Snap Inc, the parent company of Snapchat, has launched a suite of advanced tools that enables businesses to integrate the social media company’s augmented reality (AR) technology into their own channels.
AR Enterprise Services (ARES) will offer more than just photo filters and lenses – it will allow companies to provide immersive and personalized experiences to their customers, leading to increased confidence in their purchases.
Snapchat has 375 million daily users, with more than 250 million people engaging with AR on the platform every day.
Try out your own augmented reality (AR) experience now
ARES’ inaugural offering is targeting retail, with Goodr, Princess Polly, and Gobi Cashmere among the first companies on board. The platform includes Shopping Suite – comprising 3D Viewer, AR Try-On, and Fit Finder features – which are embedded directly inside retailers’ own apps and websites.
Businesses can leverage dedicated services for AR asset creation and robust technical implementation support, manage and optimize their AR assets, and measure performance analytics.
ARES unifies the company’s own AR technology with those from Snap’s acquisitions of Vertebrae, Fit Analytics, and Forma, which built the groundwork for this new immersive shopping experience.
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Retailers have already seen promising results. Goodr leveraged AR Try-On and interactive 3D Viewer technology to replicate the experience of in-store shopping on customers’ mobile devices and saw an 81% uplift in add-to-cart and a 67% uplift in conversion for mobile device users. This lead to a 59% increase in revenue per visitor.
While Princess Polly incorporated Fit Finder and AR Try-On features to deliver recommendations to over 7.5 million shoppers. The retailer saw a 24% reduction in the return rate when compared to shoppers who did not use the technology.
Elsewhere, Gobi Cashmere’s conversion rate was 4 times higher for shoppers using Fit Finder recommendations and AR Try-On features.
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Jill Popelka, Head of AR Enterprise Services at Snap Inc, said: “Over the last decade, we've been hard at work bringing fun and personal AR experiences to Snapchatters.
“In the next decade, we’re excited to take our world-class AR technology to businesses' websites, apps, and even into their physical locations.
“We look forward to making the shopping experience more delightful for consumers and transforming businesses around the world with AR Enterprise Services.”
The ARES Shopping Suite will be widely available to customers in Q2 and includes AR shopping for apparel, footwear, and accessories.
With the increasing demand for online shopping and the importance of providing personalized experiences, ARES could transform the way businesses shape retail and customer experiences in the future.
