Houzz has launched a new feature that lets home service pros visualize finished bathroom projects in the spaces they’ll occupy. Using the new feature through a smartphone or tablet, pros can help homeowners visualize design choices overlaid on their spaces, resulting in more confident decisions.
This is similar to the AR features that have become popular for visualizing consumer products – everything from furniture to footwear. The idea is to provide a more informed consumer and a more confident purchase. Houzz is applying this principle to home renovation (read: higher stakes).
Its latest move builds on the AR kitchen renovation features already offered in the Houzz Pro app, now extended to bathrooms. Home renovation pros can choose vanities, showers, sinks, and bathtubs from the Houzz shop, then overlay them on a given space to help homeowners visualize the final result.
Visual & Dimensional
As noted, the new bathroom visualization feature is available in the Houzz Pro app. For those unfamiliar, Houzz Pro is a SaaS offering for home service pros to manage and optimize projects, from marketing to execution. For example, it has a popular floor-plan feature – a precursor to the new AR features.
In that sense, this evolution towards more visual and dimensional project planning is logical. Demand continues to grow for 3D product visualization as consumers get more accustomed to it in their shopping endeavors. As we recently examined, giants like Amazon and Walmart are accelerating this process.
That’s been amplified further in a pandemic when social distancing and retail lockdowns bestowed even greater value on the ability to gain IRL-like product dimension remotely. Consumers developed new habits and expectations during that period, which could sustain into the Post-Covid era.
Meanwhile, Houzz has been a leader in AR visualization for all the above reasons. But its View in My Room 3D feature previously focused on individual items like rugs and couches. Recent developments, let the company take a bigger bite of renovation projects, visualizing final results on a room-by-room basis.
Pro-Centric
Beyond consumers, this evolution towards more visual and dimensional project planning serves Houzz’ other constituent: home renovation pros. Indeed, intended users of Houzz Pro include contractors, designers, and other home service pros that use it in service of their homeowner clients.
The pro-centric approach makes this a B2B2B play. As we’ve examined in light of Streem, this is an opportune approach that brings AR to consumers through the professionals that serve them. It’s also an optimal go-to-market strategy in some cases, as these pros are more motivated adopters.
To expand on that last point, home service pros can use tools like AR to differentiate themselves. This can provide an edge in their own marketing and customer interactions, as well as breed operational efficiencies. For example, they can avoid downstream headaches, such as redoing work.
As for availability, the new bathroom visualization features join existing kitchen visualization tools already in Houzz Pro. They’ll be available to Houzz Pro subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to bathrooms, the latest additions include kitchen backsplashes and we expect more to come.
