Virtual Staging: The Future of Real Estate Marketing

The world of real estate has evolved significantly in recent years, with the advancement of technology playing a significant role in the transformation. One aspect of this transformation is the concept of virtual staging, which has become increasingly popular in the industry. Virtual staging is the use of digital technology to create realistic images of interior spaces, allowing prospective buyers to envision themselves in the space before physically visiting the property. This technique has revolutionized the way real estate professionals market properties, making the process more efficient and effective.

Virtual staging has many benefits for real estate professionals, sellers, and buyers alike. One of the main advantages is that it saves time and money. Traditional staging involves the physical placement of furniture and accessories in a property, which can be time-consuming and expensive. Virtual staging, on the other hand, is a relatively quick and affordable process, with images created using computer software. This means that properties can be staged and marketed much faster, allowing for a quicker sale.

Another advantage of virtual staging is that it allows for more flexibility and creativity. With traditional staging, furniture and accessories are physically placed in a property, limiting the possibilities for customization. Virtual staging, however, allows for an infinite number of possibilities, as digital furniture and accessories can be added, removed, or rearranged at will. This means that properties can be staged to appeal to specific target markets or demographics, increasing the likelihood of a sale.

Virtual staging also allows for a more personalized experience for buyers. With traditional staging, prospective buyers are often viewing a property that has been staged to appeal to the masses. Virtual staging, however, allows for a more personalized experience, as buyers can envision themselves in the space and see it as their own. This can help to create an emotional connection with the property, increasing the likelihood of a sale.

There are some potential downsides to virtual staging, however. One of the main criticisms is that it can be misleading, as it can create an unrealistic view of the property. Buyers may be disappointed when they physically visit the property and find that it looks different from the virtual staging images. However, this can be mitigated by ensuring that the virtual staging images are as accurate as possible, and by providing accurate descriptions and measurements of the property.

Overall, virtual staging is a valuable tool for real estate professionals, sellers, and buyers. It allows for a more efficient, effective, and personalized marketing process, and is likely to become even more popular in the future as technology continues to evolve. As the real estate industry continues to adapt to the changing technological landscape, virtual staging is set to become a key component of successful property marketing strategies.

The Benefits of Virtual Tours in the Retail Environment

We have all been hit by the consequences of the pandemic, one way or another. Many of us have adapted quickly and created a nook that they can call the home office. Others, especially small businesses, had to go through a fast digital transformation to survive the many restrictions.

Among these, grocery stores, supermarkets, and local shops have been at the mercy of lockdown measures for months, which have not played in their favour. However, when used well, technology can represent the bridge to connect your business to your audience, locally and globally, independently of what the current restrictions are.

As this type of technology has been developing fast over the past months, the shopping experience has become better and more real. Today, projects such as the one brought forwards by Lightbound 3D, in a partnership with Inabuggy and The McEwan Group, allows your customer to stroll through real supermarket’s aisles.

Whether you are the proud owner of a small local shop or a larger supermarket, the Matterport 3D technology, alongside the virtual shopping tours it enables, allows you to build real relationships with your audience.

Streamlined Service for Your Customers

One of the most significant challenges for larger supermarkets and small shops alike is the management of personnel. The question of whether it makes more sense to stay open for longer or increase efficiency during peak times has always been there. However, today, you won’t need to compromise between the two. Virtual shopping tours are the closest technology has ever been to offering a real experience to customers. At the same time, it gives you the chance to keep your virtual shop open at all times to best suit the needs of your customers.

Making Your Products More Accessible

While an astonishing number of small businesses still don’t have a website, the ones that do just offer a small eCommerce store. While this can help your business display some products, it might still be a very different experience than the one of walking through the aisles of your supermarket.

Matterport 3D technology and systems, instead, offer a real-life experience that allows you to display all of your products in the best way possible. Customers are also able to zoom in and pick their favourite - which is something that no other technology can offer today. 

Giving Your Customers a Real Experience

During the current pandemic, we have all become more aware of how much we rely on technology. However, we have also discovered how much some systems make us notice the difference with real-life experiences. For example, eCommerce sites give us the chance to order goods and get them delivered to our doorstep. All this with minimal interaction.

However, we all love going to the local store and feel part of the community. This is where technology has failed us until today. With the new virtual tours, you can have all this while still enjoying a safe and personalized shopping experience.

A Clean and Safe Environment for All

The pandemic has had a substantial impact on the way we conduct our jobs, interact with others, and even go about simple actions in our lives. While some restrictions and lockdowns are slowly lifting, the consequences of how we have lived the past months are not bound to disappear any time soon.

