Whoever has been faced with buying a desk for their newly (involuntary) home office during the global COVID-19 pandemic might have encountered IKEA’s Augmented Reality solution – the IKEA Place App. It allows “people to virtually place true-to-scale models of IKEA furniture in their own homes” (IKEA, 2019). The application has already been around for four years, but its relevance increased significantly for many customers when stores were forced to close during the pandemic.
As traditional ways of exploring and testing products physically were or still are not possible anymore, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) solutions provide an immersive opportunity of discovering them virtually. Thus, the COVID-19 crisis did not only accelerate the shift from offline to online shopping but also boosted the relevance of AR and VR in the retail industry. In the highly competitive retail landscape, companies should explore this powerful tool enabling them to differentiate themselves and connect with their customers.
The possibilities of applications are vast, for on- as well as offline shopping. Mostly AR and VR solutions are used to create a unique customer experience. With the help of AR, companies can for example facilitate in-store navigation to easily direct customers to the product they are searching for. In addition, virtual try-on solutions are particularly suitable for the fashion and beauty industry and have been put into practice by several firms such as Sephora and Gucci. Next to offering an immersive customer experience, both technologies have the potential to provide substantial revenue impact. According to Shopify, interactions with products having AR content showed a 94% higher conversion rate compared to products without such content. Furthermore, lower return rates can be expected from products that have been previously tried on or tested virtually.
The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of AR and VR by companies as well as customers but will their applications become really an inherent part of our shopping strolls? Or is the increased use of AR and VR for retail business rather temporary? Feel free to comment on your experience with AR and VR while shopping and whether you believe it will become an essential part of retailers’ strategy.
References:
https://hbr.org/2020/10/how-ar-is-redefining-retail-in-the-pandemic?registration=success
https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/opinion/how-augmented-reality-is-set-to-transform-retail/3967
