Top 5 Examples of AR Product Experiences
Technology is advancing at rates we had never even imagined, and that’s true in every aspect of our lives. From exercise to communication, entertainment to education, transportation to politics—it’s hard to pick out any part of our lives that isn’t enhanced by technology, or that hasn’t come to make some device or app practically essential.
Marketing and commerce are no different, and whereas hologram-type devices might have seemed like Star Wars-type fantasy technology just a short time ago, augmented reality (AR) has quickly become a powerful tool to give customers a more immersive and trustworthy look into the products they love.
Big words and fancy terms… what exactly does this all mean?
Let’s take a quick look at what AR is, and then we’ll check out a few examples of the great ways it’s being implemented by companies today.
What is Augmented Reality?
The name cues us in pretty well: Augmented Reality (AR) is essentially an extension or enhancement of our own world. This might sound like the description of a Sci-Fi movie, but it’s actually accessible from your phones almost instantly.
Do you remember the Pokémon GO game? If you don’t, it was a sort of real-world version of a Pokémon game in which you would walk around your real-world environments, point your phone’s camera around you, and see the Pokémon come to life right before your eyes!
This is AR, and it’s a great example of a fun and effective implementation that got the whole world excited about this technology.
Any software that puts (often interactive) digital images on top of real-world objects through some device (like a phone screen) is what we would consider AR. Even the Snapchat and Instagram filters that give you sunglasses or puppy ears are AR technology.
Not all AR is just for play, though. Let’s take a look at some examples of how companies have used AR to boost their customer experience and confidence in creative, interactive ways.
1. Sephora
Buying makeup can be a tricky process, and buying makeup online even more so. It’s hard to tell how different products will end up looking on your face, especially if the only things you have to go off of are pictures of the container and of a model that might not look anything like you. On top of that, are you sure you’re applying the product in the way it was meant to be used?
Sephora’s mobile app takes on these challenges with the help of a little AR. The technology lets you give yourself a virtual makeover to see how the products would look on your own face. Change up lip color, lashes, eyeshadow, and see what looks you like the best! This really helps take the guesswork out of this kind of shopping, especially since you don’t have access to samples, and you can’t return these products if they don’t end up looking how you imagined.
This app takes things a step further, though! Not only can you see how the product would look on your own face, but it also provides you with tutorials on how to apply the products correctly, using your own face for guidance. This takes the guesswork out of the application process as well, since even YouTube tutorials might not match up exactly with your product or facial structure.
All in all, this is a genius way of using AR to help customers feel confident about the products they’re considering.
2. IKEA
Makeup isn’t the only product that would be nice to visualize before purchasing from the comfort of your own home. This application of AR seems like a no-brainer once you’ve heard of it, but it’s still super exciting when you do: furniture!
Sure, you know your living space pretty well, and you can go to the store and try to picture the furniture in your living room, but not all of us have photographic memories. It can be pretty disappointing once you get this heavy and expensive item delivered to your place, and it doesn’t fit or match up the way you thought it would.
That’s where AR comes in: simply point your camera at where you think the furniture should go and the software will show you how it looks! The IKEA Place app does exactly this, allowing you to see exactly how the piece you have in mind fits into your space before you commit to buying it.
Choosing furniture isn’t easy or cheap, and before this sort of AR tech, purchasing furniture online would have people worrying about your sanity. I’m not saying you shouldn’t still go in and look at the furniture up close before buying it, but this AR makes skipping that step a lot less of a gamble, and (again) takes the guesswork out of seeing how things fit where you intend to put them.
3. Tap Painter & Dulux Paint
The next logical step from furniture is seeing what color to paint your walls. This might seem like a smaller jump since color codes are standard, and you can bring the little sample squares home, but there’s a big difference between holding up a color square trying to picture the whole room that color versus actually seeing the color on the walls.
Tap Painter and Dulux Visualizer App are two AR apps that serve as the answer. The Dulux Visualizer App helps you choose from over a thousand different colors from the Dulux Paint selection, and the Tap Painter app helps you choose between different colors from major brands like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore. The common theme here? AR takes out the guesswork and helps customers feel more confident about their purchases.
4. Wanna
The Wanna Kicks app from Wanna offers a slightly different application of AR technology: trying on shoes. This might not seem like it solves as big of an issue as the previous examples, but without even trying it also solves an unintended and more urgent problem in the process.
There are two main intentions that come out of this AR application. The first has everything to do with showcasing advancing technology and bringing luxury into everyone’s homes. Wanna is working with Gucci to allow users to virtually try on Gucci footwear through their AR app. Not only does this make Gucci a bit more of a household commodity, but it also displays Gucci as a company that is embracing cutting-edge technology. The app usage also seems to turn sales around pretty efficiently.
Democratizing luxury isn’t the only thing that this technology is achieving, however. Wanna has also teamed up with Reebok, and while the impressive tech is absolutely something to show off, the intention here was to be able to continue sales during pandemic restrictions. Maybe it’s obvious now, but for a lot of people it wasn’t something that came to mind pre-COVID: AR is a safe way to shop while staying responsibly socially distanced. Specifically, it sidesteps multiple customers sticking their feet in the same shoe as they try it on.
Through Wanna, we can see that AR applications go beyond just fostering trust among customers in a conventional sense. It can help do so even when the world is turned on its head.
5. Toyota
A well-informed customer is a more confident customer, and when it comes to shopping for cars, customer confidence is key. That’s why Toyota’s take on AR technology is a great idea.
Essentially, their Hybrid AR app allows you to learn more about their cars (and specifically their new C-HR model) autonomously. Simply match the virtual model up with the actual car and the app will show you the inner workings of the car and give you explanations about the different features.
Car shoppers and car salespeople often don’t have the most trusting relationship, so this ability to learn about the inner workings of the car without the need to have a salesperson around is a great way to boost customer confidence.
The Takeaway
Augmented Reality is an impressive and rapidly improving technology that’s sure to wow any customer, and it does a great job at showing that the company is capable of implementing cutting-edge technology. This means a better overall customer experience through greater consumer confidence.
The other important thing to note is that AR doesn’t just make the customer’s experience more game-like, it also makes it more trustworthy. Seeing is believing, and AR lets us see things in the context we need to see them to forever bridge the gap between the e-commerce experience and more traditional commerce practices.