{"id":23034,"date":"2017-11-14T23:14:47","date_gmt":"2017-11-15T04:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/how-can-arvr-affect-ikeas-supply-chain\/"},"modified":"2017-11-14T23:14:47","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T04:14:47","slug":"how-can-vr-ar-technologies-affect-ikeas-supply-chain","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/how-can-vr-ar-technologies-affect-ikeas-supply-chain\/","title":{"rendered":"How can VR & AR technologies affect IKEA\u2019s supply chain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The home goods and furniture industry in which IKEA operates so far is among the ones least disrupted by online shopping with 9% ecommerce penetration vs. \u00a020% for apparel and 35% for consumer electronics in the US[i]<\/a>, partially because consumers need to see and check the samples to make sure that furniture can properly fit in their home.<\/p>\n

However, ecommerce has already moved ahead to tackle the issue.\u00a0 In 2016, Wayfair, the US ecommerce furniture platform, launched AR & VR apps for shoppers to see how furniture look in their homes on virtual reality devices[ii]<\/a>.\u00a0 The move, if proved a success, can heavily affect the last link of IKEA\u2019s supply chain, i.e. the offline retail outlets, which now attract customers, sell products and generate revenue.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, with the help of AR & VR to visualize pieces of furniture, customers can become designers of their own to build out what perceived as the best fit for their home. In the future, combined with commercially feasible 3D printing, customers can push customized needs to 3D printing vendors instead of pulling mass-produced products displayed in the retail chains.<\/p>\n

In response, IKEA launched a pilot VR app called VR Kitchen Experience in 2016, enabling users to virtually explore three different kitchen settings.[iii]<\/a>\u00a0 The company also launched the AR app IKEA Place on iOS in 2017[iv]<\/a>.\u00a0 The app shows the 3D image of how the furniture fits in the place where the users would like to place the furniture, complete the texture of materials on the products.[v]<\/a>\u00a0 Jesper Brodin, IKEA Range & Supply Manager, says that, \u201dvirtual reality is developing fast and in five to ten years it will be an integrated part of people\u2019s lives. \u00a0We see that it will play a major role in the future, for instance it could be used to enable people to try out a variety of home furnishing solutions before buying them.\u201d[vi]<\/a><\/p>\n