Alza.cz is one of the largest leaders and innovators in consumer-electronics e-commerce on the Czech market. A few days ago, the company announced the introduction of an AR feature in its mobile app for selected product categories.
About nine months earlier, Alza approached us to discuss working together on the implementation of AR in its online store. We reviewed their expectations and presented several solutions available on the market. They ultimately chose a straightforward solution from Google, which had made enormous progress over the previous year and was clearly focused on practical AR applications in online shopping. Implementing AR is one part of the process; suitable content is another. Although some vendors already had 3D models of their products, most were not ready for AR. We took care of this as well, creating 3D models for individual vendors in the product categories most relevant to Alza, including televisions, refrigerators and Samsung phones. We also created animations for selected products, which were very well received by both the vendors and Alza. We believe that 3D animation has an important future, and we will explore its applications and potential in more detail in a future article.
Although the AR feature currently remains available only in the Alza mobile app, which you can download for Android here or for iOS here, we believe that direct integration into the online store will follow. The implementation is equally straightforward and offers a range of additional benefits for customers—but that is a topic for another time.
To try the refrigerator shown in the demonstration, search for Gorenje NRS9182VB in the Alza app.