Business 

Strategy

AR-Powered
Shoppers: Retail
Strategies
Blurring the physical and digital realms, AR
commerce is ushering in innovative ways to
engage and empower today's shoppers,
particularly amid the ongoing coronavirus
outbreak forcing consumers into self-
isolation

Car lings
 Analysis "People ask about what is
going to be the big leap. I
think actually it’s going to be
a set of incremental forward
In 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed "AR will steps that brings us towards
change the way we use technology forever". the end state where AR will
Fast-forward to 2020, and we're already replace mobile phones, and it
seeing a steady increase in consumer will have a much bigger
appetite for immersive shopping experiences, impact than we imagine."
with more than one billion smart devices to – Neil Trevett, president,
enable augmented experiences. Khronos Group

A 2018 study by SuperData and Accenture

revealed that 75% of consumers are likely to
use AR when shopping. Gartner projects 100
million AR shoppers by 2020, and 77.7
million people in the US alone will use AR at
least once per month, according to eMarketer.
The future of AR commerce is bright –
empowering consumers with increased
confidence, a shortened path to purchase,
and immersive experiences. As tech giants
such as Apple, Google and Microsoft enter the
AR market, next-gen interfaces will continue
to transform how we browse and shop.
This report tracks the evolution of AR
shopping and how brands and retailers can
tap into its immersive world amid today's
ever-increasing uncertainty and fluctuating
economies. S hane Co .

@sho p_ o bsess
 AR Try-Ons
As today's tech-savvy consumers demand
more interactive and personalised shopping
experiences, AR try-ons are increasingly
gaining traction. Bridging the gap between
online and offline shopping, virtual try-on
features will continue to open up new
avenues for retailers – boosting revenue
and consumer confidence in coming years.
According to Shopify, 3D models in AR have
been shown to increase conversion rates by
up to 250% on product pages. A 2020 study
also found that nearly 40% of UK shoppers
have used AR or VR to test or view a product
before buying.
Fuelled by the rise of AR experiences, online
furniture sales are expected to grow at an
average annual growth rate of 10%
between 2019 and 2023. The beauty
industry is also showing early results.
Sephora's Virtual Artist app saw more than
8.5m visits to the AR feature between 2016
and 2018. L'Oréal also saw engagement
time double and conversion rates triple
when its brands used the AR feature on a
website or app.
Facebook's launch of the Spark AR Studio
is also evolving social commerce. In 2019,
Instagram enabled shareable AR shopping
experiences on feed posts and stories, with
partner brands including Warby Parker,
MAC and Nars Cosmetics. The platform
found that 24% of people who viewed Pint er est T r y O n
products with this feature actually used AR
to try it on before buying.
In 2020, Pinterest launched Try On,
powered by its smart camera Lens. This
new AR feature allows users to try on
lipstick shades in the mobile app. To focus
on building inclusive products, the
platform integrated Try On with its skin
tone range feature, so Pinners can see
similar lip shades on skin tones that
match their own, without using any skin
smoothing or image altering effects.
"We believe in celebrating you, and so our
AR won’t be augmenting your reality, but
rather helping you to make happy and real
purchases for your life," Pinterest wrote in
the announcement.
S par k AR
 Smart Sizing Evolves
By 2020, return deliveries will cost $550bn
in the US alone, with poor fit driving around
52% of all returns in fashion product
categories. Forward-thinking retailers are
now tackling this by adopting 3D body scan
technology, which will serve as a catalyst to
fuel AR-powered shopping in the next
decade.
In May 2019, Nike launched Nike Fit, a new
scanning solution using augmented reality
to offer hyper-accurate sizing
recommendations. According to the
company, 60% of people wear the wrong
size shoe. The new feature allows
customers to scan their feet using the
smartphone's camera and store their unique
dimension in a NikePlus member profile to
be used for future shopping.
As noted in our Retail Forecast 2020, more
brands are increasing their efforts around
size inclusivity. Augmented reality is set to
play a key role during this shift, allowing
shoppers to see how a product fits on
diverse body types.
In collaboration with Israeli AR company
Zeekit, Asos is trialling the See My Fit
button to help shoppers view the retailer's
selection on 16 different body types,
ranging from UK size 4-18 and 5'1"-5'9".
Putting the power in customers' hands,
this new shopping tool hopes to become N ike Fit
"a stepping stone allowing customers to
see an item of clothing on a 'model like
them'", according to product designer,
Linda Martins.
Levi's CEO Chip Bergh believes that "sizes
will go out the window 10 years from now",
with everyone doing their own body scan
on a camera. Going forward, the global
virtual fitting room market, valued at
$2.28bn in 2018, is projected to reach
$10.75bn by 2026, with a CAGR of 22%.
Mobile body scan platform Meepl allows
customers to create 3D body profiles. Its
size recommendation and virtual dressing
room services aim to offer them a more
personalised and seamless online
shopping experience.
AS O S S ee My Fit
 Immersive Shopping Journeys
Driven by the 5G revolution and new
technologies, we are at the dawn of a post-
product world where the concept of a
product and what it represents will mean
more than its physical existence. As
younger shoppers continue to blur the
physical and digital realms, immersive
shopping journeys are emerging as a top
priority.
Taking note of this shift, Jeff Bezos-backed
VR and AR mobile shopping platform
Obsess wants to make e-commerce fun
again. "Today the process of discovering
products online is just extremely boring and
tedious and uninspiring," the founder Neha
Singh told GQ. To make online shopping as
intuitive and immersive as bricks and
mortar, Obsess is partnering with brands to
launch creative virtual stores.
Luxury brands are also experimenting with
digital innovation to simulate the IRL
experience online. In February, Burberry
teamed up with Google to launch a new AR
shopping tool activated from mobile web
search results. When searching for Buberry
products using Google Search, consumers
can see an AR version overlaid on a real
background. Currently available in the UK
and the US, the AR tool will roll out
globally in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Apple's AR Quick Look now
enables direct purchases using methods Bur ber r y
such as Apple Pay. The latest update also
introduced spatial audio support that adds
sounds to the 3D models.
Announced in March 2020, the new iPad
Pro will be Apple's first device built around
AR, offering major improvements to ARKit
and AR-based retail experience. Its new
Lidar sensor will detect surroundings,
measure range of motion, and place 3D
objects more quickly and accurately.
With more updates to come, augmented
experiences will increasingly become a key
part of store design. Take cues from
experimental retailers such as Hipanda's
Japanese flagship, which successfully
blurs the line between physical and digital
with gamified AR experiences.
@sho p_ o bsess
Transparency &
Sustainability
Tapping into an ever-growing consumer
demand for transparency and sustainability,
brands and retailers should implement AR
technology to merge educational elements
with immersive experiences.
Previously highlighted in The Future of
Beauty Retail Space 2021, Lush's new AR app
Lush Lens helps shoppers identify its
packaging-free products by offering key Paner a Br ead
information and digital demos. In late 2019,
US casual restaurant chain Panera Bread also
jumped on the bandwagon, utilising AR to
allow customers see animated nutritional
facts and ingredients.
Carlings, the company behind the world's first
digital-only clothing collection, has
introduced a new type of garment in 2020.
The Last Statement T-shirt comes with a logo
triggering designs to appear via Instagram's
AR filter. Customers can overlay a new
animated activist statement every day
without having to buy another T-shirt.

