As the Coronavirus-led nationwide lockdown has shut down many businesses, companies are now trying to invest their resources to improve hygiene and enable contact-free shopping experience with the use of technology. WoodenStreet is one such company that is investing almost Rs 3.8 crores (~$500,000) on improving its stores across the nation, enable contact-free shopping using VR and 3D services and sanitising the supply chain.
Launched back in 2015, WoodenStreet is Jaipur-based startup selling furniture online. It started opening its “experience stores” from 2016 and now has 12 stores across the nation.
Now, recent reports suggest that to maintain hygiene in a post-COVID-19 world, the startup is investing almost half a million dollars to improve the stores and enable shopping or browsing without physical contact. So, one of the fields in which the startup is investing its resources is virtual reality (VR). This will enable its customers to experience VR walkthroughs of their homes with the furniture in their preferred places by using a smartphone from the comfort of their couches.
Co-Founder and CEO, Lokendra Ranawat said, “Implementation of virtual store tools and VR modules will reduce person-to-person interaction. Customers can experience virtual store walkthroughs or products from within their homes.”
Apart from the investment in VR and 3D services, the company also aims to improve the hygiene of its supply chains and thoroughly sanitise all the stores in India.
Although all of the company’s stores are shut due to the nationwide lockdown, however, as the COVID cases are stabilising, the company is planning open some of the stores in the safe zones of the country with 25-30% staff. When the stores open, no employee or customers would be allowed without a mask and the company will allow only 2 families in the store at a time. These measures are taken to comply with social distancing and of course, prevent the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.
