Augmented Reality Reshapes Retail

Since a few years, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have undergone a significant rise. Thus, GAFAMS were – as usual – the first to understand the potential of such innovations so they naturally positioned themselves on these two markets. Several major players in the technology sector such as Oculus Rift, Samsung, Qualcomm, HTC, Sony, Intel or IBM have also detected the potential behind these trends and specialize themself in thess new branchs.

Despite their popularity, people still gets these technologies mixed up since they are closely related and sometimes combined with one another. Both use 3D visuals or additional sounds. However, the user experience is totally different:

  • Virtual Reality aims to immerse the user in a fictitious world. The user has the sensation of being projected into an artificial world that can include four senses: sight, hearing, touch and smell. This technology has been democratized thanks to the video games sector.
  • Augmented Reality proposes an optimization of reality by the superposition of fictitious elements such as images or sounds. Everything is done to make the experience as realistic as possible. Although initially used in the entertainment sector (video games, cinema and television), this technology is now common in several fields such as education, industry or medical world. It is ever more present in the world of fashion retail.

Indeed, augmented reality is no longer just a means of entertainment, since it is used in retail in order to transformed the customer experience in shop as on the internet. But how does AR affect how to promote products and distribute them for fashion and beauty brands?

Step 1: Promotion of brand and products with AR

While the customer has not yet in a shop of the brand, it is possible for the customer to haul it via innovative mobile applications which incorporate augmented reality.

Let’s start with the mobile app using AR and being the most used… Did you find? Snapchat, of course! The social network has managed to reach its market segment through the development of animated filters. The app uses facial recognition software to allow the user to see on his screen fictional elements that interact with the movement of his own face. While many companies have understood the opportunity offered by the application, some haute couture brands was reluctant to enter on it because of its fun aspect whih denotes with the aesthetics and elegance of Prestigious brands. However, having become the favorite social network for teenagers and young adults (people under 35), the big fashion houses did not take long to change their mind and begin to create their own sponsored filters. Among these luxurious collaborators there are: Dior, Channel, Burberry or even Lacoste.

 

 

The augmented reality has also invested the most traditional communication channels such as displays and packaging. We no longer have to be satisfied with the information on the packaging of a product or a poster since new information such as price, composition or any kind of exclusive content can be available in a few seconds. This is what the Layer application offers by pushing augmented reality to reinvent itself. This platform allows to animate every objects or advertising media thanks to a system of recognition. Todo this it the brand have to scan the object what it want animate thanks to the application and add informations and options. Innovation enables companies to be transparent but also to speed up the purchasing process. Indeed, it is possible to add a “buy” button on the scanned products.

Based on the same principle, NMG offers enabling users to view 3D articles on a virtual model. The advantage of such an application is that it makes it possible to visualize what the clothes would look like once worn but it also help to change the characteristics of a product.

Step 2: Presentation in store

Lecteur TC8000 de Zebra

The AR does not stop at promoting a brand or a product because it is playing an important role in physical shops. Several start-ups around the world of retail have been created in order to facilitate the work of sellers like Zebra Technologies with its Reader TC 8000. The reader makes it possible to simplify the installation of a magazine: in one First by identifying items placed in the wrong places but also by making a quick calculation of the available stock. This scanner is a way to revalue the employees by avoiding them the realization of repetitive tasks  and little valorizing. Of course, it is not its only asset since it allows an increase in productivity within the shop.

Of course, the optimization of the shop layout is not the only innovation that allows a good reception of the customers since some companies like the American brand of high-end ready-to-wear Rebecca Minhoff offers to its customers an experience Unique through augmented reality. The brand’s boutiques are equipped with interactive panels offering various services. At first, they welcome customers by offering a drink and then offer her the option of selecting the clothes she wishes to try to finally find them in fitting room without having to carry them oneself. Such a service improves the quality of the customer experience.

 

Step 3: Customer experience in fitting rooms

Beyond being able to order the items you want to try on a specific billboard, the demand for technological innovation in ready-to-wear boutiques is becoming important. According to a study conducted by CSA for Oney in 2016, our partner for the Look Forward Fashion Tech Festival, 56% of French people would like to try clothes through interactive mirrors.

The market responds to this request by proposing a multitude of mirrors which have each one their specificities. For example, there is “Magic Mirror” by SweetFit which is intended for the sale of clothing. The concept is simple: a Kinect camera shoots the customers who pass in front of the screen and thanks to FX Mirror software offers to try all the collections of the brand. Then, they can choose clothes that suits them the most, its color and decide to buy it or not by making movements in front of the mirror. Indeed, the mirror detects, thanks to sensors, the gesture of users and then retranscribes them on the mirror. Similarly, Carrefour was the first to offer a 360° virtual fitting to its customers. This type of technology is a real opportunity for small stores because it allows customers to test all the items without necessarily being available. This type of mirror offers a unique experience that significantly reduces queues at fitting rooms and increases the average basket of customers who can combine the different items more easily.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbgL5XPFXAQ

However, this use of AR is likely to be overtaken by new innovations such as Hololens, Microsoft’s new augmented reality helmet. It would simplify the customer’s experience and give him the freedom to change the structure of the garment.

Panasonic has also joined the AR adventure thanks to the creation of a beauty version of the SweetFit mirror. To achieve this, the brand chose to combine two technologies: AR and facial recognition. The mirror analyzes the face, detects skin problems and offers a selection of cosmetics adapted to the user. Then, the client can choose those that correspond to her the most and visualize the result thanks to augmented reality.

Step 4: Online sales always more disruptive

It is always possible to virtually test products sold by a company, even at home. Some of the biggest players in the world of retail have take this opportunity as IKEA. The company developed an application allowing to visualize an article from your living room. An initiative that drives prospects to buy. In the world of fashion, Converse proposed in 2010 the fitting of different articles: the mobile application Sampler using augmented reality allows customers to find the shoes they are looking for without trying them on. A concept taken up by Lacoste which helped to democratize the 3D display of customized products.

The Look Forward perspective

The augmented reality has become a real trend in the world of the fashion retail but the startups evolving in parallel of this technology must not forget to be innovating. Indeed, the technology is far from being completed and can be improved in terms of aesthetics, speed of display, morphological adaptation and the UX (User Experience). Otherwise, it could be more cataloged as a gadget than as a real innovation that could revolutionize the fashion world.

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