5 Uses for Augmented Reality in the Furniture Industry

Choosing furniture is hard—so hard, in fact, it’s a central example in The New York Times columnist David Brooks’ 2011 study of decision-making, The Social Animal. “Go into a furniture store and look at a sofa,” David writes, “and try to imagine what it’s like in your living room. That’s really hard.”

David advises furniture shoppers to “go with [their] gut,” arguing that emotion is an effective guide in the face of cognitively demanding tasks. But now, retailers have another tool to help their customers make decisions: augmented reality. Augmented reality allows consumers to see products in their homes before purchase. 

Here’s how that works—and why many ecommerce businesses believe augmented reality tools are the future of the furniture industry. 

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that layers digital information over real-world inputs. 

AR can help customers evaluate products remotely, which makes it a particularly valuable sales and marketing tool for ecommerce retail businesses. 

Furniture retailers, for example, can use AR technology to layer 3D models of products over a photo of a consumer’s living room or the video feed from a user’s smartphone camera. Essentially, a customer using the company’s AR feature points their camera at a particular location in their home and can see the piece of furniture superimposed as if it were really there. 

People sometimes confuse AR with virtual reality (VR), a similar but separate technology. While VR immerses users in a fully digital world, AR creates a hybrid environment that incorporates both digital and physical information. 

Benefits of augmented reality in the furniture industry

• Increased purchasing confidence
• Higher sales
• Greater engagement
• Fewer returns
• Better customer experience

AR can help furniture businesses reach more customers, increase loyalty, and boost sales. Here’s an overview of the benefits:

Increased purchasing confidence

One of the main advantages of AR for ecommerce is that it can help consumers make purchasing decisions. One 2022 survey found that 80% of consumers who used AR to shop said it increased their purchasing confidence. 

This can be particularly beneficial in the furniture industry, where purchases are often large, expensive, and context-dependent. Steve Bauer, VP of ecommerce and digital at furniture company Arhaus, discusses this benefit in an interview with Shopify. “Buying furniture is the third-largest purchase you’re going to make in your life,” he says. “We really want the customers to truly invest in [...] these pieces.” Steve notes that AR can help customers make sure an item matches a space and allow them to test multiple options before they make a purchase. “We want to instill as much confidence as possible into the customer before they purchase,” he says. 

This technology may be particularly useful for online-only furniture brands that don’t have physical showrooms. 

Higher sales

Augmented reality technology can also help ecommerce businesses increase sales. Research shows that customers who interact with a product in AR are 65% more likely to place an order than those who don’t and that 3D product visualization tools can increase order volumes by 27%. The benefits are particularly pronounced for furniture companies. Research from the architecture and design website Houzz, for example, found that consumers are 11 times more likely to buy furniture after viewing it through AR technology.

Greater engagement

Augmented reality can boost engagement rates for online and in-store customers. One 2022 study found AR tools increased the amount of time in-person shoppers spent with products by 50% and that customers tried eight times more products when a brand offered an AR product testing feature. The same study also found that AR-enabled mobile applications increased browsing time by 21.7% and led customers to view 28% more products.

Fewer returns

AR can also boost purchase satisfaction and lower return rates. Research shows that 58% of consumers who have used AR believe the technology prevented them from needing to return a purchase. 

Better customer experience

AR tools can create a more interesting and fun customer experience. More than 60% of all consumers—and more than 90% of millennials and Gen Zers—expressed an interest in viewing augmented reality furniture in their homes. 

Offering these tools can help brands provide a high-quality customer experience that boosts loyalty, encourages repeat purchases and referrals, and raises brand awareness, providing a significant competitive advantage for companies.

5 uses for augmented reality in the furniture industry

1. Room design
2. Customization
3. Marketing materials
4. Showrooms
5. Assembly assistance

There are multiple augmented reality applications in the furniture industry. Here’s an overview of five popular use cases—and a real-world example of each:

1. Room design

Room design tools allow shoppers to virtually place furniture in its intended context, which can boost purchase confidence and lower return rates. “The AR and VR opportunities that are coming up here are gigantic for us,” Steve says, “because we’re able to visualize things that, quite frankly, you just couldn’t do before. You couldn’t place a chair in a room without literally placing the chair in the room.”

Arhaus’s AR-powered Room Planner tool allows shoppers to place furniture in a home or office setting. By visiting their website and filling out an online form with their room’s specifications, customers can start designing with appropriately sized furniture. Shoppers can test multiple furnishing configurations, view different color and style options, and confirm the furniture fits in a specific space before making a purchase.

2. Customization

Many furniture manufacturers allow shoppers to customize item color and materials, which means even in-store shoppers may not be able to see an exact version of a product before purchase. “We have a highly customizable business,” Steve says. “If you think about a sectional sofa, you could have a right arm or a left arm.” The company also offers hundreds of fabric options, and AR functionality makes it possible for customers to preview each one. “We couldn’t order that many samples to shoot each one,” Steve says. 

AR product visualization tools can help customers preview customizations on 3D product models, which increases the likelihood that customers will be happy with their items. Ethan Allen’s room design app, for example, allows shoppers to choose colors, finishes, and fabrics and view customized items in their intended spaces before they buy anything.

3. Marketing materials

Use QR codes to add an interactive element to physical pieces of brand collateral such as business cards, catalogs, or brochures. Prospective customers can scan codes with their phones to view more information, access a product page, or download your app. And you can make codes easily with Shopify’s QR code generator. 

The Danish furniture company SCANLIVING uses QR codes to create an augmented product catalog. You scan a code to pull up a 3D product model, which shoppers can use to view the item from all angles and visualize a scaled product image in an image of their home.

4. Showrooms

You can also use AR to help customers navigate physical showrooms and provide a more seamless transition between physical and virtual spaces. Customers can scan QR codes to pull up 3D models of products or product specs, or to help them find particular products on the showroom floor.

For example, Lowe’s Vision includes an in-store navigation feature that uses motion tracking, store maps, and depth-sensing technology to help customers navigate Lowe’s stores and find the pieces they’re looking for.

5. Assembly assistance

Furniture often requires some assembly, and companies can use AR to simplify the assembly process. For example, developer Adam Pickard created the Assemble AR app to demonstrate how furniture brands can use AR to guide the assembly process. Although Pickard is an independent developer and designed the app as a proof of concept, it shows how brands can provide an AR app to take assembly instructions to the next level.