家具業界は２０２０年以前からデジタル変革の中にあった。新型コロナウイルスのパンデミック（世界的流行）がその動きを加速させた。欧米ではオンライン販売がニューノーマル（新常態）を生き抜くための本質的な要素となり、大手各社はサイト上で３Ｄ情報やＡＲ（拡張現実）・ＶＲ（仮想現実）機能を拡充させている。米家具専門紙ファニチャー・トゥデー（電子版）が報じた。
　小売業では従来、好立地条件の店舗と経験豊かな営業担当者が販売に大きな影響を与えていた。しかし、ロックダウン（都市封鎖）で実店舗が閉鎖されると、オンラインでの競争が激化。その結果、多くの業者は消費者が購入の際に「スムーズなユーザー体験」「詳細な製品説明」「魅力的な視覚表現」といった点を重視していることが分かった。

　米国で消費の中心となる２０～４０代の消費者はオンライン購入の際、１商品につき最低でも八つの画像と四つの動画を期待している。家具分野でこうしたニーズを満たし、コストを削減しながら販売を強化するために、実証済みの三つの方法を紹介する。

　【３Ｄによる視覚化】　製品の写真撮影は複雑で費用がかかるプロセスだった。しかし今は３Ｄ技術の進歩により、カメラマンに依頼するより安く、簡単に、本物の写真のような視覚表現が可能になった。３Ｄコンテンツはスマートフォンで画像を撮影し、オンラインプラットフォームを通じて発注すれば、安いところでは50㌦（約５３００円）前後で作成できる。
　３Ｄを業界で最も早く導入したのは、スウェーデンの家具販売大手イケアだ。同社は００年代初頭にコンピューターで作成した家具画像をカタログに掲載し始め、現在はマーケティング画像の75％以上を３Ｄで作成している。

【風景との組み合わせ】　３Ｄコンテンツではあらゆる角度から品質や機能を評価できる。そこに風景を組み合わせれば、消費者の想像力のスイッチを入れることができる。独オンライン家具販売を先導するオットは、オンライン店舗で製品の３Ｄコンテンツを、スカンジナビア調のオフィスや居心地の良い田舎風家屋のリビングといったシミュレーション画像の中に取り込み、消費者に魅力的な使用風景をイメージさせ、訴求力を高めている。

【ＡＲ・ＶＲの活用】　　オンライン販売には欠点もある。例えば消費者は、選んだ商品が自分の部屋に収まり、美的センスに合うかどうか確かめるのに苦労している。特に家具ではこの問題を解決しないかぎり、販売で余計なコストがかかることになる。これに対してＡＲやＶＲ機能を使って消費者が購入前に製品の使用条件を試すことができるサービスを取り入れたサイトでは、閲覧者の購入意欲が最大65％増加したとの報告がある。また、同サービスを導入すれば、製品の返品を減らすこともできる。家具業界の平均収益率は５～７％。返品率がわずかに改善するだけでも収益に与える影響は大きい。
　多くの市場リーダーが３ＤやＡＲ・ＶＲに期待を寄せている。米国で昨年躍進した家具電子商取引（ＥＣ）を手掛けるウェイフェアは、製品広告で３Ｄを積極的に活用している。今年１月には１９４５年創業で全米家具売上高で最大規模の老舗アシュレイ・ファニチャーが、ＡＲ・ＶＲアプリを含む技術に過去最大の投資を行うと発表した。これらの企業は新型コロナ収束後もオンライン販売が継続して拡大するとみているようだ。

【注】この記事は配信元の許可を得た上で抜粋、要約しています。原文はhttps://www.furnituretoday.com/technology/3-cost-effective-marketing-tactics-that-will-help-you-get-ahead-of-your-competition-in-the-furniture-market/?utm_source=FTSite&utm_medium=SponConModule&utm_campaign=CG%20Trader&utm_term=February2021&utm_content=3-cost-effective-marketingから読むことができます。

【Furniture Today 原文】
3 Cost-Effective Marketing Tactics That Will Help You Get Ahead of Your Competition in the Furniture Market

If there were one way to describe 2020 for home furnishing retailers, it would be “add it to cart”.

