Virtual Shopping and The Retail Environment of the Future
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.
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!
Using Drone Cameras in Real Estate Marketing
Creating a compelling, direct, and exclusive marketing campaign for your properties can be challenging, especially if you are operating on a budget or with limited resources.
Nonetheless, taking beautiful pictures of the properties you are trying to sell is the best way to increase the chances of a sale. Using drone cameras in real estate marketing allows you to take exclusive shots of the properties, highlight beautiful features, and save money. Here's what to expect.
Creating a compelling, direct, and exclusive marketing campaign for your properties can be challenging, especially if you are operating on a budget or with limited resources.
Nonetheless, taking beautiful pictures of the properties you are trying to sell is the best way to increase the chances of a sale. Using drone cameras in real estate marketing allows you to take exclusive shots of the properties, highlight beautiful features, and save money. Here's what to expect.
Benefits of Using Drone Cameras In Real Estate Marketing
It can help you create more dramatic images and compelling videos that will reach potential buyers' eyes and hearts.
It allows you to create more interesting virtual tours to show the property to potential buyers - even in times of Covid-19 and social distancing measures.
It gives you the chance to highlight more property features from a unique point of view.
Drone video and drone photography in real estate marketing offer you the advantage to give potential buyers an idea of the surrounding area and landscape without requiring them to visit the property in person or spend time exploring the surroundings.
Real estate video and photography created through the use of a drone are still relatively new in the industry. Indeed, not many estate agents have invested in this technology yet, which gives you the chance to enjoy a unique selling point and advantage over the competition.
Aerial pictures are undoubtedly a way to interest potential buyers, making the property look fantastic and show beautiful imagery. Nonetheless, taking photos from a helicopter can be extremely costly and difficult to arrange. Drone photography is the obvious choice to get the best of both worlds!
Selling A Property in the Times of COVID-19: Here Is What's Changed
The pandemic - and ensuing social distancing measures - has influenced many aspects of our daily lives, and it has not spared the way we sell our properties and find the dream family home.
The pandemic - and ensuing social distancing measures - has influenced many aspects of our daily lives, and it has not spared the way we sell our properties and find the dream family home. Luckily, on this, cutting-edge technologies such as Matterport photography and 3D virtual tours are on our side.
Indeed, visiting houses during this unusual time can be unsafe and challenging. Of course, staying within closed spaces with other people is not recommendable. But, so, how can you show the wonders of a property to potential buyers?
Matterport photography, a three-dimensional camera system that allows creators to bring to life fully-immersive, incredibly realistic experiences and virtual tours, gives you the chance to explore every nook and corner of a property together with a potential buyer.
The high-quality imagery and accurate measurements collected by these systems can also give the real feel of a property's space, style, and character.
The advantages of using virtual staging to explore a property include the fact that this system allows you to picture potential buyers in it, presenting it as a white canvas to start designing an ideal space.
Ultimately, a high-resolution virtual tour allows potential buyers to take their own time to understand if that property is right for them truly. When these virtual tours are hosted by the owner or knowledgeable estate agent, buyers will feel like they have all the support needed throughout such a crucial process. Such high-end technology can enhance the property-viewing process, giving a chance to buyers to keep exploring options and selecting the home of their dreams - all in complete safety!
Housing Market, COVID-19 and 3D Virtual Tours
When COVID hit it changed everything. All of a sudden families were stranded at home and there was a renewed focus on nesting, akin to what we saw immediately after 9-11.
We’ve seen a dramatic change in our business since the pandemic ground everything to a halt in March. Yes, the economy is coming back slowly, there is definitely activity but it’s different. We’ve always marketed our platform as convenience - why just take photos and videos when you can have the whole space on in immersive 3D on your device, showcase it to prospects and walk-thorough anytime you want! Who would not want that?
When COVID hit it changed everything. All of a sudden families were stranded at home and there was a renewed focus on nesting, akin to what we saw immediately after 9-11. What does “home” mean - the answer is different depending who you ask, it’s a space for work, as space for leisure, a shelter and a gathering place for the family. Perhaps they were thinking of moving someday, get a second home or just improving the one they have. Well that moment arrived overnight - it is here now.
While the economy may be in a recession mode from the pandemic with forced shutdowns, the real estate market remains strong, thanks in part to good mortgage rates and the desire of many people in the city to relocate. Knowing they can work from anywhere, why not also love where you live. Technology has played a major role!
How Matterport Virtual Tours changed Real Estate
We scan you space in 3D to create virtual tours. These are immersive, meaning you can experience the space from the first person, akin to a video game. We’ve developed a streamlined process that help realtors get exposure for their listings 24/7, in a physically distant and safe manner. With Matterport, you will be able to engage prospects and carry on business quickly and efficiently from any location, regardless of timezone.
