Augmented reality in eCommerce.

The rapid growth of customers demanding for innovation can be witnessed, this aspect is putting choices of retailers at stake. This is forcing the adoption of augmented reality (AR) in a number of industries, including eCommerce. This will soon remodel the way we shop in the web, this leads to blooming demands and evolution of mobile devices and market capabilities that lead to a strong trend that make AR one of the extensive tools and platforms in the tech world. Augmented reality in eCommerce allows customers to make purchases on their mobile device or the desktop which makes it very convenient for buyers and is preferred by a lot of internet users.

While most of us were introduced to augmented reality through the popular Pokemon Go app, snapchat filters, and even Instagram, AR is not restricted to gaming and such platform. Over the next few years, AR will expand and used by almost every industry possible such as health care, education and even eCommerce due to its vast types of uses and benefits. Augmented reality is expected to recognize a rapid growth up to $120 billion in revenue by 2020, proving to be an emerging market and in use for various industries. Therefore, the retailers who offer augmented reality features online at a competitive advantage are likely to increase sales and number of products sold through their online store.

Augmented reality shows a computer-generated sensory in the real world making it very productive in the eCommerce industry with its ability to visualize, personalize and enhance the online shopping experience for customers. The previous adoption of this feature was perceived by Sephora the beauty and skin care product line and Sephora’s virtual artist is likely the best-augmented reality example to learn from. Customers can try different looks; take a picture of an outfit you’re planning to wear to match the shade, check out full face looks, and learn how to do your makeup with virtual tutorials. Whether you’re a makeup beginner or makeup artist looking to experiment, there are augmented reality eCommerce features that allow you to try and then buy makeup that looks best on you. It creates an enjoyable shopping experience for women who like playing with different looks while making it easy as clicking a button. Customers can feel confident with their purchases as they’ve had an opportunity to ‘try on’ a wide selection of products which will likely help increase conversions while reducing refunds. Another example is set by Ikea, a retailer taking augmented reality in eCommerce and is on a spree. In 2014, they made an augmented reality version of their catalog. Addition to this feature, buyers were able to place images of Ikea furniture in the real-world environment and decide which suits best where. This increases customer satisfaction and helps preserve customer loyalty towards the firm. This is beneficial to all industries as this can be adopted in various ways and can have numerous types of uses.

Augmented reality is a tool that allows you to view a product in real-time and can be done if you want to view the product in your home, office or even outdoors. This also allows you to be able to rotate the product while bringing a better visualization to the buyers’ imagination in a natural setting. These large firms taking such AR initiatives can become the norm in the future years as these multinationals are trendsetters and this will result in a likely disruption in the eCommerce industry and the way it has been operating in the past. Despite this interference, retailers will be able to see a level of personalization that will increase online store conversion rate while increasing sales as well. However, the eCommerce industry is a vast platform and any technology that is able to bring in massive improvements in user experience will almost immediately be adopted by the eCommerce industry to sell products. Even though tangible products make for a major portion of global eCommerce sales, the industry’s innovators across the globe are striving hard to overcome the biggest psychological barrier that consumers face while shopping for products online. This is where AR has overcome such barriers and has revolutionized the eCommerce industry.