Key Takeaways:
- AR technology for retail is expanding all the time
- It is essential for personalization and customization
- Expert partnership is key for maximizing the potential of AR
- A bespoke approach generates the best innovation
Transform Your Retail Experience with Advanced AR Solutions
Augmented reality and connected technologies like virtual reality are becoming more mainstream, as trends and predictions for AR/VR continue to evolve. The value of the global market is expected to reach $80 million by 2025, as the capabilities of blending virtual and physical continue to expand.
According to HBR, customers who use AR on retail apps spend 20% more time on the apps, view 28% more products, and are 19% more likely to make a purchase - so now is the time to make the most of the opportunity in the retail sector. This blog explores the areas of retail operations where AR is having the biggest impact.
The Power of AR in Retail
From our extensive experience in supporting retailers with their AR implementations, we’ve found that it makes the biggest difference in these four areas:
Visualize Products in Context
AR is proving extremely useful for online shoppers who want to understand how their purchases will look in real-world environments. For example, they can explore how furniture will look in its intended place in a particular room - and play around with different sizes, colors and locations to find something they like.
This takes a lot of the guesswork and assumption out of buyers’ thought processes, and therefore removes much of the doubt around whether a purchase will be the right one for them. Giving them this confidence can therefore make a huge difference to conversion rates.
Interactive Try-Ons
The same principle mentioned above can also be applied to the world of clothing and fashion. AR has enabled virtual try-on services for brands including Nike, Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger, where different items are overlaid on the buyer’s body, so that they can assess whether they’re happy with the look. This AR technology has also been applied in the beauty industry, where shoppers can sample different products and makeup shades virtually on digital images of their face. This can also extend to sunglasses, watches and jewelry.
The use of this AR functionality doesn’t have to be limited to headsets or smartphones, either: smart mirrors can enable a similar experience for physical store shoppers.
Interactive Customer Experiences
AR is full of potential to make customer experiences more personalized, interactive and immersive than ever before.
For example, Bloomingdale’s has used web-based AR to develop interactive catalogs for its 150th Anniversary Collection. The catalogs were sent to more than 400,000 customers, who could scan certain items and interact with AR images to see how those products would suit them in a real-world environment. According to AdWeek, the catalog helped improve customer engagement rates by 38% and conversion rates by 22%.
This demonstrates how AR experiences can facilitate much stronger marketing campaigns that resonate with customers. Furthermore, it can support the development of long-term customer loyalty which is increasingly hard to foster in the global online marketplace.
Personalized Shopping Journeys
Research from PYMNTS Intelligence has found that 83% of US consumers are interested in personalized offers, which underlines the importance of retailers catering to individual preferences.
AR can support this by providing real-time customization through the buying journey, such as connecting customers to offers they are most likely to be interested in as they walk around a store. Combined with the power of AI-driven virtual assistants, AR forms part of a ‘smart’ customer journey where customers get personalized information and assistance from beginning to end.
Explore AR and retail in more detail in this blog: Transforming Retail: Harnessing the Power of Augmented Reality
Success Stories: Ciklum’s Impact Across Industries
At Ciklum, we keep ourselves on the pulse of AR innovation that is advancing and evolving all the time, in the retail sector and beyond. Successful implementations we’ve supported include (and are by no means limited to):
- A leading university in India that worked with us to create an AR-based application that simplifies complex scientific concepts, through virtual features, animations and 3D virtual experiences. These enabled deeper engagement, easier comprehension, and contributed to a 65% increase in academic progress.
- An interactive entertainment and gaming company developed VR-based shooting and archery games with Ciklum’s help, to drive player acquisition through immersive multiplayer experiences. With high-resolution graphics, realistic physics and a range of personalization features, the company was able to grow its registered player base by 60%.
- An AI-powered healthcare solution provider deployed a VR application based on Meta Quest 3 to train care professionals in virtual environment scenarios. Being able to help them adapt to real-world situations like choking relief and medical emergencies developed more confidence among staff, increased skill proficiency by 80% while reducing training duration by 40%.
How to Get Started with Ciklum AR Retail Solutions
When you partner with Ciklum for retail augmented reality, you get a partner that has all the experience and expertise you need in AR, VR and MR. We can ensure that your solutions are easily integrated into your existing systems, backed up by comprehensive support that encourages smooth operations, strong user adoption and continuous improvement in the long-term.
But we go much further than the design and implementation of AR solutions for retail, and work tirelessly to make sure your deployment works for you. We take every partner through a detailed consultation process, so that we can identify exactly what your organization needs from AR, and gain the insights to develop a solution with that in mind. This includes dedicated workshop sessions to explore current processes and problems, and extraction of data to help us build a compelling, relevant proof-of-concept.
Get in touch with Ciklum today and book a demo or consultation on immersive retail technology - and take a closer look at our innovative approach here.
