CGTrader Develops Augmented Reality Lens for Furniture Retailer Fatboy, Boosting Its Online Engagement

The AR-powered Lens campaign helped showcase products and drive customer interactions.

When iconic bean bag and furniture retailer Fatboy needed a new Snapchat Lens to reach their target customers where they are spending their time, its leadership team trusted CGTrader to lead the Lens creation process. As a world-leading 3D models and digital content provider, CGTrader leveraged Modelry, its full-scope custom 3D production platform, to develop a unique AR (augmented reality) Lens to promote Fatboy’s furniture and branding.

With a focus on improving brand awareness through the growth of its performance channels, Fatboy turned to Snapchat, a visual messaging app with which the company had seen some success. The new initiative, designed to promote Fatboy’s latest line of outdoor furniture, included developing a Snap Catalog-Powered Shopping Lens that Snapchatters could use as they shared pictures and videos with their friends on the platform.

After partnering with CGTrader to bring the project to life, Fatboy chief digital officer Tom De Vos moved quickly to get the proof of concept up and running to scale the company’s use of AR.

“AR is the future. Or it’s ‘now’ already,” said De Vos. “Especially for furniture, people feel reassured that they’re doing the right thing before purchasing a big-ticket item. AR is one way to show people what they can expect.”

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The decision to include an AR component in the interactive experience came from Fatboy’s leadership team, who is currently adding AR capabilities to the rest of the company’s product line. The integration of AR will further enhance the online customer experience, allowing users to visualize products in their space before committing to a purchase.

“The Lens was great this time. We even checked it with our product development and creative team, and they are always very critical,” said De Vos. “[It was] more expensive, but people engaged a lot more. Definitely more qualitative traffic.”

Fatboy chose the Headdemock Foldable Hammock as the featured product of the Snapchat AR Lens campaign. The product possessed high conversion potential due to its seasonal popularity, easily recognizable shape, and engaging color configurations. After publishing the Lens publicly, Fatboy achieved a significant boost in engagement through its Snapchat campaigns, which were over 3,000% more effective than traditional promotional efforts.

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“With over 250 million Snapchatters engaging with AR every day, we know that our community is hungry for more immersive and useful AR experiences,” said Snap Inc. group product marketing manager Skye Featherstone. “Bringing AR-powered product visualization capabilities for furniture brands like Fatboy allows us to deliver a unique and personal shopping experience for customers, allowing for memorable experiences that give them more confidence in their purchase and ultimately reduce returns.”

By improving the AR functionality of the official website and demonstrating the potential of 3D and AR experiences both there and on social media, Fatboy’s leadership team hopes to follow in line with other major retailers that have seen tremendous improvements in customer engagement.