As England plunges into its second lockdown, tough new restrictions have come into place. To comply with the new rules we have had to suspend test rides for our customers. We understand that purchasing a new bike without trying it can be frustrating so we decided to enhance the customer shopping experience. This is where augmented reality can make a difference.

AR brings the showroom to your home(room!)

We’ve now introduced a great new feature for you to explore, an Augmented Reality tool that is integrated into our website. The AR technology provides you with an immersive shopping experience to visualise the product directly from the comfort of your home. Using your device’s camera, AR technology supplements reality by superimposing computer-generated elements. Displayed in real size, they can explore our electric bikes and scooters and their features from all angles to help in the decision-making process.

Nothing will replace a real test ride or speaking to a person when browsing products, but virtual shopping gives our customers the opportunity to collect more insights to become familiar with the product before making a purchase.

Using AR aligns with Furosystems’ commitment to innovation but most importantly to continue to develop the online customer experience across online assets. The new feature is available on the devices via the AR icon displayed.

The future of retail technology

Web-powered augmented reality represents an exciting opportunity for online businesses through mobile browsers by revolutionizing how customers interact with the products. Most shoppers look at photos before the description so it is essential to remove uncertainty from their decision-making. Virtual shopping allows customers to assess whether the product is right for them by complementing traditional product photography with new technologies.

Within the current context when online shopping is the primary way most people are shopping, AR could also help tackle another challenge faced by online businesses: returns. AR intends to revolutionise the way consumers research and buy by providing them with an all-around impression of the product before making better-informed purchase decisions to diminish the risk of any surprises when their order arrives.