Apple and Ikea teaming up to revolutionise the furniture shopping experience with plans to launch to AR-based app.

The app, which will have a Swedish name and is expected to arrive later this year, will enable users to test how furniture will look in their home virtually before committing to a purchase. Initially, the app will house between 500 and 600 Ikea products, with more lines to bed added in the future.

“This will be the first augmented reality app that allows you to make reliable buying decisions,” Michael Valdsgaard, digital transformation manager at Inter Ikea Systems, told Swedish site Di Digital.

It is also Ikea’s hope that, in the future, the app can be used to purchase products through it – rather than just seeing how well the items fit.

“Its the ambition, but I cannot promise it works in the first version,” said Valdsgaard. “Ideally, you could place a sofa in your home using the app, and then click it in the shopping cart on the e-commerce site. But we have a tight deadline.”

Valsgaard also expressed that the app – and any other technological introductions – will be made to complement Ikea’s stores, not to replace them.

“The stores are our primary asset. We have almost 400 and we want to complement them in as many ways as possible through mobile, social media, AR, and third-party e-commerce. One thing will not replace another,” he said