Lush
 Coronavirus: Virtual Solutions
Amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak
forcing consumers into self-isolation,
technology is bringing people together and
recreating offline experiences from the
comfort of their own home.
Apple's CEO previously echoed this
sentiment at the IDA Ireland conference in
January. Stressing augmented reality as the
next big thing, he claimed: "I think it’s
something that doesn’t isolate people. We
can use it to enhance our discussion, not
substitute it for human connection, which
I’ve always deeply worried about in some of
the other technologies."
In response to declining foot traffic and
store closures, brands and retailers are
increasingly turning to digital-first
strategies and adopting augmented store
experiences.
Due to safety concerns, the beauty industry
is now fully embracing try-on apps as an
alternative solution. Following no-touch
policies, Sephora and Ulta Beauty stopped
using testers at their US stores and
switched customers to their virtual try-on
tools.
Maintaining human interaction will be key
during this shift. From March through to
July, Perfect Corp is offering a
complimentary AR live staff training
service. This allows brands to host
livestreaming sessions for their beauty
advisors to stay connected and learn T r ashy Muse
remotely.
Going forward, bricks-and-mortar brands
should switch gears and focus on bringing
their service online. Organic make-up
brand Credo is planning to livestream its
entire scheduled events programme in
April, while New York-based contemporary
brand Alex Mill now offers virtual styling
sessions to replicate the in-store
experience at home. Customers can set up
appointments with one of its sales
associates via FaceTime or Google
Hangouts.
Meanwhile, the continued cancellations of
events will also fuel virtual presentations
in coming months. We've already seen AR
taking off on the runway before, including
the London College of Fashion's 2019 MA Per f ect Co r p
collection livestreamed via HoloMe's app.
 Coronavirus: “People don’t want to

Virtual Solutions travel, people want to be

greener. It’s also about
taking pictures and sharing
them. For a generation that
Berlin-based creative Duo Trashy Muse also
launched an AR and virtual avatar fashion is raised looking at the
show at EP7 Gallery during Paris Fashion world through social media,
Week S/S 20. through handsets, it’s
completely natural”
“It's not about using AR to take us away from – Jacob de Geer, chief
people; it’s more about how the development executive, Acute Art
of these platforms will connect us in ways we
could never have anticipated," said Matthew
Drinkwater, head of LCF's Innovation Agency.
The art world is also reimagining its future
under the current circumstances. Art Basel
introduced Online Viewing Rooms, a virtual
art fair for its galleries and collectors. Vortic
Collect is a new AR-powered app that allows
art collectors to virtually attend exhibitions
and shows. Users can also make direct
inquiries or try placing augmented artworks
in their own homes.
Teaming up with VR and AR art production
firm Acute Art, KAWS rolled out a new
augmented reality project that brings virtual
public sculptures to 11 cities. This brings a
more sustainable model for viewing, selling
and trading artworks.
KAWS

Vo r t ic Co llect
 Action Points
• Unlocking the future of shopping, AR-
powered tools will open up new possibilities
for brands to build a deeper connection with
shoppers. To engage them further, offer a
values-driven path to purchase by
implementing more inclusive and transparent
AR strategies. Consistent brand messaging is
key – take cues from Pinterest's Try On,
which aligns with its continued efforts to
build a more diverse platform.
• Tech giants including Apple and Google are
striving towards hyperrealistic AR
experiences, while social media platforms
such as Facebook and Snapchat are
increasing their investments in AR-powered
content and shopping. As we enter an ever-
more immersive economy, companies must
act fast and take this opportunity to
jumpstart their digital-first strategies.
• Fuelled by self-quarantine, we are entering
a new phase of the home economy with more
people expecting to be served in their new
reality. Invest in new tools and virtual services
to engage, entertain and empower shoppers
during this difficult time. Apple
 Related Reports
Augmented World Expo 2019: Big
Gen Z: Living in the Third Platform Ideas Digital Fashion: A Post-Product World

Augmented Experiences: Store Coronavirus: Strategies for the Home Coronavirus: Media & Entertainment
Design Inspiration Economy Shifts