With 61% of consumers saying they prefer retailers with AR experiences, you can't ignore it. Top 4 trends in AR

eCommerce is an ever-changing industry – every year, several new trends come up that can help your business grow and compete with your competitors – 2023 is going to be no different, with many moving with a goal of realising high, fast growth.

When it started, eCommerce was fairly limited in its capabilities. But not anymore. Whether it’s customisation, enhanced return policies, or improved integration, all of these changes (among countless others) have taken the world of eCommerce by storm.

Consumers simply aren’t comparing apples with apples anymore. Big brands like Amazon have set the standards for shipping, speed, user-friendliness, and variety that consumers expect every eCommerce experience to emulate. Modern consumers want free returns and shipping, a variety of payment methods, intuitive and responsive websites, and excellent customer service at all times. It’s hard to maintain and create the customer experience they want, especially for start-ups.

One of the biggest challenges of online shopping is that it doesn’t lend itself well to a full sensory product experience. In a brick-and-mortar environment, you can try on clothes, touch fabrics, or see for yourself just how big a couch looks in a room.?While those things aren’t technically possible in eCommerce, augmented reality applications offer a way to give customers deeper and more complete information about your products —?right from their own homes.

AR is a more sustainable and financially savvy way for emerging creatives to showcase their collections to buyers, consumers, journalists, and influencers. In addition, augmented reality can make competitions for young fashion designers more inclusive and accessible, eliminating geography and money limits. Such contests may even move to the Metaverse.

Augmented reality went mainstream with the explosion of Pokémon GO, and has since emerged as a major player in the B2B sales space, especially for forward-thinking companies willing to push new technological boundaries. This has helped propel a rapid evolution of AR/VR software technologies, which has already made an impact on our daily consumer activities.

Research shows that introducing AR increases customer satisfaction by 73%. Making products tangible increases users’ confidence and reduces returns. With online shopping, it is difficult for users to try on clothes. But adding AR to the mix can help users try on clothes virtually, thus making them more likely to shop for the products they would otherwise ignore.

Before AR, customers would return the products because the product failed to meet their expectations. But, with AR, customers can virtually try on the products while shopping online and get a feel of how they would look in real life. Lenskart is a prime example.

Using AR, your customers can preview products and be more likely to pick the right product the first time.

The top 4 ways businesses can use AR today

1. Virtual try-on solutions.“It looked great on the mannequin.”

Everybody, at least once, after trying a new clothing item on for the first time and realising it doesn’t suit you at all.?The fear of that very outcome can reduce conversion rates. Shoppers want to really know what they’re getting and take every precaution for it to be what they want. And if they do take the chance to buy and it doesn’t work out, your return rates will go up.?AR helps online shoppers understand what they’re buying and how the items will work for them. There are applications like this for clothing, makeup, accessories and even eyeglasses.

2. Preview placement.

What will that couch really look like in your living room? How big will that television screen appear on your wall? It can be difficult to tell even when you’re at the store looking at the physical item — never mind looking at it on a small computer or mobile screen.?Preview placement gives customers a real-time glimpse of what a product will look like when placed in their own environment. Apps can help customers visualise how their couches will fit in their living rooms, using ARKit to place true-to-scale 3D models of couches in photos taken on customers’ iPhones and iPads.

3. Interactive user manuals.

If you’re selling a product that has a learning curve before it becomes easy for new customers to use, an interactive user manual might be a great AR application for you to help users better understand how your product works.?An interactive user manual responds to user actions, providing on-page contextual support when using a piece of software, website, or application. Many AR user manual apps scan the product and indicate the buttons in the real-life environment using graphical arrows and animations with text.

4. Social media filters.

If you’ve used Instagram Stories or Snapchat lately, you may have used an AR filter. These filters were once used just for fun, but over the years there’s been a rise in the number of brands jumping on the AR bandwagon through social media filters. Here are some of the benefits:?It’s a great way to showcase a new product by enabling people to test out how it’ll look on them.?The novelty factor of AR filters can help boost audience engagement and encourage people to tag you in their content.?The “wow” factor can help you stand out from the crowd of brands on social media and showcase what makes you special.

Okay, so there are a lot of new things happening in eCommerce. Technology and people are always evolving, and since eCommerce brings it all together, we are always going to be looking toward the future. One thing is for sure, is that it's never too late to jump right in, learn something new, and evaluate if it's right for your business. For now, consumers are in the driver's seats and eCommerce businesses will be customising the journey ahead for them.

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