Of course, the furniture industry was already in the midst of a digital transformation before the black swan year, but the sudden onset of the global pandemic accelerated the transition.

What seemed like a nice-to-have in the business-as-usual context became an essential part of the “new normal” survival strategy. What’s that, you’re thinking?

We’re talking about a streamlined, cost-effective eCommerce presence.

In traditional retail, the convenient location and skilled sales reps might have been the main influencers on customers’ choice to purchase a particular item, but eCommerce has different rules. Or very few rules, to put it in perspective.

With brick-and-mortar shops closed, retailers of all types and sizes jumped online, fueling the competition for consumers’ attention and wallet share.

They quickly learned that online shoppers value a smooth user experience, detailed product descriptions, reviews, and an endless supply of compelling product visuals.

Millennial and Gen Z shoppers expect a minimum of 8 images and 4 videos per product to be able to “add it to cart” with confidence.

If you’re under pressure to increase online sales, reduce returns and retain customers, we give you 3 tried-and-tested ways on how to boost your eCommerce strategy while cutting costs.

#1 Experiment with 3D product visualizations…and reduce your marketing expenses by up to 10x

Traditionally, product photo shoots have been a complex, pricey process.

Here’s how it usually goes: you select the products, ship the prototypes to the right location, stage and light them, photograph them, and finally, return them to the warehouse. Then comes the post-production stage, when photographers have to edit and retouch the images to develop the final version.

But how many of us live in a perfect world?
In a less ideal but highly likely scenario, a creative brief will change, there will be a shipment delay, or photographers will let you down, and if the photoshoot isn’t salvageable, you’ll need to go through the same process again.

And even if things go to plan, the turnarounds of product photoshoots are ridiculously long. You’ll spend vast amounts of time and money dealing with logistics, rising expenses, and talent management. Plus, in situations where physical product photoshoots are not an option or products are not ready to be photographed, you’ll be in hot waters.

Enter 3D product visualization.

Advancements in 3D modeling technology have ushered in a new virtual product visualization era, offering brands a cheaper, more convenient alternative. Digital artists can now create photorealistic 1:1 models of products and use digital environments, lighting, and cameras to create a limitless number of image variants at a fraction of the cost traditional product photographers would charge.

IKEA, one of the earliest adopters of 3D product visuals, had already begun placing computer-generated models of their furniture in their catalog in the early 2000s. Today, over 75% of their marketing images are 3D renderings.

Just this past year, when the pandemic forced many non-essential businesses to shut down, Crate & Barrel almost canceled their seasonal campaign launch as no photo studio could execute a photo shoot. Switching to 3D rendering helped the company avoid losing a high-impact marketing campaign and saving money in the process.

So, where do you start?

The upfront costs and effort are minimal ? retailers can snap a few reference images with their smartphones and submit them to 3D artists through an enterprise platform like CGTrader ARsenal. Prices vary depending on 3D model complexity but tend to hover around the $50 mark for 3D modeling and post-production of each product.

One whitespace 3D rendering ? a 3D product model against a white background ? allows you to ‘shoot’ multiple images from every possible angle and perspective, giving consumers plenty of visual proof of the product’s quality and characteristics. Besides, you can easily change the colors, patterns, and textures of a product without producing and assembling each option.

#2 Create compelling product placements in lifestyle scenes…without time-consuming photoshoots

Lifestyle scenes have the power to ‘turn on’ customers’ imagination.

While browsing whitespace product renderings helps shoppers assess the quality and features from every possible angle, lifestyle scenes tap into the visual part of the brain, increasing the product’s desirability.

If you had to stage physical room-sets to showcase your products in various environments, it would weigh really heavy on your budget. 3D furniture visualizations, on the other hand, offer an incredibly cost-effective way of getting enticing, multi-purpose product visuals that work for digital and print.

The same classy leather chair can be inserted into different interiors ? from a photorealistic Scandi-style office to a cozy rustic style living room ? helping you capture the attention of customers of all tastes and budgets.

