Flat pack furniture titan Ikea is intending to allow a small group of customers access to its latest mobile app in an attempt to test the waters and see if any tweaks are required before a wider launch is pursued.

Internet Retailing reports that the cutting-edge service will be available in a handful of European locations in the near future, before it is rolled out elsewhere later in the year.

What makes the app especially impressive is that it marries the ability to carry out safe shopping online with the option to see virtual representations of the firm’s products overlaid on the real world via augmented reality technology.

AR is something which a number of retailers are experimenting with at the moment, and it certainly makes sense in the context which Ikea intends to use it. It can be difficult to envision how sofas, tables and other large items will look before they have been ordered, delivered and assembled, but this app should overcome such limitations and give shoppers a more accurate idea as to whether a given product is appropriate.

This is not just something that will benefit customers of Ikea: it should also make things easier for the firm itself. Using an AR-enabled app will mean that there should be less need for people to return items because they are dissatisfied with them, saving money and improving the sustainability of the business as a whole in the process.

Another of the retailers operating in the UK which has implemented AR in a mobile app already is Argos, although this has been comparatively limited in its usability and could do with being developed further if it is to successfully compete with Ikea’s new offering. As more brands jump on the AR app bandwagon, consumers should find far more ways to use the technology when they buy online or in-store.