Richmond Interiors proudly demonstrating the Augmented Reality tool of iONE360 during the furniture fair in Brussels, november 2021 | bron: Richmond Interiors
Visualizing furniture with Augmented Reality
"I never expected the results to be so realistic."
Sometimes a fortunate unexpected discovery is made. In case of Richmond interiors serendipity occurred when striving to help consumers make better buying decisions, increasing conversion rates of customizable furniture and lowering the number of returns by implementing Augmented Reality as a means to visualize furniture. It turned out that this innovative Augmented Reality tool was not only very useful online, but in the brick-and-mortar world as well…
READ THE SUCCESS STORY
COMPANY PROFILE
Richmond interiors was founded 45 years ago with the aim of importing antique furniture from England and France to the Netherlands. Adding Rattan to the portfolio, the company quickly grew by adding more and more dealerships and crossing borders. These international travels inspired the founders’ ambitions to design and create furniture themselves and come up with their own collection.
And with success: today Richmond is serving more than 500 dealers in 50 different countries with 27 employees. Richmond furniture finds the balance between sustainable quality with a touch of chic and a suitable price. Richmond furniture always exudes class, comfort and atmosphere.
One day, Richmond CEO Lex Tiggeler, came across a very common and practical problem: how do I convince my partner that this ‘Ironville’ coffee table would look great in our living room?
Furniture items are not just practical objects. They reflect one’s personality, taste in style and design. The way furniture looks in conjunction with the rest of the interior is as important as the design of the item itself. It has to be in harmony with the surroundings, and it has to be in harmony with the taste and liking of the people you live with.
Trying out furniture is not as easy as a new piece of clothing you can try on and assess by looking in the mirror. Dragging furniture back and forth from the store to your house is not a realistic option either. That is, if the store even has these items in stock, because often colors and appearance of the furniture can be customized. If only we could place a virtual object in the room, as if it was already there… Visualize the furniture in the room.
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"We were looking for a way to visualize furniture in the room,
as if it was already there."
Challenge
For a furniture vendor, the possibility of customization has its pro’s and con’s. Of course, there is a bigger chance that your products can be fit to meet the taste of the customer or their already existing interior. However, there is always that risk that the imagination of the customer falls short of reality. And in many of those cases the vendor is confronted with the consequences of the hassle and costs of returning furniture, that can run up from 5% to 10% of all sales. How great would it be if we could not only convince our customers by bridging their imagination gap using Augmented Reality, but also help them make better decisions so they would certainly be happy with their new acquisition once it’s delivered to their home and less items would be returned to the vendor?
GOALS
- Increase on- and offline conversion rates
- Sustainable choices, reduce returns and save costs
- Increase customer satisfaction
bron: Richmond Interiors
Resolution
Besides the customization and photorealistic rendering features of iONE360, the platform has impressive Augmented Reality features. Especially when used on the Android platform the solution even has the capability to not only project the Augmented Reality model, but also has the capability to customize the model in the Augmented Reality environment. This feature makes iONE360 unique in its kind. iOS is soon to follow.
Richmond Interiors decided to give it a go, starting a test with 5 models. Lex: “The iONE360 team is very good in supporting their customers. We like to benefit from their knowledge and vice versa so we decided to share information on our collection and strengthen both organizations with this co-operation.”
"The iONE360 team is very good in supporting their customers.
We like to benefit from their knowledge and vice versa.”
VISUALIZE FURNITURE WITH AUGMENTED REALITY
CLICK THE VIDEO BELOW
Result
The goal was to have the first models finished before the Brussels furniture exposition, so the solution could be tested and shown to partners and customers. The reactions were very enthusiastic. Lex: “This is magnificent! I never expected the results to be so realistic.”
But a great user experience and error margins below 1% were not the only results made. The unexpected side effect of the augmented reality tool was that Richmond agents started using the tool when visiting retailers. After moving aside some of the competitors’ items, they could literally replace them by Richmond furniture. Lex: “Exceeding all expectations, iONE360 turned out to be a superb sales tool, both on- and offline.”
Using the Augmented Reality features of iONE360 Richmond Interiors lives up to its reputation: escaping the ordinary – in every way.
"iONE360 turned out to be a superb sales tool, both on- and offline!”
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