How Augmented Reality Is Transforming Online Shopping

Augmented Reality (AR) is revolutionizing eCommerce through letting people see before they buy. Smartphones and AR glasses mean that digital product visualizations can be overlaid in real-world environments. This is altering how consumers shop, and growing the AR retail market.

Augmented Reality & The Customer Experience

AR bridges the gap between the digital and the physical. It is designed to enhance human experiences; the way we instinctively decide if we like something or not. But bringing that into the eCommerce sphere. 

AR is as close as you can come to being in a brick and mortar store, whilst being at home. Or rather, it’s as close as you can get to bringing the brick and mortar store into your own home.

Some of the ways AR can function are through:

• Projecting furniture into homes to see if it fits and suits

• Virtually trying on accessories and clothes

• Testing makeup without physically putting it on

• View home improvements before making them

These capabilities will reduce rates and increase purchase confidence. You can see why. Having that security before purchasing makes a lot of sense.

Use Cases For Augmented Reality

There are lots of different spheres within the eCommerce world where AR would be a great addition. Let’s take a look at some of them now.

Fashion Industry

The fashion eCommerce world is one of the most competitive and saturated marketplaces. People love to shop for clothes online. Visual fitting rooms are an AI capability that incorporates real-time body measurements and advanced fabric physics simulation to allow shoppers to see what clothes look like on their body.

This technology means that shoppers can see what the clothes will look like before they purchase them, which greatly reduces the need for returns. Shoppers can experiment with style combos and plan seasonal wardrobes easier than ever before.

Leading fashion brands have seen huge improvements in conversion rates since the implementation of AR changing rooms.

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Home Furnishing

AR has also made huge contributions to the furniture and home decor eCommerce industry. One of the main issues with home furnishings is knowing how the items are going to look in the house, and also how the sizing will fit.

AR removes these problems, and even further, room scanning technology even allows for multiple placement visualization. 

Other use cases within home furnishings are:

• Sophisticated lighting simulation

• Paint color visualization

• Comprehensive floor planning tools

Customers can virtually plan their home renovations, which leads to an increase in AOV and confident purchases. Through checking dimensions and stylings, guesswork is eliminated. Shoppers can be secure in the decisions they are making.

Beauty & Cosmetics

AR can also help shoppers within the beauty and cosmetics industry. The likelihood of buying new cosmetic purchases without testing them out first is low. Mostly, people like to stick to what they are familiar with.

So when it comes to cross-selling (which you want for your business), AR can help. This highly personalized solution allows shoppers the features such as:

• Advanced skin tone analysis

• Product shade matching

• Real-time filler effects

• Tutorial overlays

These provide practical application guidance and a realistic expectation of results. This has hugely helped the beauty industry, and it’s clear why.



Moving Forward

As we continue to move forwards into a world where there is even more AR dominating the eCommerce sphere, there are challenges to overcome. There is room for improvements with the solutions, and there are complex design integrations for existing eCommerce platforms.

Some challenges are:

• High development costs

• Limited device compatibility

• Accuracy of product rendering

• Privacy concerns

• Requirement of high-speed internet connectivity

However, with all of the benefits that AR brings, perhaps it is worth it anyway. The brands that have implemented it have already been seeing positive results.

Conclusion

It’s no coincidence that AR is growing at such a rapid pace. There are so many benefits to the application of this technology. Reducing returns, increasing AOV and boosting customer confidence are just a few of them. As we move forward, we can expect to see more and more AR on our online stores. Is it time for your store to get involved?