Enhancing DYI with Augmented Reality and Gameplay
The DIY home improvement market size crossed USD 290 billion in 2020 and is likely to grow at 4.5% CAGR through 2027. A rapid growth in e-commerce sales channels has surged the demand for DIY home renovation solutions.
A rapid growth in e-commerce sales channels has surged the demand for DIY home renovation solutions. The majority of consumers opt for DIY as it saves money, helps to gain satisfaction, and personalizes their projects. These projects involve end consumers without the inclusion of any other third-party members. The provision of psychological rewards offering social connection, development of multiple skills, high flexibility, and effective utilization of resources will boost the industry size.
Home Improvement retailers are installing online order pickup lockers, in-store navigation tools and digital product information screens to drive customers to physical stores. The retailers want to take the customer experience to go beyond having physical stores and e-commerce sites; it needs to cater to customers who want to communicate with the retailer in multiple ways as part of one transaction. For example, customers who buy items online may want to pick them up in stores and talk to associates, building relationships that drive repeat visits.
The one-on-one engagement a customer has with the retail staff continues to be the largest driver of overall customer satisfaction with home improvement retailers. To make customer service the most important part of the whole brand experience, and nowhere is that experience more crucial than in the store. The importance of building personalized relationships remains at the heart of everything that a Retailer does. Indeed, when all’s said and done, knowing exactly who its customers are and how best to serve them is what keeps a Retailer in the business.
Augmented Reality (AR) is widely being used in various aspects of retailing to enhance the user experience thus achieving the customer loyalty. Let’s consider the case of In-store GPS tracking systems. The GPS tracking system defines itself in locating a particular person or a product inside a building. Combining in-store navigation using AR and dynamic capability of the app may caters to the needs of the customers and acts as a personalized
shopping assistant. Further, by layering Machine learning systems on top of core AR technology, user contexts such as his/her shopping experiences, habits and demographic differences along with other interesting data points can greatly expand the range of possible use cases.
One addition the retailers can do to the AR application is to add in-game locations that make it more fun to visit their business and drive location awareness and foot traffic. Retailers can schedule increased game activity at their location at specific times, when they want more players to visit. No physical event setup required. By becoming a Sponsored Location, retailer accesses a broad audience of players. Players see retailer’s business on the game map and get fun gameplay and rewards for visiting the business. Retailer has access to aggregated metrics on how players engaged with Retailer’s in-game location as well as to the individual player information.
For example, Retailers can set up their location in Pokémon GO (and more games to come in the future). Players will see and visit their Sponsored Location while playing in the real world. Retailers can optimize their promotions to drive more transactions, and schedule extra traffic at desired times–spend as much or as little effort as they’d like. 34% of DIYers are 34 years old or less. Their nostalgia for the games might drive them to back to the store again and again. DIYers may even be pushed by their children to pick one store over the other.
It’s time for businesses to adapt to a different normal. Companies using AR have reported average productivity improvements of 32%. IBM works at the intersection of strategy, design and technology to digitally reinvent customer business. IBM takes a human-centered, outcomes-led approach to defining digital strategy and delivering exceptional customer experiences to build customer business, by design. Please refer to https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/ar-vr-workplace to find how IBM can help.
