Target Unveils New AR Feature On Its Mobile Website

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

New “See It In Your Space” feature allows shoppers to visualize products in their own rooms.

With the new “See It In Your Space” feature, Target has introduced a new augmented reality feature on its mobile website that allows customers to envision how products would look in their own room.

Now, when guests shop the new Project 62 line, they can use the "See It In Your Space" feature to place 3D-versions of Target home products within photos of their actual rooms and move, scale, and rotate them to see how they’d look, Target said.

According to the retailer, “The process eliminates the hassle of ordering real furniture, only to discover that it doesn’t quite work in your home. And the best part? See It In Your home doesn’t require any special apps or hardware to use – it’s available right on Target.com via any smartphone.”

The feature expands on the May launch of Target’s virtual view feature.  As Retail IT Insights reported, the retailer unveiled  360 ° Shopping,  a virtual experience on its website, that features curated living room looks and the ability to browse some 140 products in a virtual living room designed to help visualize the size, scale and styling of items, according to a company blog post. Customers can choose from modern, farmhouse, mid-century, or traditional collections including rugs, sofas, wall hangings, decorative throws and more, using an incredible, shoppable 360-degree virtual reality-type experience on Target.com.

Augmented Reality is already having a real impact on online shopping, as Retail IT Insights demonstrated.  Retailers are feeling the squeeze of expensive returns, with 22 percent of customers returning products because they looked different from the online store. In fact, 61 percent of shoppers say they prefer to shop at stores that offer AR over ones that don’t, and 77 percent of shoppers use AR to see product differences like color or style options before they buy. AR allows shoppers to compare products side by side, and allows them to trigger animations or accurately see how the product will look in their own environments.