Unless you’ve been living under a rock or hibernating, you have probably heard of AR (Augmented Reality). For all those who have been in hibernation, you would have probably seen some examples of AR predictions for real life inside futuristic sci-fi movies such as Iron Man, Minority Report and Avatar.
If the Augmented Reality concept still feels somewhat of an alien concept to you, I think we can all agree that COVID-19 has proven to all of us that anything is possible, and this article will show you how AR has taken a giant leap into the world of eCommerce.
Minority Report is a great movie and the AR is pretty cool, but how can it be implemented into the retail industry?
Ever had questions during the online shopping process like, how big is it? I just don’t know if it suits my living room? Will these look good on me? Today, you can use AR to try out everything, from makeup, hats, shoes to visualising what furniture will look like in a buyers own home. Put simply, AR can increase buyers confidence by helping to showcase a truer sense of the size, scale and detail of the product. It’s a big shift in the way brands and retailers are engaging with their customers to help them make more comfortable and confident decisions. Let’s have a look at some real-world examples.
Ikea Place
IKEA Place, lets you test out anything from their catalogue in your own space. From chairs and beds, to lamps and tables, the entire collection of products are 3D and apparently 98% accurate, which lets the customer ensure that it is just the right size, design and suits the room. The app is extremely user friendly, simply browse the catalog, select an item, hold your device and see how the product will look in your space. Makes decision-making a hell of a lot easier, right?
Cover Girl Magic Mirror
Cover Girl created something they call a ‘reality magic mirror’, placed in-store, the magic mirror looks like a LED screen with a camera attached to the top of it. When the shopper walks up to it, it directs them to pick up a physical lipstick product from the vast collection that surrounds the mirror and instantaneously they will see what that product will look like when applied to his/her face.
Once they are happy with their selection, the shopper can complete their look with supplemental makeup products, take a photo and get a personalised product recommendation summary via email or for purchase in-store. Cover Girl ultimately created a fun, engaging and accurate way for consumers to try new products to establish confidence and inspire purchase, which resulted in a massive 40% increase in sales and engaged 25% of shoppers who entered the store.
Statistics
According to Statista, the Augmented Reality market size was valued at $3.5 billion in 2017. That may sound like a lot, but it’s peanuts compared to the latest projections, which suggest the market will grow to a mind-boggling $61.4 billion in 2023.
71% of consumers said that they’d be more likely to buy from a retailer that provided AR experiences. Unfortunately, only 15% of retailers currently put AR to use. A further 32% of retailers stated they plan to deploy virtual or augmented reality applications over the next three years.
In a survey of 200 startup founders and company executives, Perkins Coie found that 39% felt strongly optimistic about the growth of AR and believe it has the potential to become as widely used as smartphones and other mobile devices.
Enter Shopify AR
In March, Shopify introduced Shopify AR, and now has the capabilities to bring products to life in front of your customers through 3D models. Someone who is browsing your store from a mobile device can view 3D product models from the product page and use the device's camera and screen to show the product in their environment. Using the 3D model, the customer is able to size the product up, examine it from all angles, and even place it in the environment around them, increasing buying confidence, leading to a better customer experience and ultimately more sales.
The process of getting a 3D model created is relatively simple, all you need is 3 - 5 photos of your product from different angles, send them over to us and watch your product come to life.
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