to share photos of their AR experience with their friends, relatives, colleagues etc. on social networks.

How to develop furniture AR experiences?

AR builders. Nowadays, nonprofessionals users can choose Augmented Reality builders and editors among the ones accessible on the modern market. As a result, you and your team can build a series of AR projects and products for your e-commerce business without any technical knowledge. Take into consideration that it could require additional fees and licenses.

What's more, editors can help you cope with different challenges that can appear when applying Augmented Reality to your current business. What else can prove the usefulness of hiring a professional? Most of them have their own CMS systems, analytics and reports and even SDKs.

Custom development. Another way for successful investing is to create a custom Augmented Reality e-commerce app or improve the current applications with AR experiences. Note that it can be more expensive and time-consuming than hiring AR builders and editors. If you still stick to this idea, further you can find useful tools and libraries: ARKit, ARCore, Vuforia/PTC, Wikitude.

WebAR. WebAR is a technology for those who are looking for an easy and cheap way to develop and use Augmented Reality in e-commerce. Here customers, who purchase furniture items online, can run the AR experience directly in their browsers. This is how you can get rid of the need to download apps and preserve the AR feature.

If you want to delegate AR apps development to professionals, you can always find them on Catchar. You are offered to choose from thousands of builders, editors, designers and project managers who can develop immersive Augmented Reality for your e-commerce businesses.

Where to find tools and SDKs to build furniture AR experiences?

In order to find various tools and SDKs to develop AR experience for furniture e-commerce, you should definitely visit Catchar. What's pleasant, you don't have to be a professional developer to cope with tools that are accessible on Catchar support. These are WebGL, Three.js, Babylon.js, ARKit, ARCore, Unity, WebAR, etc. The unique AR experience created on Catchar will help you develop your furniture business.

Don't forget to sign up on Catchar to save your time and minimize your efforts when building your own Augmented Reality experience.

How to hire professional AR developers?

These days people can be presented with thousands of sources that help them hire technical specialists to create or advance AR in the e-commerce furniture business. On Catchar, we gathered the best professionals, from the AR experience developers to artists and designers. Visit our website, identify your requirements and develop an AR experience with our team.