In a survey conducted last month and published Aug. 5, Redfin said that 25% of respondents indicated that the pandemic has made them want to move or has sped up their plans to relocate.
Source: Redfin
Take your real estate marketing to new heights. Learn how we can help getting your home sold quickly with a Matterport 3D Virtual Tour of your home. We use only Matterport 3D and the most advanced cameras to capture the essence of a space for exquisite tours.
We are open for business during COVID-19, but things will be different!
We are encountering a higher demand for our services, helping organizations stay open virtually and augmenting real estate listings with immersive 3D Matterport tours.
In order to keep everyone safe the following protocols are followed, no exceptions:
Properties must be vacant and prepared to be imaged. In case of commercial properties, only required essential staff should be present.
We will address your project requirements prior to appointment. Under no circumstances shall anyone other than us or essential staff be present at location.
If you suspect you have been in contact with Covid-19 or don’t feel well, please take care of yourself, be responsible and let us know! We are in this together and we offer you the same courtesy.
We follow strict safety precautions as recommended by health authorities. This means we move slower, wear protective gear and sanitize our equipment between appointments.
Now more than ever it matters what we do. We can beat this thing but only if we work together and practice social distancing. Stay well!
Walk through a space as if you were really there with Matterport VR
Experience a space from anywhere with Matterport VR. Built-in to every tour we make!
Experience a space from anywhere with Matterport VR. Built-in to every tour we make!
Advocating for a more fair and efficient real estate industry
The typical commission paid to agents of both buyers and sellers averages at 2.5%, typically totalling 5% of the home's selling price, and adding thousands of dollars to the cost for both parties. Justo has changed all that.
Justo Using Disruptive Technology to Shake Up Real Estate Biz
In the increasingly pricey Greater Toronto Area housing market, every dollar counts for both the buyer and the seller. With land values and speculation driving home prices ever higher, brokerage commission fees are often overlooked as a factor in how much a purchaser pays or a seller receives for their home. The typical commission paid to agents of both buyers and sellers averages at 2.5%, typically totalling 5% of the home's selling price, and adding thousands of dollars to the cost for both parties.
Read full article at Urban Toronto
Lightbound 3D & Justo Home Brokerage Streamline the Home Buying Process
In recent months, Lightbound 3D and Toronto’s hottest new real estate concept Justo Home Brokerage have partnered together to assist home buyers in their real estate journeys. The two companies are hoping to streamline the intimidating home selling process by partnering together and creating a unified experience for sellers that need help in selling and presenting their home.
The two real estate service providers have partnered together to save home sellers across the GTA hundreds of dollars and simplify their selling process.
In recent months, Lightbound 3D and Toronto’s hottest new real estate concept Justo Home Brokerage have partnered together to assist home buyers in their real estate journeys. The two companies are hoping to streamline the intimidating home selling process by partnering together and creating a unified experience for sellers that need help in selling and presenting their home.
Sellers that approach the real estate brokerage are now being connected with Lightbound 3D representatives to have a photo shoot and 3D virtual tour rendered of their property while working with their Justo agent. The partnership makes the selling process more efficient and less stressful by having multiple services available in the same selling experience.
Launched in the summer of 2018, Justo uses a client-centric platform. They offer cashback to buyers and transparent low rates for sellers, as well as comprehensive service. Their mandate of providing better value and fair services is now reflected in their partnership with Lightbound 3D.
“Our mission has always been to bring fairness to the industry, and that starts with making the selling process transparent and efficient,” said Daphne de Groot, CEO and Co-founder Justo. “We’re already saving our customers thousands of dollars throughout the buying and selling process, and now we’re really happy to be offering even more value to our brand and services.”
Managing partner of Lightbound 3D, Jonas Lood, claimed that the partnership was a no-brainer, being that both companies share similar values: "Our goal is to provide the best real estate experience for every home buyer in Canada." said Jonas.
Both Justo and Lightbound 3D hope that their partnership advocates for a more fair and efficient real estate industry, where buyers no longer feel pressured and intimidated by realtors. For more information on the partnership and both Justo’s and Lightbound 3D’s services, please visit www.justo.ca or lightbound3d.com/
Now you can digitally view and MEASURE 3D Spaces
Now you can digitally view and Measure 3D Spaces.
We have launched an enhancement to all our 3D Models. With Measurement Mode you have the ability to share measurements with anyone on your team directly from your 3D Digital twin. Contact us today to learn more!
Are you ready to buy a home?
Answer these questions to learn if you're ready to make the biggest purchase of your life!
Take this Real Estate Quiz by Justo brokerage to learn if you’re ready to make the biggest purchase decision in your life!
