The Role of Augmented Reality in Fashion
Online shopping is growing exponentially, having a global market size of nearly 4 trillion in the previous year. The numbers are expected to hit 300 million by 2023 in the US alone!
To enhance customers’ shopping experience, the fashion industry has felt the need to provide a more life-like online purchasing interface. This is where Augmented Reality, or more commonly the AR technology, comes into play.
What is Augmented Reality?
The technology of AR or Augmented Reality helps to provide an interactive experience in which real-world objects are virtually recreated by layering images, videos, and 3D content on top of them.
To create an AR experience for online shoppers, developers have put effort into enhancing certain parts of the users’ physical environment using computer-generated input. It’s not only exciting for customers but has effectively increased the profit margins in the retail market.
The Role of Augmented Reality in Fashion
Although AR is more commonly associated with gadgets like smartphones, headsets, projectors, and other hardware, the technology has increasingly become popular in the fashion industry in recent years.
Clothing companies using AR technology are reaping the benefits in numerous ways.
- Provides a Sense of Ownership:
Augmented reality helps the customers to experience the products in a life-like environment, thus enhancing their sense of ownership even before purchase. It will boost more positive buying decisions among the consumers.
For example, let’s say a buyer is trying out a new dress or a classy pair of shoes using augmented reality. When the person is trying them on, there’s a high 80% chance that he/she will buy them.
- Try and Buy:
Customers can take the help of augmented reality apparel fitting tools to check whether a particular outfit is suitable for them. In other words, it acts as the trial room of a clothing shop, thus offering a personalized experience.
- Boost Sales at Your Physical Stores:
One of the biggest challenges that apparel brands face after the pandemic is reduced traffic in their brick-and-mortar stores.
While you compensate for this lack of real-world shopping experiences to your customers by providing an interactive AR experience, you are also driving them back to your physical stores. Because when buyers feel you have a great collection that they have already tried out online, they will definitely check back for more at your retail store locations.
- Save those Hassles of Returns and Exchanges:
Returns and exchanges are increasingly becoming common among customers buying clothes online. It’s because they either find dissimilarities in the images and the final product or have fitting issues. Using the AR clothing 3D try-on technology, you can significantly reduce the number of returns/refunds or exchanges.
- Show that You Care:
AR technology can provide your consumers with more information and training about an entire fashion sense and what’s trending. Because it’s important to make your buyers feel that you care for them and not just here to sell products.
Final Words
If you show your buyers the full scenario about what’s new in the fashion industry, they will feel that you want them to look good and feel confident about themselves.