OTTO, the German-market leader in online furniture retail, provides a compelling example of leveraging 3D product visualizations as a competitive advantage. The company offers around 2.8 million unique items in its online store. Making professional photos of these products through physical photoshoots would require incredible amounts of time, effort, and financial resources. Imagine lugging these 2.8 million items into a studio or to picturesque locations worldwide, setting up a backdrop, hiring a photographer with the right equipment, taking at least 25 pictures of each product from various angles, editing them, and then selecting the best ones. Afterward, you’d also have to dismantle, pack and cart everything away 2.8 million times.

If it sounds like too much work, it’s because it is!

Computer-generated lifestyle scenes give brands creative freedom at a drastically reduced price. Nowadays, you can cut the workflow to just three simple steps:

Select a setting from a catalog of pre-made lifestyle scenes
Provide reference images of your product from various angles so that 3D designers can create photorealistic 3D models
Grab the files of the final 3D renderings and put them to work
The catalogs typically include a vast selection of photorealistic, high-quality scenes that can be edited to the tiniest detail ? adding or removing items from the scene to meet your project needs is a simple task. These services’ cost starts as low as $250 per rendering, helping you get the best visuals at the most affordable prices.

Browse CGTrader’s lifestyle product visualization catalog to get a better idea of what computer-generated imagery can do for your business!

#3 Bridge online and offline with Augmented Reality…and dramatically reduce product returns

Enticing product visuals have a tremendous impact on consumers’ engagement and quality perception. But we can’t ignore the fact that online shopping presents its own challenges ? for one, shoppers struggle to understand whether the selected product will fit in their home space and match the current aesthetic.

For furniture retailers, in particular, not resolving these doubts can cost sales and customer retention.

Augmented Reality empowers retailers to create an in-store experience online by enabling consumers to interact with and virtually try products before purchasing. Retailers making full use of ‘View in your space’ Augmented Reality in their online stores report having up to a 65% increase in their visitors’ purchase intention.
Better still, adopting “try before you buy” AR and VR product visualization can help retailers significantly reduce product returns. With the average return rates in the furniture industry ranging between 5 and 7 percent, even the smallest improvements can have a tangible impact on the bottom line.

One such example comes from the online retail giant Macy’s. After rolling out the technology, the retailer noticed their products return rates had decreased to less than 2 percent for these VR-assisted furniture purchases.

See how 3D viewers work by opening this product in AR with an Android or iOs device. 3D model by CGTrader.

The 3D Viewer tool allows users to interact with your products in any way they want: view, rotate, zoom in and out using web or mobile browsers on any device. The AR function takes the experience further: by merely pointing their phone camera at QR codes or using the ‘View in your space’ option, shoppers can check virtual to-scale product visualizations in their home ? with the ability to walk around them or get a realistic view of product size.

A growing number of market leaders are betting on the power of 3D product visuals and AR experiences. Wayfair has used 3D models to better inform consumers about their product specifications while also leveraging them in their advertising. And in early 2021, Ashley Furniture announced a major investment in technology, including AR and VR applications.

These are just a few yet telling examples of how mainstream 3D and AR technologies are becoming among home furnishing retailers.

And while we know the lockdowns will end this year, it’s more than likely that new consumer habits and expectations will stick post-pandemic.

If you’re ready to tap into the first-mover advantage and help your customers make better purchasing decisions, now is the time to act.

Wrapping up

Let’s sum up…

Whitespace 3D renderings are relatively cheap and easy to produce and help you hit the ‘minimum of eight visuals’ expectation with modern shoppers
3D renderings of lifestyle scenes help you place your products in context and enhance their desirability
AR-powered shopping experiences help consumers see how products look and fit in their home space, eliminating the effects of buyer’s remorse
The transition to 3D imagery online is at a tipping point. As the world’s largest provider of 3D content, CGTrader can help you experiment with all or any of the ideas discussed in this article. Plus, with our free CGTrader ARsenal plan, you can host and manage all of your 3D assets from one seamlessly integrated platform.