It can be answered with one-word ease.
Assume you need a Microwave.
Maybe you don’t know which electronic store will give you the best offers or the nearest electronics store is very far away or you don’t have enough time as you have to prepare for an important meeting, I can list down 10 more reasons why you would buy online but common theme in all of those reasons will be
Brick and mortar stores can never solve the above problems but shopping in the physical store has its own advantage because it is tough to bring the emotions and engagement of the physical product while shopping online. Let’s take the microwave example again — while buying it from an offline store you can see how it will look from all angles and you will get the feel of its size to understand how it will fit in your home. It is clear both the methods of shopping have its own advantages and disadvantages.
Now let‘s get a little imaginative.
I am on the couch, watching a show on my Amazon Prime account and I like the vintage vase in one of the scenes. I’ll shout “Alexa! pause the video right now. Can you tell me where I can buy that brown vase that Sherlock is holding”
Alexa replies “Sure, Lord Commander. Give me a bit…. Found it. I have sent the link on your phone.”
And 10 seconds later I am seeing that same Vase from all angles in 3D on my phone but I am still not sure should I buy it or not. I think to myself “Okay let’s see how it looks next to my TV” and I press the"View in your space" button and the vase augments next to my television and goes perfectly with my wooden textured wall at the back, prompting me to hit buy. Done. Dusted. I again immerse myself back to Arthur Conan Doyle’s world.
What are your views about this buying experience? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Okay, let us get back to reality. Alexa scanning content on my screen and finding relevant products might be a little far off but at this moment! right now! at this very second! you can have the whole catalog of 3D products on the web and moreover, augment those products right in front of you.
You must be wondering is it even possible for a model to look good on the web. Previously representing black or glossy on the 3D models on the web was impossible but now with PBR shaders, it has become easier to model realistic models for the web.
PBR, or more commonly known as physically based rendering is a collection of render techniques that are more or less based on the same underlying theory which more closely matches that of the physical world.
3D Diamond Model on the web
The differences between “traditional” shading and PBR shading can be stark:
In Augmented Reality, if you put an object with glossy PBR property then it would reflect the environment around it as if it were a real one
Shopping in an offline store brings emotions and engagement that an online store could never fulfill but 3D which brings contextual information and engagement can play a huge role in bridging the gap between online shopping and brick-and-mortar stores.
When you are buying the product often, you will have to scroll through countless photos to find the angle you’re curious about — if that photo exists at all — and then struggle to zoom to the required detail.
You can zoom in or out, rotate the object, and view it in motion leaving the customers with no blind areas to wonder about — and the whole experience is completed when you can see the furniture right in your room and see if it looks good with your walls or will it fit in the room.
Augmented Reality completes the whole shopper journey where the customer is sold without even going to the store.
Suppose that 100,000 clients invested twice as much time concentrating the back of a specific dress than they did the front and they zoomed in to see the sewing and texture. To a data-loving e-Commerce company, this piece of information could prove decisive.
E-commerce websites who seek an immersive and engaging experience that 3D content and Augmented Reality is set to provide must be wondering how to showcase 3D models on their site. Scapic’s AR Scape is a solution for all your 3D and AR. Learn more about it here.
Emotions are the essence of every customer experience. And good memories can lead to enduring customer relationships. 3D is the way to distinguish brand as a customer-centric innovator.