Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Lowe’s Intros Interactive Shopping Experience for Smart Home Products

If you’ve ever tried to shop for smart, connected products at a local retailer, you may have left sadly shaking your head in confusion. Options galore coupled with technology that is often hard to visualize in your own home can often result in a sub-par shopping experience. Lowe’s has introduce two new concepts at its select stores that were developed precisely to simplify and demystify the purchasing process. The first, called “SmartSpot powered by b8ta” offers a streamlined approach to retail where customers can explore a curated collection of innovative products. In addition, consumers gain in-depth product knowledge through digital displays and on-site experts trained on smart home products.


“Customers depend on Lowe’s to guide and enable them in making important decisions about their home,” said Ruth Crowley, vice president of Customer Experience Design at Lowe’s. “We know through research that customers feel overwhelmed when choosing the right smart home devices, and often evaluate products for more than two months before making a purchase. Our partnership with b8ta allows us to give customers confidence in making well informed decisions by narrowing the product assortment and providing education to help them take that first step.”

smartspotSmartSpot offers whole-home solutions, moving customers beyond products to projects. The experience includes a wide range of smart home products, from security to energy maintenance and convenience, all organized in a central location. SmartSpot features several Lowe’s Iris products and more than 40 of the newest tech products on the market from vendors like Amazon, Lutron, Nest, and Ring.

“SmartSpot powered by b8ta” is available at Lowe’s Livermore, Burbank, and Aliso Viejo store locations. Customers everywhere can shop Lowe’s enhanced smart home online experience, featuring a curated selection of products and more inspiring, solution-oriented content.

The second new feature added to Lowe’s stores is an app, called Vision app, that can help customers visualize new products in their homes through augmented reality. This includes everything from furnishings and light fixtures to appliances and cabinetry. The app uses Tango, a Google technology that takes computer vision software and puts it on a smartphone for personalized augmented reality. Using the app, items can be placed virtually in the rooms of a house before the home improvement project begins.

lowes_vision_1-1Lowe’s Vision is available on Google Play and works with the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, the first Tango-enabled smartphone ($500).

Tango is basically a set of sensors and computer vision software from Google that senses and maps the surroundings. By leveraging Tango, Lowe’s Vision creates a 3D depth sense allowing customers to measure spaces and visualize how new products will work in an existing space.

The Tango software provides an idea of what a certain shade of hardwood flooring will look like in a living room. It can confirm a suspicion that a certain appliance won’t actually fit in the space provided.

Lowe’s Vision Features

  • Power Measure: Quickly and intuitively capture room dimensions and other interior space and surface measurements with the world’s most powerful digital tape measure.
  • 3D Designer: Select any item from Lowe’s virtual library and place it in the home in real-time to style and preview indoor spaces.
  • Save, Snap & Share: After designing the perfect space, save the project and share photos with friends or a professional contractor.
  • Shopping Lists and Reviews: Create a shareable shopping list and save to a myLowe’s account. Find additional product information like reviews, related items and promotions.

The post Lowe’s Intros Interactive Shopping Experience for Smart Home Products appeared first on Electronic House.



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