Harvey Norman invites you to shop for anything your home needs in their massive virtual store

Over the last 18 months, businesses across the retail industry needed to find new and creative ways to engage with customers virtually rather than onsite. Daly Productions faced this challenge head-on by using Matterport to help leading retailer, Harvey Norman, showcase their offerings through 3D experiences. They can now have a way to engage customers without geographical constraints while using the technology as a powerful interactive marketing tool. 

The Harvey Norman team opened the doors of their newest location in Galway, Ireland, to Daly Productions to capture their massive showroom. Spanning thousands of square feet, the retailer offers a wide array of furniture, bedding, electrical, and computers in 17 stores across Ireland and 290 stores worldwide. With a digital twin of this new store, Harvey Norman’s customers can now virtually browse and shop online as if they were there. Within the digital twin, shoppers can interact with Mattertags to find product information or purchase directly from their eCommerce store. 

We caught up with Mairead Daly, owner of Daly Productions, to learn how her team is using Matterport to help Harvey Norman bring this virtual store experience to customers throughout Ireland.

Q: What inspired the 3D capture of the Harvey Norman Gallery? 

The pandemic provided challenges and opportunities. Business in the hospitality industry slowed down, but opportunities arose in the commercial property and retail industries. Harvey Norman recently opened a large store in Galway, and we were keen to showcase the latest range of Irish-made furniture and bedding, as well as their huge kitchen displays, Games Hub, and in-store restaurant, Synge and Byrne. 

Q: What are the “must-sees” you want visitors to explore and why? 

Some must-sees are the latest technology in smartphones, desktops, TV, and audio. But if I was furnishing my home, I would purchase everything from this store. The furniture, bedding, and homeware are stunning. They have absolutely everything you need and it’s beautifully displayed. 

Q: What’s the one thing you want visitors to take away after exploring your 3D tour? 

I’d like visitors to enjoy the beautiful displays and come away thinking that they had just visited the store in person. Now that the store is fully open, they can then choose to visit the physical store armed with more product information, or they can purchase online by clicking on the Mattertags. 

Q: Do you have any plans to capture more 3D experiences? 

Harvey Norman has 17 stores throughout Ireland. Due to the success of this 3D experience, I am delighted to be planning the capture of all of these stores. 

Although the 3D experience was initially captured to help visitors safely explore their beautiful store, Harvey Norman has realized additional ways to leverage the Matterport digital twin such as efficient store design, standardization across stores, multi-site rollouts, merchandise visualization, employee training, and more.

They are a professional, progressive company and a joy to work with.