Timing is everything, and sometimes it results in some really cool, article-inspiring moments like what’s about to unfold here. Over the past few days, I’ve seen a number of experiential and AI-based launches that were unique in their own rights. But looked at collectively, they raise a unique opportunity that I haven’t quite seen in the CI space.
Last week, we covered the launch of Cogent360’s virtual showroom platform for custom integrators. If you’re familiar with the Matterport technology and platform, it feels very similar to that but is specifically built for the CI channel. Really freaking cool.
Today, I was the recipient of a press release from a company outside the scope of the CI space—it happens … frequently—but whose experiential platform is one that offers a unique point of education.
ServeScape is a landscape architect/design outfit that operates in the Southeast, throughout Georgia. Their new tool—InstaScape—is an AI-based platform hosted right on their website that allows users to upload a photo of their backyard, select a preferred style, and receive design inspiration in a matter of seconds, complete with regionally appropriate plants and layout suggestions.
Some of the examples that the company shares show absolutely fascinating transformations.
From there, the company has themselves an extremely warm lead that they can follow up on and a starting point for the potential project.
This type of generative AI, to me, is both a great source of inspiration, but also a really fun thing to play around with. If you haven’t already, try taking a photo of a room in your house, your backyard, yourself, a pet—whatever subject you want—and upload it to your large language model platform of choice (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) and asking it to remake the image in a certain style. Or ask it to redecorate a space, paint the walls a different color, or any other prompt that you can think of. That’s effectively what this type of platform is attempting to accomplish but in a way that’s even more tailored to the business by hyper focusing the product, or plants in this case, to what they’re able to offer.
Call me crazy, but it feels like some combination of the two platforms would make for a killer experience for a potential custom integration client, no?
Whether they’re looking to transform a room into a home theater, add some security throughout their property, create a more appealing lighting environment, or maybe just dive deep into the home automation space—a platform like this would allow them to visualize these technologies in their home and learn about them, while already building credibility with the integrator as a trusted advisor.
The concept itself isn’t really new, per se. Advances in other AI and augmented reality platforms have allowed consumers to view what a particular product might look like in their home, or how an article of clothing or accessory might look on their person. Putting the power in the hands of the consumer to visualize what it is they’re looking for (or at) is, truthfully, a way to meet them where they are. And where they are, and have been for some time, is constantly browsing on their phone, passively shopping, ideating, and dreaming about a product or experience that they hope to have one day.
Why not assist them in building that perfect dream through this type of AI-powered platform?
AI Acceptance
If you know me, you know that I’m a big believer in the W. Edwards Deming quote, “Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” To that end, I wanted to find out how consumers and AI are getting along, related to the shopping experience.
Turns out, there’s plenty of solid data out there to support this notion that an AI-driven shopping experience is something consumers not only are comfortable with and expect, but that many actively seek out. In a furniture-industry based survey released earlier this year, two-thirds of survey respondents said they were somewhat or very interested in AI-powered shopping tools, while just 9 percent weren’t interested at all. In a broader consumer survey conducted last year, Bizrate Insights found that most consumers (56.5 percent) were iffy on the perceived impact of AI on the shopping experience, depending on how it’s used. Another 9 percent said they’d perceive the impact as positive, while 14 percent said they’d perceive it as worse—21 percent were indifferent.
Focusing in a little more closely on generative AI, which is the type of AI we’re talking about here, a survey from Capgemini released earlier this year, found that a majority of consumers (59 percent) were aware of the existence of Gen AI in the shopping experience and were either planning to, or already have used it.
Bottom line, consumers may feel and act somewhat tepid when using AI holistically today. But when it comes to the shopper journey and the many benefits of AI throughout it, they’re more open to it. And they’re only becoming more accepting of it as time moves on. Savvy integrators should as well.