Exploring Applications of Augmented Reality in E-commerce
How cool will it be if you can find out how a product will look like without having it physically in front of you? Well, e-commerce in itself was a revolution. However, offline stores still managed to hold their ground. Now, as online shopping is gaining traction, e-commerce stores must replicate the in-store experience to keep consumers coming back for more. And they must do so with some flair and conviction to be able to offset the in-store losses.
Before diving deep into the various tech innovations for e-commerce, let us understand the driving factors. 2020 Gartner Consumer Values and Lifestyle Survey suggests that more than 75% of people are critical of socializing the pre-pandemic way. 2020 pushed the world to the brink and forced a reset button to the way we did things. Social distancing, masks, and other preventive measures became the new routine. Although vaccines are now getting rolled out with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the respective firms, there is still a long way to go before we finally eradicate the virus.
Human cognizance has become more valuable during the pandemic as people hold the key to their safety themselves. Since the cloud of uncertainty has made us rethink survival, the e-commerce industry acted like a savior for consumers by fulfilling their orders. However, we must not forget that even before the pandemic struck, the e-commerce businesses had a fancy growth rate. The reason being the consumer relevancy they offered with the use of advanced analytics tools and data mining. Personalization became a go-to approach for retailers selling online goods as they looked to win customer loyalty. It would be an understatement to say that e-commerce did find some of the most loyal customers through personalized recommendations, messages, and experiences.
We all know how poorly crowded the retail stores were when the viral transmission was in its early stages. People stockpiling daily-use products as if there were no tomorrow. However, somehow we managed to live through that period. Behind all this, the e-commerce industry was slowly gearing up to become a frontrunner in the new normal. The influx of new customers who never shopped online gifted the e-commerce sector with new opportunities to achieve. The new-age shoppers such as Millenials and Gen-Z have been advocating the use of e-commerce for shopping. Their frequent interactions with tech innovations fueled their shift towards the online mode of shopping.
Today’s generation is more into social media channels such as Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok, where they consume some of the most advanced tech innovations. Augmented reality powers the much-used filters that become a trend and keep users hooked to them. The proliferation of augmented reality into human lives can act as a launchpad for e-commerce businesses to transform online shopping.
Exploring AR Applications In E-commerce
Before mentioning the immense possibilities that reality technologies can open up for the e-commerce industry, we already have few leaders in the segment. IKEA, the industry leader in Furniture Retail, is already delivering AR experiences through its mobile application to customers. Taking a cue from IKEA’s approach, I have put together some of the best possible applications of augmented reality in e-commerce.
Visualization
Before investing their money, customers can get the opportunity to visualize their purchase. Augmented reality can help buyers visualize their purchase to make a better decision about their choices. Also, it will enable online retailers to deliver a shopping experience similar to in-store.
Enhanced Shopping Experience
The trial method is quite popular in offline retail. With AR, e-commerce businesses can enable try-before-you-buy where customers can select from a gamut of products by actually trying them. Sephora is already using AR to deliver this experience. Sephora’s Virtual Artist app allows female shoppers to try different makeup looks. Women can take a picture in their preferred outfit and find the matching shade of lip colors, eyelash thickness, eyeshadow, and cheek colors. Cool, isn’t it? Besides, they also get video tutorials to keep things right.
Personalization
E-commerce businesses can use augmented reality to personalize the shopping experiences of customers. We all see models showcasing outfits or products in recommendations. Well, AR can take the game of personalization a notch higher by allowing customers to place themselves in those outfits or products and analyze. An increased level of personalization is likely to be seen that will boost conversion rates.
Wrapping Up
Augmented reality technology and E-commerce can together introduce an enhanced level of innovations that will revolutionize online shopping. In the age of physical distancing, consumer trend shows the inclination towards the digital platforms. The pandemic crippled the world economy, forcing the permanent closure of many businesses. The retail sector faced huge losses due to the lockdown in the early and mid-2020 to contain the virus. Parallelly, people turned to the online form of shopping to meet their demands. Also, the pre-COVID times are far from reality at the moment due to a new strain wreaking havoc.
Amidst all the chaos, businesses continue to transform, adapt, and survive. With technology being a helping hand, we will witness some out-of-the-box ideas and solutions.
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