Augmented Reality in Retail: Transforming Ecommerce and Beyond
Rakesh Gupta
Founder & CEO @ APPNWEB Technologies | Helping Businesses Scale with Custom IT Solutions | SaaS Products Expert
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In recent years, extended reality has paved its way into multiple industries, valued at over $29 billion . As digitally well-versed shoppers start to take over the marketplace, retailers are turning to emerging technologies like AR and VR to enrich the relationships between brands and customers. Audi in partnership with Zerolight, is now offering customers a real-time 3D configurator via the web that’ll allow them to augment their dream car and experience it in familiar surroundings.?
The potential of augmented reality in retail shines brighter than in other industries. More than 50 percent of consumers are interested in using AR when making purchasing decisions. In a highly competitive environment, augmented reality allows early adopters to present new experiences in the traditional market.?
All in all, many still consider augmented reality a novelty. The truth is, that AR has already proven its value and served several reasons to get acknowledged far more than a toy - especially for retailers.??
What is Augmented Reality in Retail and How Does it Work
Augmented reality is a technology that will enhance real-world experiences by adding real-time digital content to real-life objects.?
Whenever a user points their camera at an object, the built-in augmented reality software will use depth tracking to analyze the video stream, recognize the object and overlay digital content on top of it. AR lets retailers boost sales and minimize returns by providing new and powerful features to enhance customer experience.?
Surprising to many, augmented reality isn’t a new concept. It’s been around since 1968 and became a powerful lever for businesses in the mid-2000s following the mobile usage boom. An easy everyday use case of AR is try-before-buy applications in the market. Further, users can also zoom in and out, rotate, size up and down, and evaluate the texture.?
By bridging the physical and digital worlds, retailers are thoughtfully unlocking new ways and elevating customer experience when interacting with products.?
AR Adoption Challenges
As we explore this topic, it’s necessary to understand the vast gap in AR’s distribution across different sectors yet delivering promising transformative results. The implications of AR are profound, safe, efficient, and innovative that redefine operational processes. Yet even with these significant benefits, industries face challenges in adopting AR. AR technology adoption challenges can be broadly divided into five areas:
Businesses interested in AR implementation could incur varying costs depending on the technology and industry they are operating in. As a decision maker in the organization, you must decide whether to build an in-house app or use a third-party app builder. In-house app building requires the right talent and expertise in 3D modelers, knowledge of software tools, and coding ability. Despite consumer demand, AR can also be expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to implement.
How AR is a Powerful Retail Sales Channel??
By 2025, more than 70 percent of the global population using social and communication apps will be frequent with AR inventions. AR adoption will see growth in majorly four areas - shopping, media, gaming, and communication.??
According to Nielsen's global survey, consumers listed augmented and virtual reality as the top technologies they are looking forward to use in real life. Let’s have a quick view of what people are saying about AR -
Important AR Use Cases?
The three main use cases of AR loosely correspond to clients’ journeys from awareness to interest and consideration. The most useful examples of AR are in the entertainment, education, and product evaluation field. In fact, more and more industries are already implementing it in their value chain.?
Makeup Genius App by L’Oreal?
L’Oreal Paris is the first ever to let consumers make up their faces virtually. They can mix and match to create their desired look. Users can also use this virtual makeup on video calls. The brand advertises that its signature makeup faces can be seen on video calling platforms Instagram and Snapchat.?
IKEA AR
As a totally innovative brand, IKEA started offering customers the possibility of checking how the product would look in their homes without going to a physical shop. In 2017, they created the “IKEA Place” app. The app allows shoppers to use augmented reality through their smartphones to place pieces of furniture in their homes.?
Virtual Try On
Online glasses retailer, Warby Parker, has an augmented reality feature in their app to allow customers to try on glasses of different shapes, colors, and designs from the comfort of their homes. Similarly, an Indian multinational eyewear retail chain Lenskart is also offering ‘Lenskart 3D Try On’ for adults and kids to try eyewear.???
Nike Fit
In 2019, Nike launched the Nike Fit AR app. It’s designed to measure customers’ feet and suggest different shoe options. The user only has to point the camera toward their feet and it detects their shoe size. The advanced app helped Nike solidify its reputation as a global brand and a marketing pioneer.?
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Virtual Fitting Room
International brand Timberland is offering a virtual fitting room. Shoppers can effortlessly try on clothes from Timberland’s collection without having to take off a single item. Amazingly, the app will also make sure that the clothes always fit and adapt according to the movement.?
Benefits of AR in Retail
After analyzing augmented reality and looking at the number of big brands implementing it as part of their strategy. Using AR in your retail business is a valuable strategy to attract new customers to the point of sale. Therefore, we are going to list a few of the advantages of including AR in the value chain of any retailer.?
Customer Engagement and Experiential Retail?
As retailers shift toward in-person experiences many brands are leveraging augmented reality to create immersive shopping experiences to drive engagement, increase customer education, and further curiosity in the shoppers. For instance, on its first AR experience, Starbucks brought its clients on the journey of a coffee bean. Displays an animated version of newly roasted beans dropping into a cask with information about how a bean turns into the Starbucks coffee everyone loves.??
Improved Customer Insights
AR enhances customer insights by analyzing client’s interaction with products and their features. It highlights the unique selling points by studying how consumers interacted with the item. Business owners can then use this information to craft marketing strategies, design, and better customer experience. This ultimately improves client loyalty and sales.?
Contactless Experience
As ecommerce evolves and consumers are becoming more comfortable with online shopping, the market will witness a lift in contactless transactions. In many ways, AR can replace the need to interact physically and save users time, money, and effort.?
Shareable Content
Not only AR powered filters, displays, and applications are fun to interact with but also serve as a powerful organic marketing tool. Take beauty filters on Snapchat for instance, which allow users to swipe and take pictures in different makeup virtual looks. These photos can also be shared with friends then and there only.?
Enriched Brand Awareness
As aforementioned, filters and shareable content are important tools to drive revenue and spread the word about your brand name. With AR technology at their fingertips, shoppers can easily visualize how the product would look in their surroundings. This makes the shopping experience more enjoyable and engaging.?
Simplify Inventory Management
Managing inventory can take up a lot of time and effort. AR can offer solutions to streamline these processes. You can ensure product availability and smart resource allocation. Take the example of Walmart’s AR system. It empowers employees to quickly scan items and restock the inventory as needed.?
Reduced Returns
Cost efficiency is a major factor for any successful retail business. Returns can take a toll on your bottom line and even tarnish your brand reputation. AR technology gives users an overarching understanding of the product. It will eventually reduce the return rates by giving them a realistic 3D preview.??
Sales and Conversion Lifts
Whether through in-store visits, virtual try-on experiences, in-store displays, or augmented reality the aim is to increase conversion rates and bring a meaningful difference in your bottom line. AR helps reduce the customer journey and increases store conversions, driving your business to more sales and revenue.?
What’s Next
The world has yet to see the full potential of Augmented Reality, but one thing we can all agree on is that AR is already changing the way people shop on the web. To get the best experience for your business it’s better to implement easy-to-use solutions.?
The choice will mainly depend on your functionality requirements and feature complexity. Partner with APPNWEB to get a feature-rich AR shopping app. Our developers will find a way to load your mobile app solution with AR and create new opportunities for you.?
When looking to expand your brand name make sure the AR experience is not solely entertainment-driven but provides value and has some sort of utility. APPNWEB is a renowned AR solutions development company. We are determined to help startups and enterprises amplify their product value with innovative AR solutions. Our experts will merge deep technical know-how with creativity to offer high-end services.?
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