Shortly after the launch of their website in 2014, it became clear to Rob Royer and the rest of the Interior Define team, how enthusiastic customers were about the opportunity to get involved with furniture design. Customization proved to be a value proposition that really resonated with customers, but actually being able to visualize the customization options was easier said than done.

Photographing all the different fabric types in the different color options would entail building the frames and upholstering every single one of them, which would have required a very significant investment. In addition, the furniture is manufactured in a different country, so the logistics involved with setting up photoshoots would have been very complicated.

Realizing photography was not a viable option, they attempted to provide a solution by doing 4-6 photoshopped versions of each sofa design. However, more often than not, customers would go online and be interested in a fabric option that they were not able to visualize.

The results were too limited and having a website that displayed “no preview available” messages was not the engaging experience they wanted to give customers.

Having high-quality 3D visualization provides the Interior Define website with streamlined and consistent digital merchandising, making the offering very clear to customers.

Thanks to digital transformation and new technologies, online presence becomes vital for success. Now you can order swatches and feel the fabric, plus you can use AR to see if the item fits in your home. This closes the online-offline gap and makes shopping for furniture online the new normal.

Knowing that AR will become an inevitable part of the buyers’ path-to-purchase, especially in the furniture industry, Interior Define was searching for a future-proof AR solution that will help them create a frictionless online shopping experience.

They were among the first-movers in using web-native (app-less) augmented reality which allows customers to place 3D models of selected products in the real world, without downloading a mobile app.

“Marrying our focus of delivering the best customer experience in the furniture category with Cylindo’s innovative technology is helping us achieve our mission. Cylindo’s Web AR technology (which doesn’t require customers to download an app) is helping us drive higher product engagement and contributing to ID’s highly differentiated shopping experience.“ – said Rob Royer, Founder and CEO of Interior Define.

Web-native AR has proven to provide adoption rates that are 33 times higher than traditional Augmented Reality mobile applications. According to Interior Define the majority of customers engage with AR towards the end of the buyer journey helping to propel them towards making a purchase decision. Customers that engage with AR are 8 times more likely to convert than customers that choose not to engage with AR.

In addition to a better performing website, Interior Define has also put Cylindo’s product configurators to good use in their stores. The company is really redefining the omnichannel experience by having all of their sales assistants equipped with laptops, which makes it easy to quickly show customers what the furniture looks like, thus creating an endless aisle.

“We are definitely utilizing the Viewers in the showroom to visualize what products look like. We have all of our custom fabric options throughout the store, but one of the steps is to always show the customer the sofa in their specific fabric option using the Viewers,” Rob explains.

Interior Define’s relentless focus on enhancing the furniture shopping experience and Cylindo’s competence and devotion to superior product visualization have made a great partnership since 2014. This partnership has not gone unnoticed, as Gartner recognized Interior Define as the right way to do e-commerce merchandising in a digital-first world.

“Our customers truly appreciate the innovative approach we bring to furniture shopping. One of the biggest benefits of working with a complete 3D visualization partner like Cylindo is having all 3D visualization needs covered by a single platform. Together we’re setting new industry standards.” – said Rob Royer.

Both Cylindo and Interior Define are excited about working together in the future, exploring new ways to transform the furniture shopping experience by utilizing 3D product visualization technology.