Shopware releases "Spatial Commerce", bringing 3D visualizations to the shopping experience

Schöppingen, Germany, January 22, 2024—Shopware, the leading global open-source ecommerce platform, today announced their new Spatial Commerce feature in their online shops. This new, extensive three-dimensional product presentation is a step into the future for online retailers and shoppers alike. 

The Shopware release took place on the same day that Apple launched the pre-sale of the "Vision Pro". Two visionary tech companies that are leaders in their fields have thus ushered in the age of "spatial computing".

The Spatial Commerce feature is an advanced form of e-commerce that allows online merchants to integrate 3D visuals as well as virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) into the shopping process and enable users to experience products in a three-dimensional space.

"The potential of Spatial Commerce is clearly crystallizing. On the one hand, it creates a much more comprehensive perception of companies and their products. At the same time, we expect significantly lower return rates and therefore significant, positive sustainability effects. Spatial Commerce also offers new differentiation opportunities for brands, far beyond price and product availability. In essence, it's about the crucial question of how retailers can make their e-commerce business more interesting, more attractive and more human," emphasized Shopware Co-CEO Stefan Hamann. 

Hamann also sees a sustainable trend for the coming years: “The overall market for spatial computing, which includes technologies such as AR and VR, is growing rapidly. Experts forecast an annual growth rate of over 19% until 2032.”

The following functions are now fully integrated in Shopware and available for immediate use:

• Support for 3D product images: 3D renderings can be uploaded in Shopware administration and used for display on the product detail page. In addition, users will also have the option of projecting the 3D image into reality using AR (e.g. via smartphone).

• Augmented reality features for mobile devices and QR code triggers: Users who visit a Shopware shop with activated spatial commerce functions via a mobile device are given the option of using the 3D renderings as a layer in combination with their camera. This allows products to be placed in the desired environment and enables 360-degree interaction. Retailers can also activate QR codes on the product detail pages in the desktop version of the online shop, encouraging users to scan them with their smartphone and view the products via AR.

• 3D renderings in Shopware “Shopping Experiences”: With this function, retailers can embed three-dimensional product renderings into Shopware experience worlds, thereby increasing the interaction rate time spent on their storefront.

The basic 3D feature set is made available to the developer community via the Shopware Community Edition so that third-party providers can also access the corresponding resources and use them to develop their own Shopware apps. 

Shopware is already working on their next three-dimensional feature called 3D Scene Editor. This will place objects in front of a suitable background, adjust light and shadow and turn a simple product display into an impressive experience designed to boost conversion in the shop.

Shopware will gradually integrate further 3D functions into its e-commerce platform. Information and background information on Spatial Commerce can be found at Shopware.com.