I am the type of person who prefers online shopping, as I rarely have time to stand in the queues or just go shopping without stressing about the time, and making sure that I find all I need. I am also a person that does not make decisions spontaneously and prefers to know what usage will the actual product have in my life and how it will suit me. Over the past few years I had a problem as all the brands for example for clothing offer different sizes and it is hard to decide which one to buy, therefore I had to refund many items or change the size which also took a lot of time which I value the most. The first major break-through of this came when I moved for my Bachelor studies to The Netherlands I was able to project and architect my entire room, knowing what furnitures will fit and their sizes and how I can make my room the best I can with finding the most optimised solutions through AR. Later on by being satisfied and amazed at how AR helped me with designing my new room, I started using it also for clothing, as some brands offer try on, and it basically shows how it will fit your body and match with other clothes that you are wearing also suggesting the best clothes to buy and all by using AR combined with AI.
Image taken from Vogue Business accessible at https://www.voguebusiness.com/technology/snapchat-boosts-ar-try-on-tools-farfetch-prada-dive-in
To back up my personal experiences with data, shopify one of the biggest platforms reports that merchants adding 3D/AR see big conversion lifts and a Gunners Kennels case showed a 40% in order conversion with a 5% drop in returns when shoppers could place a life-size model before buying (Shopify, 2022).
Zooming out, retailers are shifting from costly “try-before-you-buy” programs to AI-assisted fit and virtual try-on at the product page. By doing this companies waste less products, that are used as testers and can minimise the shop assistances and possibly in the long run optimise costs, by changing to more profitable and beneficial options. Amazon, for example, is retiring its wardrobe try-on while leaning into virtual try-on and personalized size recommendations. The reason’s simple: the cheapest return is the one you never ship, and provides other already covered benefits (Davis W, 2025) .
My personal take is that AR does not only make products cooler and more interesting in building your new room, car design or favourite outfit; it makes them knowable and decisive. By this amazing feature the uncertainty is reduced, my time is respected and the refund is not needed. Would you trade a quick scan for fewer returns and better picks? Why or why not, can’t wait to hear from you !
References:
Davis, W. (2025, January 11). Amazon Prime will shut down its clothing try-on program. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/11/24341422/amazon-prime-wardrobe-try-before-you-buy-shutting-down
Shopify. (n.d.). Gunner Kennels used 3D/AR to reduce returns 5%, boost conversions 40% [Case study]. https://www.shopify.com/case-studies/gunner-kennels
