Shoppers demand AR in Retail Mobile Apps

As Augmented Reality (AR) is gaining prominence in almost all the industries; the retail market is all set to accept it. Retailers have an intense laser focus on providing high-quality and consistent brand experience to its customers. One-way engagement mechanisms like SMS, email, TV  is too mainstream; one-to-one communication is now more preferable.

Now AR applications are developing that convey rich, exceedingly intelligent, two-way encounters that outwardly draw in clients and stretch out products and services to fingertip access, both inside and outside the store. Key to AR applications is they are customized for cell phones.

According to a report, 70% of customers expect retailers to offer an AR experience at shopping stores whereas 61% of the shoppers prefer some AR functionality in comparison to the stores that do not provide at all.

From furniture to dress, from sneakers to beauty products, AR offers unlimited potential outcomes to connect with clients. Gap lets clients virtually try on clothes through its dressing app. BMW offers its I Visualizer application that gives clients a chance to plan a 3D, life-sized rendition of the BMW i3, i3s or i8.

See Also: Retail Analytics Solutions Companies

Six keys are mentioned wherein AR can be deployed for various purposes:

1. Technology: AR applications must associate with other key enterprise systems, and that requires a profound ability in a variety of mobile and cloud technologies. This incorporates basic hardware infrastructures and the combination into back office and core business forms; besides, the related programming to facilitate the services. AR applications likewise should be to a high degree flexible, in that they should have the capacity to suit various and diverse battles and have the ability to scale up or down as requests or campaigns demand. Look for technology vendors that have mastery in the above, or better, discover a partner who can give one-stop shop abilities to deal with most if not all AR integration challenges.

2. Flexibility: For multiple campaigns, an AR solution must be created that is flexible enough to cater to all demographics. While the youths will be able to engage with the AR apps, it will be difficult for older demographics as they will be intimidated by using newer technologies. Therefore to overcome this challenge, an audio/voice recognition application would enable the older demographic to place commands versus having only the ability to interact with the application.

3. Data Analysis by AR: Retailers have admitted that AR is a strong mechanism which leads to impulse purchasing. Reports have stated that 72% of AR users purchased stuff they didn't plan to buy. This is because AR provides 'try on', 'change colors' facility which means a customer spends more time on shop interacting with a vast variety.

4. Personalised: By customizing recommendations based on the user's preference, one can increase the rate of impulse purchases. By integrating AR and AI-driven experience, one can engage users with personalized campaigns.

5. Ubiquitous: The AR apps must develop virtual shelves or end caps on the websites to attract its customers. AR apps can also collaborate with the partner sites and digital marketing to create instant, new revenue channel thereby connecting with customers anytime, anywhere.

6. Content: Content remains the King. AR coupled with content creates a powerful combination that draws its customer's attention. This content can be secured with technologies like blockchain and many more.

Check out: Retail Tech Insights