Bathroom and kitchen brands are ready for a watershed transformation as augmented reality (AR) home design takes makeovers to a new – immersive – level.
Home makeovers go digital
Businesses today need to adapt at the speed of consumer behavior and customer expectations which, thanks to new tech and online selling trends, change faster than the seasons. Manufacturers and brands of bathroom and kitchen products and allied lifestyle items are no different. In fact, in some ways, they have a steeper hill to climb.
After all, ecommerce for bath and kitchenware presents its own specific challenge. Despite being a (deeply) personal and (often) aspirational segment, businesses have largely failed to tap into the strong emotional currents the category arouses in buyers, and online sales performances remain a far cry from what they could be. The reason isn’t hard to understand manufacturers and retailers in the bathroom and kitchen segment haven’t been able to fully connect with the ‘new customer’, relying on traditional marketing and outreach channels that neither provide product information in a contemporary way, nor engage the modern buyer effectively. This is where AR home design can change the narrative.
AR home design: crosscurrents of disruption
A range of forces are already bringing disruption to the bathroom and kitchen industry. First came the pandemic, which – per IBM’s US Retail Index report – accelerated the shift to digital shopping by five years. Furthermore, the latest advances in 3D and AR tech have prompted an increasing changeover to immersive commerce and digital retail by allowing ever more buyers (78% to be exact) to interact with brands in ways they’ve come to demand, and shortening sales cycles significantly. It’s safe to say the groundwork has been laid, and the stage is set.
Transforming bathroom and kitchen makeovers with 3D and AR
As business and commerce playbooks go visual, and manufacturers and brands look to reboot their journeys digitally, 3D and augmented reality tech offers a way for leaders and entrepreneurs to navigate this new terrain. The immersive, storification-friendly capabilities of 3D and AR can bring products to life in ways never thought possible, while at the same time opening channels of in-the-moment feedback, to foster valuable conversations between provider and customer.
In spirit, 3D and AR is all about answering the question every shopper (and business owner) asks themself: “What if there is a better way?” 3D and AR addresses that frustration by taking familiar, real world situations and enhancing them with digital content and additional information, elevating product visualization and adding real value to the customer journey. The end result enables customers and browsers to engage with familiar brands and products from entirely new angles and perspectives, personalize them in real time, and try-before-they-buy by visualizing them in their own homes. With consumers listing augmented reality as a technology they are increasingly reliant on, and Shopify data indicating AR content delivers 94% higher conversion rates than counterparts without AR, it’s no surprise that the technology is being adopted in other areas of commerce, with AR home design reshaping the makeover market.
How AR home design elevates product allure and boosts buyer confidence
What style of French faucet goes best with my designer Arabic basin? Is that cabinet going to look good against my flooring and walls? How do I figure out whether the shower unit is the right size for our new house?
By leveraging AR home design techniques, immersive tech can answer the most pressing questions in the minds of shoppers browsing kitchen and bathroom equipment – be it for an impulse purchase or a full-scale renovation.
The use cases are many and varied. With immersive technology, buyers can rotate and zoom products, to get lifelike clarity about their attributes and form. Live product configuration allows users to explore every variant and customization option, tailoring items to their preferences or to find the exact color match. By combining and regrouping products, buyers can experiment with different mood and décor possibilities, while the ability to virtually ‘pluck and place’ entire collections and visualize them in their own spaces makes every room a blank canvas with endless possibilities.
Reconstructing the rules of kitchen retail with 3D and AR
The kitchen is the heart of the household, and as a space that is both functional and, in many cases, also for entertaining, attracts a lot of thought when it comes to design and upkeep. Kitchen makeovers tend to be major undertakings, where poor decisions can not only cost significant amounts of money, but also lead to long-term discomfort and inefficiency. 3D and AR home design addresses these issues by making the purchase experience transparent, creative and fun – letting families determine exactly how items on their wish list will really fit in their space, thereby eliminating guesswork and disappointment.
How leading kitchen brands are leveraging product visualization
San Francisco-based kitchen innovation leader ZephyrZephyr uses 3D and AR to let shoppers get up-close-and-personal with various hoods, styles, finishes and features via live animation and helpful pop-ups (while, as a bonus, providing them with sneak-peeks of new products in the pipeline) to determine which style and size best fits their home.