First Time Home Buyer Incentive
Do you need help qualifying for the First-Time Home Buyer Incentive? The FTHBI makes owning a home in Canada cheaper than ever. Find out what it is, its specifics, and how to qualify for it in this article from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) - The First-Time Home Buyer Incentive.
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The World’s Most Innovative Event Planning Platform
Providing venues with game changing Virtual Reality and 360 Diagraming. Check out our latest model at the Globe & Mail Centre in Toronto.
One-On-One Personalized Shopping Experience with Lightbound 3D
Personalized one-on-one shopping can now be experienced with Lightbound 3D from anywhere!
Personalized one-on-one shopping can now be experienced with Lightbound 3D from anywhere!
Cadillac Live, launching exclusively in Canada, connects online shoppers for video conversations with the automaker’s brand ambassadors at a showroom in Toronto. The ambassadors can answer questions and physically show customers around vehicles, then direct them to a nearby dealer if they’re interested in buying. Vehicles and showroom can be experienced in True Immersive 3D.
Virtual Tours get clicked 40% more than listings with no tours!
Virtual Tours get clicked 40% more than listings with no tours!
The reason for these successes is that 3D virtual tours engage buyers in a way words and photos can not. They offer ‘location intelligence’ and a visceral sense of a property that increases emotional engagement. And unlike an open house or home visit, with a 3D virtual home tour, the prospect can take their time – from wherever they may be located – to delve into any feature that would make a house or apartment feel like a home.
Virtual tours get clicked on 40% more than listings without virtual tours
Properties featured with virtual tours get 95% more phone inquiries
Properties featured with virtual tours receive 65% more email inquiries versus those without
Virtual tours generate 49% more qualified leads
All eyes are on the internet today, if you don’t capture your audience right away, it’s an opportunity lost!
Toronto startups look to disrupt Canada’s real estate model!
From the Globe & Mail November 12, 2018 | By: SHANE DINGMAN, REAL ESTATE REPORTER
Two Toronto-area startups are betting that a combination of technology, regulatory changes and consumer behaviour have created the conditions necessary to finally bring about a transformation of the country’s traditional real estate model.
Regan McGee, chief executive of startup Nobul (which he describes as a marketplace platform where potential buyers and sellers get bids for service from realtors), says that, in recent years, accumulation of anti-trust and competition regulations in the United States and Canada have pushed the industry to a tipping point. “They created an environment where a company like us could exist. [Before now] it would have been really hard. This is the way everything is going,” he said.
“The industry is changing, and I could feel the change coming,” says Vicki Schmidt, co-founder and broker of record for Justo, a new twist on the online discount brokerage.
These two companies are just a few of the real estate-focused startups popping up or expanding across the country, but they have one thing in common: The market opportunity they sense is to put more negotiating power, and perhaps more cash, in the hands of the real estate buyers and sellers. That could also put pressure on the traditional commission structure and service offering from agents.
Justo’s idea is mainly a tech-enabled update on an old idea: the discount brokerage. Founded by Daphne De Groot, an Israeli immigrant on a startup visa (who has dabbled in real estate developing, reality television and marine biology in an interesting career path) who partnered with Ms. Schmidt to try to build something more like the real estate model in her home country.
“In Israel, when you go buy a house, you have something like Kijiji. You go on the site, you pick a house you like, you just buy it directly … you don’t do it with an agent, just a lawyer and that’s it,” Ms. De Groot said. “When I tried to do it here myself, I had no access to any of the data: who bought the house, when, comparables.”
With an outsiders eye, she dissected the traditional real estate model in Canada and realized two things: Agents were necessary here, for many reasons, and enough of the data were getting to the public that some of the functions of agents could be shared between buyer and agent. Justo is designed to keep the agent involved, while operating a VOW-type website that helps buyers and sellers see what’s happening in the market, and wrap it all up into a couple of lower fee options.
Justo’s fee model is calibrated for the expensive side of the GTA: If your home purchase is for more than $600,000 (which is about $150,000 lower than the region’s average detached-home selling price), you pay a flat $15,000 in commission. Additionally, while Justo will still split the full traditional 5-per-cent commission with listing agents, it will give buyer clients a chunk of the difference between the $15,000 and the 2.5-per-cent share as a cash-back bonus (the estimated cash-back is posted on all the Justo site’s online listings). “Its a reduction on your house, ‘Money out of the sky,’” Ms. De Groot said. If what you buy is less than $600,000 there’s no cashback and no flat fee, just the usual 2.5-per-cent fee.
For sellers, the structure is a simple reduced fee: 1.5-per-cent commission for 90 days at a guaranteed price, and if they don’t sell in that time, they will reduce the commission to 1 per cent.
Ms. Schmidt says the structure is similar to a friends-and-family deal, adding that what attracted her to Ms. De Groot’s vision was, “The idea of partnering with [clients] and sharing a bit of that commission with them, because they are a big part of that partnership.”
