Etsy Launches a Shoppable Virtual House Tour
The Etsy House is a first for the platform and enables shoppers to see a virtual home filled with holiday decor and gifts, furniture and artwork, as well as Etsy Design Awards winners. Customers can hover over select items to see a pop-up with more information on the product and a link to purchase.
Executive Summary
The curated experience in The Etsy House taps into several ongoing industry trends, including leveraging technology to create a unique digital retail experience. Retailers are increasingly testing AR technology for online shopping, enabling customers to get up close with products without ever seeing them in person and view how products will look in their own homes.
Etsy partnered with The Boundary, a creative visualization studio, to create the virtual house.
Etsy, which has been a top marketplace for small businesses, experienced significant growth during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers invested more in their homes. The company also announced its acquisitions of Depop, a resale marketplace beloved by Gen Z shoppers, for a whopping $1.625 billion.
A number of major brands and retailers have utilized AR in different and innovative ways, including Yeti, which launched an AR and 3D experience to let customers view 50 virtual products in their own space. Amazon also jumped into AR with its Amazon Salon business in Spitalfields, London.
