The world around us is changing at a speed never seen before. Societies, cultures, and markets evolve according to new innovations and trends. Businesses need to keep up with the changing needs and do that sustainably.
Viessmann is a company aiming for sustainable growth for generations to come. It is Europe's leading supplier of commercial refrigeration and other solutions for more sustainable ways of doing. The company now presents parts of its offering in an extended reality experience.
The Viessmann online showroom showcases the company's refrigeration solutions in three areas - convenience store, supermarket, and restaurant - as well as cleanroom solutions in a hospital environment. The Viessmann XR world also features a company house, offering insight into the company's values and background as a family business.
Supporting sales with WebXR
The XR showroom was created to support Viessmann's sales team. Showcasing large products and complicated solutions in person consumes lots of time, money, and effort - and the environment. Transforming the offering online saves resources, and immersive technologies enable the clients to still understand the equipment's spatial aspect.
While the main reason for creating the online showroom was the pandemic, lockdowns, and restrictions on travelling and meeting face-to-face, it has also offered other benefits. Viessmann's clientele is located all around Europe, and to fly people from one corner of the continent to another to see a couple of fixtures takes lots of resources. An online showroom is beneficial to all - it makes showcasing products more efficient and helps build sustainable ways of doing.
The Viessmann online showroom utilizes WebXR technology. It takes on the device's browser to run the content and makes it more accessible and easier to share.
An online brand space is more than just a showroom
It was important for Viessmann to communicate the same welcoming feeling through the online showroom as they do face-to-face. Viessmann wanted something other than just an empty, cold fair booth.
"It was clear already during consideration state that Arilyn was the one that understood our brand. They had done their research of what our culture and brand message is. We felt confident that together with Arilyn, we would create something amazing," said Milli Heiniemi, the Marketing Manager of West Europe at Viessmann Refrigeration Solutions.
Very soon after launching, Viessmann noticed that the showroom worked amazingly in other areas than sales as well.
"New employees can now go through the introduction to our company more quickly and get a more wholesome picture of what we do in a shorter time. What we originally thought would be a tool for sales has also made internal communication more efficient," Heiniemi describes.
Online spaces are the future of showcasing
Heiniemi and Viessmann's Digital And Content Marketing Manager, Hanna Buddas, see great potential in the future of online showrooms.
"Businesswise, the possibilities are vast. Our products are large, and our salespeople can't carry them along when meeting with clients. The online showroom enables them to demonstrate the solutions easily. It really is an entirely different tool from brochures and website catalogues."
An online brand space could also work as an extension of a physical fair booth. It would allow the people going to fairs to have more to show with less effort.
"Building a fair booth is a lot of work, especially when your products are as large as ours. A reasonable cycle to showcase at a fair is once in three years. The online showroom makes our salespeople's life so much easier," Heiniemi and Buddas state.
