Apparel, Fashion & Retail | News & Insights

The future of fashion is augmented reality

Published: September 5, 2020
Author: SaachiBhatia

Right now, few industries may be as open to innovation as the fashion industry. Indeed, the $2.4 trillion market has long been a hotbed for emerging innovations, in both aesthetics and e-commerce.

Fashion design is now heading towards the newest in innovation in technology: augmented reality. Augmented reality has migrated from entertainment to the retail and e-commerce markets where it is a fantastic way to reach new buyers. This technology is gaining worldwide prominence.

Augmented reality is far more than just overlaying camera images with three dimensional objects. It is a tool that will greatly help companies develop their marketing campaigns and achieve higher sales. Brands are successful in pushing consumers farther down the purchase pipeline by adding AR to their future customer’s buying experience.

Augmented reality and the apparel industry

Technological developments including virtual reality are changing the online shopping experiences of the fashion industry. With the goal of growing online shopping income and providing customer-first experiences simultaneously, AR allows customers to see goods in real life, incorporate in-store try-before-you-buy actions with the digital extension and, thus, increase online purchases.

Often, when we know that owing to the Covid-19 pandemic more department outlets are partially closing, this is the perfect moment that fashion companies need to manage to represent themselves to mobile and online shoppers. Many are converting to AR, which helps improve awareness and conversion, making them both more brand-accessible and recognisable to consumers.

AR brings value to the customer shopping experience

Augmented reality will help online shops offer a richer and more immersive shopping experience for their customers. On  the other hand, this technology helps online retailers to give their customers vivid, memorable and enjoyable emotions that are far richer than those in traditional brick and mortar shops we all know.

The main reason people are discouraged from purchasing clothing online is the fact it might not fit them. Returning an object is not only an annoyance to the consumer but can also massively cost a retail business. Internet, Augmented Reality has now emerged in the form of immersive dressing rooms to remove the inefficiency of not being able to put clothes on.

Providing online consumers with a polished experience of trying items, and seeing if they suit them, facilitates decreased returns. This latest technology may be the missing piece which will enable users to evaluate the size and fit accurately. This latest technology will be revolutionary in the fashion industry, which has the ability to significantly improve customer eCommerce acceptance.

Virtual fitting rooms are still a work in progress and still have a long way to go, but are something worth considering if you’re thinking of incorporating AR into your online store experience.

Augmented reality is an important marketing tool.  Apparel companies understand the effect of augmented reality on how they can present their products and sell them. For an e-commerce platform, however, one thing is clear: augmented reality will further improve consumer shopping experience and brand loyalty. And that is what is most important.

 

SOURCE: Financial Express

 

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