Pinterest Adds AR Furniture Placement Tools to Better Facilitate Home Decor Purchases

Pinterest is taking its AR shopping options to the next level, with a new ‘AR Try On for Home Décor’ process, which will enable users to virtually place furniture in their home.

As explained by Pinterest:

“This is our latest step in bringing together the worlds of augmented reality and shopping on Pinterest as people seek more immersive online experiences that help them make purchase decisions from the comfort of their home. Try On for Home Decor makes it possible to envision home decor and furniture items in your home and “try before you buy” from premier launch partners.”

The process utilizes Pinterest’s constantly evolving AR Lens technology to establish the actual dimensions and details of the virtual object, in order to provide an accurate depiction of how it will look in our real world space.

“Try On features recognize objects in the real world and translate to online recommendations based on object recognition, in-stock products via catalogs, and the Pinner’s taste.”

Pinners are then able to adjust the product within the camera view to see how it fits in their space, and how well it goes with their existing home decor.

It’s the latest advance in Pinterest’s virtual try-on tools, with the platform also offering make-up (lipstick and eyeshadow) among its expanding digital showcase options for brands. Another AR leader, Snapchat, also offers virtual try-on tools for sunglasses and shoes, among other experiments, which is likely where Pinterest is also headed, along with these new décor placement tools.

Though furniture is a big one for Pinterest. According to its own research, 90% Pinners come to the platform for research and inspiration in their home decor shopping journey, so having the capacity to see what these items will actually look like in their home, before they make a purchase, could be a big deal for the app.

AR shopping in general is already seeing good response, with over 100 million consumers now regularly shopping with AR, and 60% of them saying that they often use the option to finalize purchase decisions. Given the rise of online shopping amid the ongoing pandemic, it makes sense that people have been seeking more options to confirm their purchases, and accurate, realistic AR depictions can be a great way to get a better sense of a product before they click ‘Confirm’. 

The challenging thing with digital furniture placement is accuracy. IKEA, for example, released its own AR app back in 2017 which facilitated similar purpose.

But the results were not always accurate, and while the app can be a handy accompaniment to provide some perspective on furniture purchases, there is a level of risk in relying on what you see through the app, in terms of sizing, true-to-life measurements, etc.

Hopefully, Pinterest’s variation is more accurate in this respect, and enables users to get a more solidified, clarified view of what they’re buying.

Because if Pinterest can get it right, it could become a hugely valuable tool in the broader eCommerce shift, and help to solidify Pinterest as the place to be for online shopping.