The future of the virtual décor centre experience

Do the names “The Interactive Abode” and “Mii Casa” ring a bell? Both are companies that essentially provide builders and homebuyers with a virtual décor centre. Well, it was recently announced that Mii Casa acquired The Interactive Abode, and now they aim to provide a virtual décor centre experience.

The Interactive Abode mostly focused on the visual aspect of the process, giving homebuyers the opportunity to pick features and finishes and then have a digital copy that they could show their friends and family via social media. Mii Casa took it one step further, giving homebuyers the opportunity to actually select and pay for their features and finishes, replicating the online shopping experience.

Now that Mii Casa has acquired The Interactive Abode, we will probably start to see more builders and developers using their service. We actually had an opportunity to chat with the Mii Casa team, including CEO, Co-founder Scott Barker, COO, Co-founder Jenna Siciliano, and COO, Co-founder Kara Smith about the future of selecting new home finishes.

Via Mii Casa

Newinhomes(NIH): Now that Mii Casa has acquired The Interactive Abode, what is the primary goal of the company?

Mii Casa (MC): With our product integration complete, our primary goal is to grow the business. We provide a truly unique product in the industry and we have garnered a lot of attention and interest, which is creating a positive energy and buzz here in Toronto and abroad.

Our Virtual Sales Centre & Virtual Décor Centre solutions provide developers and builders with industry-leading visualization technologies and virtual selection tools that simplify the sales & décor selection process for both homebuyers and developers/builders. We have transformed a normally manual and stressful process into an interactive and user-friendly one that builds more profitable and trusting relationships between developers/builders and their clients.

NIH: Which builders and developers are you already working with? What has been their response to your service?

MC: Despite our early beginnings, we have already completed projects with or are currently doing projects with Daniels, Mattamy, Branthaven, and Momentum Developments. As the word is spreading, we are meeting with many more developers and builders and have received very positive feedback. We know the industry was in need of our products and services, and the response we’ve received has proven that. Today we are focusing on building more relationships with developers/builders in Canada as well as the United States.

NIH: Why should homebuyers be excited about Mii Casa? How do they benefit compared to buying with a builder without Mii Casa?

MC: Homebuyers have a lot to be excited about! For the first time, they will not only get to pick their finishes in the comfort of their home (or anywhere), but also be able to virtually see their selections come to life in real-time with our Virtual Decorator tool! We took the modern online shopping experience and applied it to the housing market. Just like you can design and purchase a new car online, we recognized homebuyers also wanted to have this same empowered buying experience online when making the biggest purchase of their lives.

Our services take the guesswork out of the design process. No longer, does a homebuyer have to ponder “I wonder what this will look like together?” Being able to see what their selections will look like together from the comfort of their home without sales and time pressures result in happy buyers. Happy buyers are willing to invest more in their colour selections and finishes because they are confident in what the end result will look like. This provides a nice return on investment for developers who opt to provide this new technology to their clients. It’s a win-win for everyone!

Via Mii Casa

NIH: Does Mii Casa offer the expertise of an interior designer or decorator?

MC: Typically builders have an in-house design team, or outsource this to a third-party design firm who select the finishes that are offered. Currently providing this service is not a focus for Mii Casa, but in the future the data we will have on what selections are most popular could influence the products the design teams select for future builds. Today, we work closely with the design teams to ensure we create the highest quality renderings of the available product and design layouts being offered.

NIH: Do you find that buyers using Mii Casa still go to décor centres? Can Mii Casa eventually replace décor centres all together?

MC: Our findings to-date show that about 12% of homebuyers didn't go into the décor centre and made their final selections entirely online. As the product evolves, we expect this number to go up. Property investors particularly benefit from our services because they can easily make selections from anywhere. Our software has shown to reduce the time spent meeting with clients by 50%, but it is too early to say if we’ll ever entirely replace a physical sales centre.  

NIH: When will virtual reality be offered by Mii Casa? Do you believe that VR will eventually be able to replace model suites?

MC: As an industry leader, our team has already created a beta virtual reality software solution utilizing the Oculus Rift technology. Although the product is still in development, we hope to launch it later this year. Right now our focus is on the launch of our Virtual Décor Centre and Virtual Sales Centre.

As VR technology becomes more available, we absolutely believe it will replace the need for multiple model suites. It's quite costly for a builder to create multiple model suites. If they can build just one and virtually create the others by being able to mix and match finishes virtually in real time, then builders will use the technology to reduce overhead costs.

NIH: What is your prediction for the future of sales/presentation centres? Will there still be brick and mortar locations or will they be completely virtual/online?

MC: We are already seeing this happen today. We have been in conversation with several builders discussing how they are able to create smaller presentation centres by focusing on virtual sales technology and interactive touchscreens. As the industry evolves and adopts the new technology, more sales and decor selections will be available online resulting in smaller and smaller presentation centres.

A big thanks goes out to the Mii Casa team for discussing their service and the future of the the homebuying process. We can’t wait until we have an opportunity to test out Mii Casa!