The unique opportunity for footwear brands

A unique opportunity has opened, placing the footwear industry ahead of other product categories in fashion – leveraging 3D/AR to elevate the online customer experience. This week's newsletter delves deeper into this claim, while exploring a new insight that it's no longer a question if the technology works, but rather how it is implemented.

In comparison to other product categories within fashion, footwear brands are now uniquely positioned to use 3D/AR technology, reducing returns and improving overall business results. This opportunity arises from our groundbreaking service providing access to affordable and scalable 3D models for the purpose of elevating any brand's online customer experience.

Even though we make the service available, this story isn't about us. The heroes in this story are all footwear brands out there integrating this service into their platforms. The winners are their customers getting a smarter and more immersive customer experience.

At MICAM Milano in September 2023, we demonstrated our scalable capability to produce high-quality, photorealistic 3D models while delivering 3D/AR experiences to each of those models – for over 100 footwear brands during the fair. That's cool, but what's even more thrilling is that today, many of the brands joining The Micam 3D Challenge, have integrated 3D/AR on their e-commerce platforms.

Since then, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, and it is no longer a question if the technology works but rather how it should be used and implemented. Michael Slagman, 3D expert and Head of E-commerce at the Dutch shoe brand Nubikk, argues the same in this webinar.

? ? - Scalable 3D model production is very much a 'holy grail' for making immersive commerce a reality. We have achieved scalable production with consistent and high-quality 3D models that work seamlessly on any device by inventing our own 3D pipeline process, explains Joakim Tennfors, Head of Production, while adding there is no holy grail or one-stop-solution. Read an in-depth article about the topic here.

Returns are commonly known as a major challenge for the fashion industry. While brick-and-mortar stores typically have a 1% return rate, e-commerce rates range from 20 to 50 times higher. Footwear, as a category, is no exception to this trend. Industry experts argue that the main reason for returns is the lack of a sufficient customer experience online. 3D/AR addresses this issue by mimicking the offline experience. Data is showing the way, with skyrocketing conversion and engagement rates, and decreasing return rates, as seen in the success case of London-based brand Zach Footwear.

Additional benefits reported by brands currently using 3D/AR include production efficiency and flexibility in their content production, leading to major cost savings for their in-house production teams. 3D/AR is also used effectively in marketing efforts and product launches, which for instance is the case with American footwear brand Atoms launch of their Marquees Brownlee co-design shoe 251.1.

? ? - The cost, quality, and time required to capitalize on the opportunity of using 3D and AR in ecommerce have previously deterred most brands from investing in this area. But no more! We are fundamentally changing the game for footwear brands by introducing an affordable, accessible and easy-to-buy service, explains Henrik Arlestig, CEO and co-founder.

Footwear brands can have 50 shoes, each with an aligned 3D experience, live on their e-commerce platform in 3 weeks at a subscription cost of €1,000/month. No other product category within the fashion industry has this type of service available, due to the simple fact that it has not previously been technically or commercially possible.

This presents an opportunity for footwear brands to be the heroes in their own right, leveraging 3D and AR technology to fight returns, enhance business outcomes and make their fans the ultimate winners of this technology adoption.

Curious to learn more? Get inspired and learn how to go live with 3D/AR for your e-commerce in 3 simple steps here.

And don't miss the upcoming episode of our webinar series, Elevating Customer Experience, Wednesday, February 28, 09:00 AM CET.

It's a golden nugget!