What does Augmented Reality mean for Retail?
I’ve been reading a lot in the last few weeks and months (it’s impossible not to actually) about Augmented Reality and have seen some (very neat) youtube demos of AR in action. So I was asked last week by our business development team to do a roundup of the technology, and specifically what this could mean for retail businesses.
So below is my take on where it’s at in retail marketing, AR-wise.
What does Augmented Reality mean for Retail?
People have moved past the initial ‘Wow!’ response and are now asking some key questions : can AR be implemented in a commercial / campaign setting and will it boost sales in the retail space (whether online or bricks and mortar) ?
The answer to both question is yes..
For the purposes of this paper we’ll assume you know what AR is but it may be helpful to have a quick overview, if this is a new area for you.
Augmented Reality is the blending of a view on the real/physical world with elements of that world that are overlaid, enriched (augmented) by computer based animation / imagery. The full history of AR and current (and ever expanding !) innovations and applications (in all areas of human activity) are covered really well on Wikipedia.
Back to the use of AR in Retail and the question of how powerful will it be in generating consumer engagement, footfall and of course, sales.
It’s pretty straightforward – AR is already here and its impact will increase massively.
Witness the fact the USA’s Retail Innovation and Marketing Conference dedicated a session to this area.
There are of course other, existing digital systems / techniques in place to grab the attention of consumers (outside the store, in the store, on their mobile.. ) But AR (done right) will really engage them. Yes, it has the ‘hook’ factor, as it is novel – but there’s more to it than that.
The psychological (behavior changing) potential of AR was discussed by Matt Trubow of Augmented Experience at a recent AR seminar I attended.
This revolves around the ’endowment effect’ . In essence, the theory (and it is compelling) is that if you get to ‘touch’ and ‘hold’ a product (even if it’s not there in reality!) via AR – you’ll bond with it, see it as ‘yours’, which will move you along the purchase decision route a lot faster.
This ability to drive shoppers quickly past browser mode, to customers, gives AR Its ‘Retail Magic’: (Magic, based on AC Clark’s well known paraphrased quote : ‘technology, when advanced enough, appears just like magic’.). And consumers today expect and delight in ‘Magic’.
So, on to some live (not CGI’d futurology demos) examples of AR used in retail marketing.
Lego have utilised AR well in a retail setting, building on that sense of anticipation and excitement kids have when picking up a box of Lego bricks and visualizing what the final piece will look like.
And the role of the changing room is changing, with AR allowing you to try on a whole range of clothes in-store (via an AR ‘magic mirror) or browse and try-on at home and share with your friends (AR, ecommerce and social media blended)
An example of how this has started to work comes from the Fashionista service :
IKEA have used AR successfully in Germany – away from a store / kiosk setting and onto the mobile platform. This gets around the dilemma (purchase barrier) of ‘will that new sofa look good in my house?’.
To quote IKEA “ The beauty of the IKEA application is the simplicity and strong appeal of the basic challenge: overcome the purchase barrier.”
Background to this (successful) campaign is here.
And AR technology platform Total Immersion (http://www.t-immersion.com/ ) worked with Creative agency SimonandJohn to give Christmas window shopping a real tech update for the Hugo Boss flagship store in Sloane Square.
Ads (the AR markers themselves) ran in a promotion in both Stylist and Shortlist magazines. These were styled as blackjack cards, with the chance to win £250 of Hugo Boss vouchers.
I think this is a good example of engaging with consumers before they even set foot in to the store itself (if indeed they would have done?). And ensuring the promotion isn’t ‘trendy’ tech just for the sake of it, but is on Brand and has a strong campaign idea behind it.
There’s a ‘how did that work?’ video that explains the campaign nicely here: ( )
Another example of using mobile AR to show products in a ‘real’ setting (e.g. with you wearing them) before you set foot in a store, is the IWC Watches App that came out at the end of 2009. The app itself is a bit clunky and quite large to download , so you have to be pretty brand-curious even before you use it – but it was an early adopter so that is understandable.
IWC brand values include innovation , which resonates with their being an early AR adopter.
They have created an iPhone app that allows you to see all the models in the range and also to get some history on the company. But the engaging part of the App is the Try-It function. Using the Try-It function, iPhone owners can take a picture of their wrist and then see how the various watches look superimposed there.
Here is my hand with a Watch superimposed, which took about 5 seconds to browse the range , choose a watch then ‘try on’ over my wrist.
I’m not a professional hand model, clearly.
More info on the App here :
http://www.watchesonnet.com/luxurywatches/iwc-watches-new-iphone-app/
Tag Heuer have moved this (static image) approach on and are also exploring the potential for AR and just (March 2010) announced their own foray into this space:
The app will be available on the site at the end of March and will allow users to try out products, the different models / styles of watch, at home, in front of their PC using the webcam.
The technology in this case came from Holition, but there are a number of players in the AR marketing providing In-store, On-line (at home) and mobile applications – all of which can be used by retailers for product demos, try-before-you-buy, store location services etc.
Major tech providers include Layar (http://layar.com/), Total Immersion (http://www.t-immersion.com/) and Metaio (http://www.metaio.com/).
This is a short synopsis of what is happening now with AR (specifically how it could help the Retail Industry) , but things are developing so fast that this round-up will be out of date within months (if not weeks!).
Keep yourself updated by reviewing the links (or google your own of course!) and bookmark or follow some of players cited via twitter / Delicious / pearltrees etc.
AR won’t be a universal panacea for a challenging retail landscape but it will be a massive part of any multi-channel marketing strategy the future.
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