Therefore, many shoppers and buyers will still be skeptical about visiting any store during the busiest times of the day. Some might even prefer to keep socialization to a minimum for weeks to come to preserve their health. So, businesses have to adapt to this new way of operating while still offering the services they have been so successful for in the past.

Virtual shopping tours can be the solution to start creating a safe environment for your customers - while still operating as usual.

Creating a Relationship with Your Audience

Going to a supermarket or grocery store is not only about convenience or comfort for many families. It is also about being in a familiar place, where to interact with the community. These are aspects that the pandemic has affected the most. However, now is time for local businesses to start mending those relationships and, if in-person interactions are still not so safe, technology can help.

Virtual shopping tours can be an excellent occasion for your audience to go back to their familiar and comfortable routines while having access to the products they have always loved from a safe environment.

While this technology has started to revolutionize the global retail environment, we only know the few benefits it has yielded so far. However, it is developing fast, and new advantages and experiences are always around the corner.

Virtual Shopping and The Retail Environment of the Future

Walking around the aisles of a local grocery store is an experience that is part of our lives. You might do so in a rush of getting home after a hard day at work, in the company of your family dunning a Sunday shopping trip, or looking for a ready meal to enjoy while catching up on your favourite TV shows. 

In any case, going to the supermarket is an important event which has been impacted by the consequences of the current pandemic. While ordering your food online can do the job, there is nothing quite like walking around your local grocery store. 

Today, thanks to the partnership between Lightbound 3D, InaBuggy and The McEwan Group, you can go back to stroll through the snacks aisle and take your time looking at your favourite products.  (Want to experience it first hand? Skip to the bottom!)

Matterport 3D and Virtual Shopping systems have brought us back the enjoyment of visiting the local store - but it is only the beginning of how virtual tours are changing the retail environment. 

Indeed, supermarkets have started to catch up with the idea that online shopping and retail - as well as the consequences of the pandemic - are not going to disappear soon. So, they have started to invest in systems that can offer their customers a real, social experience. 

Here is how, encompassing small startups and larger supermarket chains, virtual tours are becoming the way forward. 

A Safer Experience for All

The covid-19 vaccine is becoming a lot more than just a distant mirage, and some of the restrictions are lifting across the globe. Nonetheless, some other pandemic consequences are still as present as always, and they are not bound to leave us for many months to come. 

Indeed, public places and gatherings still involve some risks that we don’t want to expose our families to or run ourselves. Something as simple as going to the local grocery store to pick up food for the week has become more of a mission we gear up for with face coverings and hand sanitizer. 

But what if technology can give us back a safe, enjoyable experience? Virtual shopping tours and Matterport technology offer us an unprecedented chance to browse the aisles and shelves in total safety. 

Whether you wish to enjoy this moment with your little ones or with others in your household, this powerful - yet user-friendly - technology has made it possible. 

Groceries at Your Fingertips - At All Times

Whether you are a quick-shopper or you love browsing the shelves of your local store for the best deals, going to the supermarket is almost always an event we plan for. When deciding when to go, the store’s opening times or busiest hours are something we all consider - especially when planning to buy a whole week’s worth of food. 

However, some local shops might be open only for certain hours during the day or affected so much by the local restrictions following the spread of Covid that their operating times are restricted. 

A virtual shopping experience offers you everything you have always wanted - a perfectly-presented, clean, and quiet supermarket where you can take all the time you need to select the best products. And, you can do so when it’s most convenient for you and from anywhere. 

The Matterport 3D technology is supported on most devices, including laptops, phones, and tablets. It allows you to walk around the aisle, check the shelves, and even zoom in to have a better look at what you are buying. All this has never been possible with standard eCommerce websites. 

Looking at The Future of Grocery Shopping

It is undeniable that the pandemic has had a significant impact on almost all aspects of our lives, from our jobs to how we go about our days. Some of the consequences of this historical time are not yet even clear to us. However, we do know that technology is an irresistible force that is changing our daily lives, mostly for the better. 

In this case, it gives customers a chance to enjoy their shopping trips in a safe, comfortable, and extremely convenient environment. Instead, to shop owners, this technology might mean that they can open their doors for longer and provide a much better service to their audience. 

So far, we are only aware of the tip of the iceberg of the benefits that technology can bring to the world of retail. However, for now, virtual shopping allows you to take a trip to your local store, browse the shelves, make the most of daily offers, and even let a snack tempt you! 

Do you want to experience Virtual Shopping first hand? Click here to see what we help create!

www.inabuggy.com/mcewan