Ikea has a virtual reality store. I’m not joking. You can “walk” the store, browse and even (in some areas) buy products – all without leaving your couch.
Ikea just had a successful launch of online shopping in the ACT and surrounds, Tasmania, North Queensland and the Northern Territory. Now for customers in areas with online shopping, purchases can also be made through the virtual store on a desktop device.
Ikea Australia Multichannel Specialist Malcolm Haylett said the Ikea Virtual Reality Store was about bringing online shopping to life in a new, interactive way.
“The IKEA Virtual Reality store has been developed to support our online shopping service. We know that it’s important for customers to see and experience our home furnishings range. IKEA has recently made a move towards online retailing, but we want to offer the full IKEA store experience to our online shoppers,” Haylett said.
“We know that IKEA customers like to look online for inspiration before making a purchase. The Ikea Virtual Reality Store is simply a different and more immersive tool that allows you to do that. Through the innovative tool you can stand in a room-set and visualise it as if you were there in person, and you can for example, see our full range of sofas or beds at a glance. In the Ikea Virtual Reality Store you self-navigate the experience as if you walking an Ikea store.”
Haylett says online shopping at IKEA is all about giving more accessibility to people who want to shop wherever, whenever, and that the VR experience will support Ikeas’s current online shopping offering through the Canberra store and 10 other collection points around the country.
The Ikea Virtual Reality Store will be officially launched in Townsville tomorrow.
Check out the VR catalogue here.