Telecom giant Vodafone has gone a step further by partnering with celebrity chef Steffen Henssler to bring to life the first ‘augmented reality cooking experience’, where a virtual chef – digitally projected in front of the user via a regular smartphone – delivers instructions in real time, allowing the user to keep their hands free, bypass recipe searches and focus on the cooking. Furthermore, the experience allows them to pause, skip and repeat the action with just their gaze. Manufacturers and retailers of kitchen appliances and accessories will readily spot the wealth of potential collaboration opportunities.
Reimagining bathroom lifestyle retail with AR home design
There are few things more aesthetically pleasing than a brand new bathroom – and it also happens to be the room in the house people are most sensitive to. As a result, digital shopping – where it can be difficult to get an accurate sense of the finished product – has long been viewed with skepticism by shoppers looking to upgrade their existing space.
The good news is that bathrooms are highly customizable, and the right product personalization and visualization tools can open gateways to bold new dimensions and opportunities for all. That’s precisely what 3D and AR home design enables. With the convenience and versatility of this technology, shoppers can see precisely how products will look and feel in their intended spaces, gain clarity on important aspects like size, style and fit (just like they would on the shop floor), ‘try out’ products virtually with in-home visualizations (surpassing what is possible in a physical store), and blend the convenience of online buying with the assurance of physical shopping in virtual showrooms.
How leading bathroom brands are leveraging 3D and AR to transform their online sales
Bathroom equipment specialist Noken leverages 3D modelling, hyper-realistic computer graphics and augmented reality to bring prospects a deeper knowledge of their current and upcoming collections. They also combine sanitaryware bathtubs, faucets, showers and accessories to achieve a uniform aesthetic that delivers integrated experiences for fans of refinement.
Mira Showers use 3D and AR home design technology to leverage the post-pandemic DIY trend. Their solution allows shower buyers to remodel their existing shower or visualize their next bathroom makeover with mobile-driven augmented reality stories that play out right in the palms of their hands, allowing users to judge aesthetic and spatial requirements, for an ideal ‘try-before-you-buy’ experience.
The SARA Group, the Middle East’s leading distributor of luxury bathroom products, has embraced the online sales and digital customer experience trend in full earnest, empowering customers to mix and match tiles and sanitary elements to plan their ideal environment.
Leading global bathroom solutions and kitchen faucets name Grohe implemented 3D models that highlight product features in never before seen detail, positioning itself as a brand that embraces technology to enhance the customer journey and ramping up conversion rates in the process.
Engineering and tech icon Bosch helps buyers choose colorful glass kitchen appliances interactively via 3D product configuration and AR, reducing purchase hesitation and boosting revenue.
The 3Cs of AR home design: confidence, convenience and control
From introducing a product or idea memorably (be it on the retail shelf or at beta/pitch stage) to bringing the in-store experience into the home, and even unlocking new levels of customer delight (not least through laser-precise product improvement via real-time user feedback), 3D and AR revamps every aspect of the buyer funnel by empowering users with greater confidence, convenience and control.
For businesses, that means reduced costs as a result of lower cancellations and returns), smarter inventory and logistical control, and boosting sales by up to 250%. As Harvard Business Review concludes, “Once a nice-to-have, AR has quickly become an essential technology for retailers.” Business transformation exercises have already tasted tangible success globally from their investments in 3D and AR. Not surprisingly, the augmented reality market is forecast to grow more than ten-fold by 2030, reaching over half a trillion dollars.
The future of home makeovers
The global smart kitchen market is expected to balloon to US$43 billion by 2027, while the sanitaryware market is predicted to grow uninterrupted , reaching nearly 287 million pieces by 2030. Revenue in bathroom hardware stands at US$128 billion and is predicted to grow at 2.5% CAGR (2024-28). When viewed against the context of the global 3D and AR market and the continued adoption of immersive technology to enable 3D and AR home design, the question for bathroom and kitchen brands becomes a simple one: what are you waiting for?
