Today there are two main ways of shopping; on a website or in a physical store, and each of them comes with its own benefits and downsides. A prototype for a store in virtual reality (VR) was created to take advantage of the unique aspects of VR, it created a shopping experience that is an improvement over web stores and has some advantages over physical stores too. According to studies done regarding visual search, 3D information such as stereoscopy can make visual search easier. This is something that was taken advantage of when creating the prototype for this work, by implementing a unique navigation and product search system. The furniture are displayed in virtual miniature showrooms, which the user can transport themselves into. By selecting a piece of furniture, alternative furniture are displayed in a grid, which can be selected to swap out the previously selected piece of furniture. This means that the user can inspect each piece of furniture in a realistic setting and scale. The grid also can be used to visualize information depending on two parameters. By taking advantage of the third dimension in VR, the value based on these parameters is visualized by the placement in height of each piece of furniture. The testing compared this VR prototype to the IKEA web store, by having the test subjects do three tasks in both mediums. Data was collected by using a questionnaire and a SAM scale. The VR store had a significantly higher valence compared to the web store, and most test subjects responded that it was likely that they would consider using a VR store over a web store. From this, it can be concluded that the VR store had an enhanced user experience compared to the web store. It was not possible to draw any conclusions regarding visual search when comparing the VR store and the web store, because the results were not conclusive enough. The test subjects found it easier to make decisions in the VR store, especially when using two parameters. This work has shown that a VR store can be created which is preferable to a web store in many ways. It can be more fun and engaging, and enable things that are only possible in VR, like sorting in three dimensions. It can also successfully incorporate some of the best qualities of retail stores, like the physical inspection of products.

Syftet med denna forskning är att få en bättre förståelse för de faktorer som påverkar konsumenternas beslutsfattande vid köp av möbler och hur Omni - kanaler och teknologiska innovationer kan bidra till möbelindustrin och hur det påverkar de olika marknadsföringskanalerna och hur det i slutändan kan förändra upplevelsen för kunden. Den teori som har använts i denna studie omfattar områdena Omni  kanaler, marknadsföring och detaljhandel, allmän detaljhandel och dess kundupplevelse , beslut och konsumentbeteende vid köp av möbler, hur sociala medier påverkar marknadsföringen och teknologiska innovationer inom möbelindustrin. För att förstå hur omni-kanaler och teknologiska innovationer kan ändra kundupplevelsen och marknadsföringskanalerna för möbler, har tre semistrukturerade intervjuer och en undersökning gjorts. Resultatet av denna forskning kommer fram till att ha en teknikbaserad innovation som t.ex. InsideMaps gör köpupplevelsen mer fördelaktigt för både hedoniska och utilitaristiska konsumenter samt skiftar marknadsföringskanalerna åt mer direkt försäljning över Internet . Med hjälp av Internet, kan tillverkaren / återförsäljaren utvidga sitt varumärke till fler människor . Detta beror på det faktum att det blir lättare för kunderna att köpa möbler då de kan visualisera de möbler de köper innan och hur de skulle se ut i sitt eget hem . Men för att detta ska fungera på ett bra sätt är det viktigt att användarupplevelsen är bra. Genom att använda en teknikbaserad innovation kommer även leda till att en tillverkares - återförsäljares Omni - kanal och marknadsföring blir starkare, eftersom sådana innovationer stärker och ger en konkurrensfördel gentemot andra tillverkare - återförsäljare. / The objective of this research is to gain a better understanding of the factors involved in consumer decision making for buying home furniture and how Omni-channel retailing and technology-based innovation can help this industry to enhance its marketing channels and how it ultimately change the retail experience for the customer. The theoretical framework that has been used in this study covers the areas of Omni-channel marketing and retailing, general retailing customer experience, decision and consumer behaviors in retail furniture settings, how social media influences marketing and technology-based innovations within the furniture industry. In order to understand how the retail experience and the marketing channels of furniture shopping change through Omni-channel retailing and the use of technology-based innovations, three semi-structured interviews and a survey were done. The results of this research concludes that having a technology-based innovation such as InsideMaps will make the shopping experience more beneficial for both hedonic and utilitarian shoppers as well as shifting the marketing channels to more direct selling over the Internet. With the help of Internet, producers/retailers can extend their brand to more people. This is due to the fact that it will be easier for customers to buy furniture as they can visualize the furniture they are buying and how they would look like in their own home. However, for this to work it is important that the user experience is good. By using a technology-based innovation will also make a producers-retailers Omnichannel marketing stronger, as such innovation strengthen and gives a competitive advantage over other producers-retailers that uses Omni-channel marketing.