Check out the new apps available for Canadian consumers to use at local retailers.
Ikea Canada recently released a new shopping app for iOS to complement their current catalog app. The app has the quirky and fun look and feel that Ikea always uses to great effect on the mobile app.
The start screen shows a number of offers. Touch them for more details, and then be directed to applicable product.
There is also a great product lookup sorted by area that is simple to navigate and very responsive. Products can be added to a shopping list that keeps individual prices and a cumulative total to plan your shopping trip.
My favourite aspect of the app is that when you touch an item you can see the availability of the item by location by selecting the store and even better, it tells you exactly where the item is located in store by aisle and location.
Given the size of the average Canadian Ikea store, this is a wonderful service to save time and walking! The app wisely reminds you of the time that you checked the inventory and has a refresh button right on the page. What a thoughtful idea.
The app provides all details on all sites, including a direct link to maps to allow users to enter their home address and get driving directions. The app also has some direct links to useful and important information such as catalogs and product recalls. All of the images and text are laid out in a manner very easy on the eyes in what one assumes to be a bid to make it easy to use while navigating the friendly Ikea maze.
While there is nothing here that is earth shattering, this is a well thought out and simple to use app that is appears easy to use in store.
Lowe’s Canada put out something a bit more creative last week. In partnership with LG and Red Piston, Lowe’s Canada released an iOS and Apple App to provide an augmented reality experience with a recently released advertisement.
Users who download the Lowes Virtual Experience app to their iOS or Android device can see and interact with a a 3 dimensional virtual refrigerator, washing machine, or dryer in real time on the display of their screen as an overlay of the camera view in their current environment.
Users place the ad (you can download a copy of the ad 
here) on a counter top with good lighting – preferably at waist height. With the app open, the greater part of the window displays the view from the camera. When the User points the camera at the flyer on the counter a 3 dimensional rendering of the product associated with the ad will be shown above the ad on the screen as an overlay to the camera view.
Users can tap on small blue icons to open the doors of the appliances. The doors are animated to open as though the unit is really sitting on the counter in your environment. Small green icons provide useful commentary on the benefits of the product. If users walk around the ad, or rotate it without blocking the image on the ad, all sides of the product can examined in excellent detail.
While the app only has a couple of products to examine for the present, it’s a very clever use of augmented reality. The app provides a big wow factor for those to whom I have shown it, and almost all feedback has been positive, saying what an interesting, novel and useful solution it is.
For those of you in Canada, be sure to download the app and the ad and give it a try. Let me know your thoughts on it!
