| | OCTOBER 20218IN FOCUSHow Digital Transformation is Revolutionizing the e-Commerce Furniture IndustryBY CEO INSIGHTS TEAMUntil the year-end of 2019, evolution in consum-er demand and advancement in technologies were considered to be the ultimate reasons for changes and revolution in any industry. But, the sud-den occurrence of corona virus pandemic changed the tradition. Since last year, the pandemic has man-aged to transform how people live, shop, and interact with others. Same is the scenario for industries in the business world. Global-ly, the pandemic has affected business operations in almost every industry. Hence, e-Commerce platforms are adopting new technologies in or-der to keep up with consumer needs and offer a hassle-free shopping experience. In In-dia, many e-Commerce fur-niture platforms are not only witnessing huge shifts in consumer behaviour & fre-quently changing business trends, but also since few years, the furniture industry has faced digital transforma-tion challenges.According to an industry re-port published by Indian Brand Equity Foundation, the e-Commerce revenue in India is projected to increase from $39 billion in 2017, to $200 billion in 2026, growing at 51 percent annual rate, touted to be the highest in the world. It is no surprise that technolo-gy will continue to change the rules of the e-Com-merce game. The digital natives consider technology as an integral part of their lives, and they expect a seamless omnichannel shopping experience. Conse-quently, online shopping and retail industry, in par-ticular, have seen advancement due to technological developments such as cloud space and artificial intelligence acceler-ating the growth of e-Commerce in India. The IBEF report further states that the Indian e-Commerce industry is expected to out-rank the US as world's second-largest e-Commerce market by 2034, driven by hyper-local logistics, digital pay-ments, digital advertisements, and analytics-based customer engagement. Let's have a look at how the pandemic and advancement in technologies are acting as a catalyst in changing the e-Commerce fur-niture industry in India.Augmented Reality: The fur-niture industry is an incredibly visual-dependent space, and customers welcome every ef-fort to bridge the gap between the online and in-store shop-ping experience. This is one of the main reasons why Augmented Reality (AR) has significant poten-tial to disrupt the way people shop for furniture. AR can help consumers make informed decisions by giving them the opportunity to virtually 'try-out' furniture, by not worrying about bad decisions, and removing a huge weight from their shoulders before the big purchase. According to Google, two in three people say they are interested in harnessing AR to help them when shopping. Soon, THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY IS AN INCREDIBLY VISUAL-DEPENDENT SPACE, AND CUSTOMERS WELCOME EVERY EFFORT TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN THE ONLINE AND IN-STORE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
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