There’s no denying that the pandemic transformed the way we buy things, accelerating the digital shopping experience in exciting new ways that would have otherwise taken years to develop. One of these is the explosion of virtual reality (VR) platforms, which let us experience the physical world by interacting with it on our screens.
One person who saw the potential of VR in the home shopping experience is Webb Poh, the founder of the BuiltShops platform. BuiltShops is a virtual shopping mall of sorts, with the ability to instantly step into any showroom space and browse its offers by selecting a store on the map. With this, you can visit several showrooms in the space of a single afternoon without even leaving your sofa.
This idea was so innovative, says Webb, that when he faced plenty of resistance from store owners when he first approached them. “To put BuiltShops together, we needed store owners to give permission for us to perform a 3D scan of their retail spaces. [Even] when we explained that it is a free service, we still encountered some resistance… It is a time consuming process,” he acknowledges.
However, the platform has overcome the initial hurdles and now boasts some 200 stores on its platform, including art galleries, smart home solution providers, and well-known names like Castlery and Grey & Sanders. We speak to Webb to find out more about his journey and what he thinks of VR shopping.
What inspired you to start BuiltShops?
I was driven to solve the pain points I observed homeowners go through when renovating their homes in my 15 years of being in the construction industry. There are many furniture shops in Singapore and each has its own wide range of furniture. On top of that, there are shops like utility shops, plumbing services and more that people may not be familiar with. It can be overwhelming for the average homeowner who is going through this for the first time.
I saw this as a problem and worked toward finding a solution for them, streamlining the entire shopping experience. That’s when we came up with BuiltShops – we present a map and almost instantaneously, homeowners can gain access to the retail spaces virtually, from the comfort of their home
What are some renovation problems that BuiltShops can solve?
Recently, there have been some people sharing renovation scam experiences, and some of these incidents involve first-time homeowners who are renovating their homes and have a lack of knowledge and experience navigating the market. BuiltShops solves this by curating reputable and trustworthy businesses on our platform.
The other problem we address is bringing smaller utility shops and other less-known renovation services and deals into the spotlight, connecting them with homeowners.
Can you tell us more about your collaboration with Singapore Furniture Industries Council? Any exciting new plans that you can share?
We are working with Singapore Furniture Industries to partner with more vendors who then come on board the platform. BuiltShops plans to further expand and regionalise its services beyond Singapore, to maybe Kuala Lumpur and India where a more IT-savvy audience is present. You’ll also see on our website that we’ve started introducing our services in the Philippines.
What role do you think VR will play in future big-ticket home purchases?
VR’s role in big-ticket home purchases is to streamline processes for customers. It saves time on travelling and can be easily incorporated into our shopping experience, especially in today’s digital-first world.
Do you plan on adding any other functions in future for the BuiltShops platform?
Yes, we plan to add more functions to allow end-users to filter and narrow down their options even further, making the shopping experience even more convenient for them.
For more information, please visit www.builtshops.com.