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Recently, Augmented Reality (AR) has become one of the most valued customer experience tools for brands. In retail and e-commerce in particular, AR has proven its worth in acquiring new customers.
It has shown immense potential to transform and improve the customer purchase and virtual shopping experience, making it an optimistic point of view.
According to Statista, the retail segment will account for 5 percent of the AR and mixed reality (MR) software market by 2022, and AR alone will generate $ 80 billion in retail sales in 2022.
With the widespread use of smartphones and better internet connection, more and more brands are taking advantage of AR in retail and e-commerce to increase sales and generate revenue.
AR in retail and e-commerce
With most customers preferring to buy products online, AR makes the retail buying journey more user-centric. It is transforming mobile shopping by bringing products to life by using 3D models that can be scaled down to see what they look like in a given space, examined from all possible angles, and also assessed taking into account the environment around us .
In online retail and e-commerce, around 75 percent of customers would like brands to offer platforms with AR experience.
About 61 percent of shoppers prefer buying from retailers who offer augmented reality over those who don’t. Almost 72 percent of shoppers buy products that they didn’t intend due to augmented reality.
The buying behavior of customers is constantly changing. In this scenario, augmented reality shows the potential to open up a large part of the market.
Since customers receive a 3D representation of the products, more and more people want to shop in AR-based online shops. Brands that harness the accelerating power of the AR experience in retail and e-commerce will be able to keep customers happy and build long-term relationships with them.
Added value for the shopping experience
A normal ecommerce website cannot offer buyers a tactile interaction with the product, a highly personalized approach, and product “delivery” prior to purchase. This is where AR comes in as the technology can help online retail stores deliver a deeper, more realistic and immersive shopping experience for their customers.
AR also enables ecommerce stores to provide shoppers with vibrant, memorable, and fun emotions that are richer than what we experience in an offline store.
As a result, AR is fast becoming an important part of the online marketing landscape as it engages more customers, improves conversion rates, and provides a memorable shopping experience.
As this immersive and cutting edge technology is producing amazing results in online retail and e-commerce, marketers are considering incorporating it into their overall marketing strategies.
AR adds a fun and enjoyable element to online shopping. As it increases brand engagement, sales and revenue get a significant boost.
Using the AR apps, shoppers can scan the online inventory and get recommendations for different products. This also makes marketing easier for brands as they can offer their customers a friendly shopping experience.
Also, this smart technology provides buyers with detailed information about various products and informs them of the advantages and disadvantages of buying.
It further reduces shopping cart abandonment rates. AR refers to shoppers who fail to complete their purchases after adding products to their shopping cart. Because AR enables buyers to visualize the appearance of products through the virtual representation in 3D, users make purchases that make them feel satisfied and reliable in their environment.
Since they can also assess specifications such as product sizes, shapes and colors, this in turn reduces returns for online purchases and leads to a huge drop in cart abandonment rates.
This interaction with the products is a big reason why buyers buy a product.
In addition to logic, purchasing decisions are also guided by emotions. This element encourages customers to buy the items that they associate with positive feelings. AR offers customers an unforgettable shopping experience that they would come back to again and again. It even helps clear up the confusion of which one to buy.
As they flick through various articles, the visualization capabilities of AR technology can help customers resolve their doubts about product features and available options. With a better understanding of the benefits of products, the more likely buyers will make a purchase.
Sum up
Augmented Reality has proven to be an effective marketing tool that works well for both customers and brands. When implemented properly, it can provide users with a great shopping experience that they want to share in their social circles.
Thus, this immersive technology has great advantages for online retail and e-commerce stores.
With its diverse capabilities such as entertainment, visualization, engagement, gamification, and enhanced decision making, AR is a fruitful investment that can generate more revenue for retail businesses.
(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)
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