What a New Zealand Rug Store Should Ask Before Buying AR (Augmented Reality)

Picture a rug store owner in Auckland. She stocks handmade rugs, runners and modern designs in two shops and a website. She has heard that AR (Augmented Reality) cuts size returns, and she is ready to try it. Then she starts reading providers and every one of them sounds the same.

They are not the same. Here are five plain questions that separate a provider worth your money from one that costs you twice.

1. Who produces the views, and from what?

This is the question that decides the whole project. Some providers hand you software and expect you to supply the files that power the AR. A rug store holds product photos, not those files. Someone has to build every view, and that bill decides the real price.

Ask it in plain words: if I send you photos of my rugs, who turns them into the AR views? At ARQR360, our designing department does that work. You send photos and the real listed size of each rug. We produce true-to-size AR (Augmented Reality) views, host them, and hand you the links and QR codes.

2. What is the full cost in writing?

Ask every provider for the total first-year cost in one email: setup, view production, hosting, and anything you pay when you add new rugs later. A small monthly fee means nothing if every view costs extra.

ARQR360 publishes the full number: $249 one-time setup and $29 a month, with all AR (Augmented Reality) view production included. No product cap, no per-view fees, and no surprise bill when you add the next rug.

3. Does the shopper need an app?

If the customer must download an app to see your rug, most of them will not. People do not install apps to look at a rug. Browser AR opens from a link or a QR code in seconds. That is the version that actually gets used.

Test this on your own phone before you sign. Our live rug demo opens in the browser with no install. Show it to your staff and ask them: would a customer actually use this?

4. How do you prove true to size?

A rug view that is even slightly off teaches the customer the tool cannot be trusted. Ask the provider how they check each view against the real rug before it goes live.

At ARQR360, each view is built from your product photos matched to the rug's real listed dimensions, and you check it against the real rug yourself. The first test view is free, so you can verify the match with your own eyes before you spend anything.

5. Who looks after you after launch?

AR is not a one-day install. You will add rugs, change stock, and want every link to keep working. Ask who answers when something needs a fix, and whether that help costs extra.

We look after our stores after launch the same way we do before it. Follow-ups, custom packages when your catalogue needs them, and a team that keeps your AR (Augmented Reality) views live. That is part of the service, not an add-on.

One more number, and it is Shopify's own data, not ours: products with 3D or AR views convert about 94% better than products without. The mechanism is plain. Shoppers who can see the true size hesitate less.

For the cost side in detail, read the payback maths for a small rug store.

The cheapest way to run your own test

You do not have to believe an article. Send a photo of your bestselling rug and we will build you one true-to-size AR (Augmented Reality) view free. Put it against the real rug. Show it to your staff. If it does not win, you have spent nothing. Start with the live rug demo on your own phone. It opens in the browser, no install.