For all its benefits, online retail noticeably falters in its ability to let shoppers “demo” products. How often have you bought, say, clothing online, only realising when it actually arrived that it doesn’t quite fit, or the site’s preview photo of the product was misleading about its hue?
This helps to explain why 54% of customers still prefer visiting bricks-and-mortar stores to digital outlets. However, there’s an emerging technology that could erode this enduring benefit of in-person shopping, and that’s augmented reality. Here are some big differences it could make.
AR is in-demand among shoppers
Thanks to the popularity of games like Pokémon Go and social media apps like Snapchat, many people now know what AR is: overlaying digital imagery across a camera-captured view. Therefore, it’s understandable why people think that AR could enhance their online shopping experience.
According to statistics shared by ThinkMobiles, 63% of customers have this view, while 35% believe that they would be more inclined to visit online stores if it was possible to virtually sample its stock.
Customers can personalise their experiences
When on the lookout for a new piece of clothing or fitness tracker, you are probably picky about its appearance, perceiving the gadget as something of a fashion accessory as well as a practical one. Fortunately, AR would let you see which of the various colours and styles available suit you best.
Indeed, 77% of customers indicate that they would appreciate using AR to preview such product variations. In a store resplendent with choice, this functionality can be a game-changer.
AR can improve your sales
Just stop to consider how many times someone might have seen something interesting on your ecommerce store, but decided against buying it because there was no way to virtually try it out.
People naturally want to be careful what they buy, especially online. Through letting shoppers scrutinise your product offerings on a wide range of measures before buying, your store can enhance its credibility and, of course, cut down on returns.
AR could improve your profitability, too
Research suggests that, with AR, you could not only make more sales but also more money with each of them. Did you know that 40% of customers would be happy to pay more for a product if they were given the chance to preview it through AR?
Therefore, you could benefit from acting on the AR opportunity now, while the technology’s use in online retail is still relatively rare and so maintains its “prestige” appeal.
AR can keep people in your online store for longer
New visitors to an online store spend, on average, 2 minutes and 31 seconds there, while that duration rises to 5 minutes 31 seconds on average in the case of return visitors.
However, when you add AR product demos to the equation, the length of time can increase by over five times! Here at Webahead, our team can build you an ecommerce website design with which you could integrate such demos, using an AR platform like Shopify AR.
