Can Augmented Reality solutions enhance customer experience?

Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that has become increasingly popular in recent times. Though AR has many different real-world applications, one sector where it has gained significant momentum is customer experience.

Today, while most businesses and marketers use advertising, celebrity endorsements, or social media to sell their products and services, other forward-thinking organizations are turning away from the traditional methods of marketing and gravitating towards digital transformation and tech solutions like Augmented Reality.

By using customized AR solutions throughout the customer journey, businesses can generate more engaging interactions with their consumers. Let’s dive deeper…

What is Augmented Reality?

Simply put, Augmented Reality is a technology that allows you to blend computer-generated reality with your real-time environment. By generating 3D visuals and sound effects, one can create AR markers that can be viewed using a smartphone camera or a mobile application.

How can businesses benefit from Augmented Reality?

Augmented Reality is an innovative tool that provides brands with unlimited opportunities to interact with their consumer base. It transforms the traditional customer journey into an immersive, interactive experience.

DID YOU KNOW?

61% of consumers say they prefer retailers with AR experiences.
Source: Threekit

This not only enriches the relationship between brands and consumers but also allows businesses to add value at every stage of the customer journey — pre-sale, sale, and post-sale. And by providing a personalized shopping experience, brands can increase their customer satisfaction rate, ensuring that buyers return for future purchases.

How Augmented Reality is transforming customer experience

1. Eliminating the uncertainty of online purchases

According to Statista, in 2019, retail eCommerce sales worldwide amounted to €2.9 trillion. And yet, one of the most common disadvantages of shopping online is that consumers cannot physically assess and examine a product before buying it. The fact of the matter is that videos and images simply don’t do justice. This has led to an increase in the return rates for products bought online.

The solution — Augmented Reality. In fact, 71% of consumers say that they would shop online more if the websites used AR. Augmented Reality not only allows buyers to have better visuals of the products but also allows them to try them on virtually, giving them a better-rounded impression of the product.

Here are some examples of online businesses embracing Augmented Reality solutions:

• Lenskart, an India-based eye-care provider, has introduced virtual try-on glasses — an opportunity for customers to scan their face into a 3D model and try on different frames that the website offers. This allows them to pick a frame that suits them best, without having to visit the store.
• IKEA has used Augmented Reality and smart home solutions to build IKEA Place. This feature lets customers place 3D models of furniture in their houses and customize the size and color according to their preferences. If they like the setting, they can place an order right away
• Dressing Room by GAP is an Augmented Reality solution that allows customers to select an outfit from their virtual shelf. Using the measurements and body shape entered by the user, a 36⁰⁰ 3D model is generated that tries on the clothing. This allows the buyer to get a better idea of how the clothes will fit them.

2. Creating immersive retail experiences

At a store, we often struggle to find relevant information on a product we wish to purchase. While asking a customer care representative to help you may seem like the best solution, Augmented Reality can make the process easier and more fun.

By simply introducing an AR application connected to a camera, business owners can display all the relevant information about their products. A how-to-guide, user manuals, reviews, a story of the product, tutorials — the opportunities are truly endless.

For example, the Starbucks flagship roastery in Shanghai uses AI to provide customers with a phygital retail experience. Customers who visit the store can use their smartphones to unlock fun visuals, learn about their unique roasting process, and gather information about their range of products.

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