Mr. McGee’s startup, Nobul, comes at the industry with a similar ethos – that the client wants more service than what they get today – but his vision is built on an real estate insider’s view (he’s a former commercial realtor and still has his licence) of an industry that has managed to avoid fundamental change despite the existence of gigantic U.S. property tech companies such as Zillow and Redfin.
“Real estate is super entrenched in doing things the way it’s been done forever,” he said, arguing that no internet company has done to real estate what Uber and Airbnb have done to transportation or hospitality.
The concept is deceptively simple: Buyers or sellers come to Nobul to find an agent and agents on the platform offer a bid for that client, either a straight-up break on the commission or through expanded service offerings. Additionally, a combination of user ratings and reviews will help clients compare bidding agents (someday soon, Nobul also hopes to include agent performance metrics, such as list-price-to-sale ratios, in order to find who truly are the best negotiators).
Unlike traditional online brokerages, agents you find on Nobul don’t work for the startup (350 agents have been actively using the platform since its soft launch in April), they just use the site as a matchmaker to pitch their services.
“Most of the job of being a real estate agent is customer acquisition,” Mr. McGee said. “We’re seeing right now about three-to-one buyers to sellers [browsing on the platform] and a tonne of first-time buyers. Most of the people coming to our platform are millennials … they don’t have a relationship with some real estate agent who got their licence back in the seventies.” Right now, if a buyer is scrolling through Realtor.ca, there’s no easy way to find an agent to help you buy a dream house you spotted. There’s no reasons those buyers wouldn’t like to begin and end their property search online, Mr. McGee says: “This is the way that the whole world is going.”
Of course, open bidding does mean that Nobul could have the affect of compressing commission fees, which agents are often reluctant to do. “Sure, it’s inevitable,” he agrees, but points out that fee compression won’t hurt Nobul’s bottom line. “We make our money not on the commission, but on the property value. We get 20 basis points on the property value … which is $2,000 per million of property value. Fee compression over time will have zero impact on our revenue.”
Further, he says regulators Nobul has spoken with when negotiating entering new markets approve of the company’s goals. “Regulators are trying to achieve transparency, price competition, get rid of price fixing, they wanted the public to be happy with the biggest fees they pay in their lives. Everybody else talks about how it’s the biggest purchase in your life, they often forget to mention it’s the biggest fee you’ll ever pay, too.”
Nobul will need scale in order to work, which is why it is already expanding across Canada and into the United States. To help with that, it has attracted an enviable collection of investors in its multimillion-dollar seed fundraising, including some big-time real estate developers (a notoriously risk-averse group).
“People are looking to what makes life easy for them, where do they get a benefit? Clients want the cheapest quality brokers, this allows a buyer or seller to reach out to hundreds or thousands of brokers,” says Sheldon Fenton, CEO of Reserve Capital, which with Reserve Properties has built more than 12,000 housing units over the past 30 years. Mr. Fenton said that in addition to knowing Mr. McGee and his family, he liked the investing team and management (the board includes Canadian business notable Blake Goldring). “Developers are typically conservative. I invest in a limited number of tech opportunities that are not necessarily real estate driven. This is one we took a shine to – this is a small investment for us – but I put my money up and I believe in their concept.”
Lightbound 3D Welcomes Justo Real Estate as an Alliance Partner
Justo is Toronto’s newest concept in real estate, offering comprehensive marketing and real estate services at no extra charge! Professional photography, 3D virtual immersive tours, staging, lawyer and brokerage fees are all included.
Lightbound 3D is pleased to announce it has partnered with boutique firm Justo Real Estate in Toronto. Justo is an alternative option for buyers and sellers who are frustrated by elite brokerage commissions. Justo is Toronto’s newest concept in real estate, offering comprehensive marketing and real estate services at no extra charge! Professional photography, 3D virtual immersive tours, staging, lawyer and brokerage fees are all included. Justo is data driven and uses the power of technology and efficiently to lower costs, passing on savings to our customers.
Here's looking at you Toronto
We just completed our latest project for the Toronto Globe & Mail Centre. The Globe and Mail Centre’s flexible indoor and outdoor spaces can accommodate up to 400 guests for conferences, award shows, receptions, private celebrations and more.
We just completed our latest project for the Toronto Globe & Mail Centre. The Globe and Mail Centre’s flexible indoor and outdoor spaces can accommodate up to 400 guests for conferences, award shows, receptions, private celebrations and more.
Equipped with the latest digital AV technology and refined executive-level furnishings, The Globe and Mail Centre is purpose-built, LEED Gold certified and supports a wide range of possibilities.
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Our Immersive 3D is now available for Event Planning Services
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