Ikea is a master of adapting to the customers' needs, be it in brick-and-mortar stores or online. Now the Swedish furniture giant is partnering with Germany's Immoscout24 to help prospective homebuyers and renters visualize their future homes with AI-generated interiors featuring real Ikea products.
Retail Technology: Ikea Brings AI-Powered Furnishing To Real Estate Listings
For generations of families, a trip to Ikea has been something of an event. Parents browse the showrooms, children enjoy the Småland play area, and a stop at the restaurant for Swedish meatballs is usually on the agenda.
Now the Swedish furniture giant is bringing another part of that experience into the digital world, allowing prospective homebuyers and renters to furnish rooms before they even move in.
Ikea has launched a pilot project with Immoscout24, Germany’s largest real estate platform, using artificial intelligence to transform photographs of rooms in property listings into realistic furnished interiors featuring Ikea products.
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This news is not signage-related, but Ikea is a prime example of a brick-and-mortar store business that keeps reinventing itself, always with the changing needs of its customers. Often with different store formats, for the inner cities, for example, now onlinein a place where it is sure to meet existing and potential customers.
Developed by Ikea’s global digital teams, the technology analyzes images of empty or furnished rooms and generates visualizations incorporating furniture and home accessories selected with input from Ikea interior design specialists.
The initial rollout covers living rooms and bedrooms, with other spaces potentially being added as the technology develops.
For someone considering a new home or apartment the technology offers an opportunity to see how an otherwise empty room might look with a sofa, shelving, tables, and other furnishings already in place.
Reaching customers before they move in
The collaboration also puts Ikea in front of potential customers much earlier in the buying journey, before they select a property or begin shopping for furniture.
Parag Parekh, Global Chief Digital Officer for IKEA Retail at Ingka Group, said the pilot is part of the company’s broader effort to connect physical and digital shopping experiences.
“For Ikea , the pilot represents another step in exploring how digital technologies can make home furnishing more convenient as well as fun and inspiring,” Parekh added.
The project builds on Ikea’s existing investments in digital visualization, including Ikea Kreativ, which allows customers to experiment with furniture arrangements in virtual versions of their own rooms.
The Immoscout24 collaboration is scheduled to run for one year, after which Ikea will evaluate the results and consider expanding the technology.