US retail giant Walmart announced on Thursday that it has updated its customer shopping app with two new augmented reality (AR) solutions designed to improve the shopper experience.
The new app upgrade will launch on its iOS app in early July, providing customers with AR-powered visuals to view items such as furniture and home decor in their physical spaces using their personal smartphones.
The company said the app will initially support 300 3D assets and will expand to more products and mobile browser platforms in the coming months.
Customers can view digital assets through Walmart’s app using the “View in Your Space” banner feature, which walks shoppers through the process of overlaying furniture items in their physical space. Users can also change the dimensions of items to verify dimensions and record previously viewed products.
Other features of the app include haptic feedback, allowing customers to experience enhanced operability and added realism when using the app. Walmart explained that it has also added more accessibility options for people with disabilities, such as gesture control and voice guidance for people with low vision and .
Other potential use cases for the app include purchasing specialty items for special dietary needs, using coupons and finding sales and clearance items, the company said.
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company explained that it had tested the app extensively for a "seamless and user-friendly" customer experience and received "overwhelming" positive feedback .
As quoted by Walmart, one tester said,
"The visuals are very realistic and don't put items in weird places like some other apps do. I often don't even try it in other apps for this reason feature, but I’m very impressed. I really enjoyed the experience”
Just as the retail giant announced in January that it would use assisted virtual reality (VR) experiences, cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFT), Blockchain and many other digital technologies, , are opening up potential Metaverse shopping experiences for IJTS customers a few months after launch.
The move was revealed in several patent applications filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in December (USPTO), which revealed its plans to develop a digital goods platform.
Rival companies such as Sweden's IKEA, Canada's Nextech AR and US-Indian company Avataar have also developed their own retail and shopping platforms aimed at reducing returns, improving customer experience and gaining important insights into shopping psychology and behaviour.
