The new feature, launching on iOS, will enable customers to view a digital version of the LEGO Star Wars Kessel Run Millennium Falcon™, the LEGO Disney Princess Sleeping Beauty Fairytale Castle and the LEGO Ninjago® Movie™ Quake Mech, in addition to 30 other toy sets, all at the touch of a button.
By the end of July 2018, up to 100 LEGO top toys will be available to view in augmented reality (AR).
When customers select an AR view of a LEGO set from the Argos application, an animated version of the fully-made model will appear – built to scale – in the user’s home. For the first time, it will enable people to see the toys in action and view the scale of each model. Customers can also zoom into and around each set to see the minute details of each piece.
Sainsbury’s Group has a significant online capability with 60 per cent of Argos sales starting online and over 70 per cent of those are via mobile devices. The new AR feature has been built into the app to meet the demand of Argos customers who can find it difficult to gauge the size of toys when shopping digitally.
Matt Grabham, Digital Product Manager at Argos, said: “Argos has always looked at new ways to innovate and improve how our customers shop with us. As more and more of our customers – particularly busy parents – are shopping on-the-go using our mobile app and embracing advances in technology, using AR to showcase our products is a natural evolution.”
Nichola Cox, Retail Ecommerce Manager from the LEGO Group, said: We are incredibly excited to have partnered with Sainsbury’s Group to deliver this innovative, exciting, fun and immersing solution for Argos’s shoppers. Our augmented reality execution not only embraces Argos’s digital vision but helps inspire and develop the LEGO builders of tomorrow making it a formidable collaboration.”
Argos recently announced it has created 150 new technology roles in London and Milton Keynes to bolster its digital shopping operations. The roles span graduate to principal levels and will join the 300 people currently in Argos's tech division, which first launched in 2014.
Since Argos was acquired by Sainsburys Group in 2016, customers have been enjoying the benefits with more convenient and flexible ways to shop. To date, there are over 200 Argos stores in Sainsbury’s supermarkets which have been popular with shoppers. Customers are also now able to purchase Tu clothing through the Argos website.