With the coming of Augmented Reality technology, a paradigm shift has occurred in many industries including fashion retail business. With changing customer requirements, many fashion companies are incorporating AR into their operations with good reason to improve customer interaction and deliver a smoother transition from traditional to e-commerce platforms. What has augmented reality brought to the fashion business? The examples of virtual try-on apps or fashionable marketing initiatives show how this technology is revolutionizing the experience of fashion-brand consumers. The lens of literature is then applied to a few case studies and real-world implementations of augmented reality in fashion retail presented in this blog post.
AR in Fashion Retail: An Overview
AR also can be used by fashion retailers to place a digital content on the real environment that enables customers engage with and engage the experience. Consumers benefit from live viewing of the products; seeing how it looks, where it can be worn, or how it may appear like before purchasing; retailers thus posting high satisfaction, less return rates. AR was claimed by Javornik (2016) to enhance customer interaction since it provides them with new experiences, minimizes the risks involved in the purchase decision and also improving on the decision making process. With these capabilities AR has grown to be an essential application for fashion brands that is used to design intimate, exciting, and extraordinary methods through which the fashion houses’ offerings can be marketed.
Case Study 1: Zara’s AR App
Another great example of fashion retail m-Commerce comes from chain of clothing retailer stores, Zara, which can be considered one of the pioneers in AR application in the clothing industry. In 2018, the company unveiled its AR app that makes virtual models appear on screens of smartphones by pointing at a store window or a display. These models ‘dropped’ items from Zara’s current catalogue, and customers could simply tap to buy the featured looks right from the app. This integration of AR not only improved the engagement level of the customers but also turned all the store aisles into a marketing tool.
Zara’s AR app was developed for increasing the share of the total retail sales that occur in-store while preserving the digital aspect of shopping. The AR models shifted, touched and offered live, omnidirectional perspectives of the apparel products. As Wang et al. (2020) pointed out, such AR applications make a difference for a retail business when meeting the need to stand out from the other similar retail businesses and provide the customers with more engaging, as well as individualized shopping experience. AR also solved another increasing phenomenon to blend physical and digital experiences, or ‘phygital’, and let customers interact with Zara’s brand online and offline.
Case Study 2: Sephora’s Virtual Artist
The L’Oréal company, the biggest cosmetics company in the world, has implemented the use of AR through Sephora’s Virtual Artist application. Sephora’s Virtual Artist, which is in the application, helps customers virtually apply makeup, including lipstick, eyeshadow, and foundation, leveraged on AR facial recognition. He noted that through such technology, customers get to know how such products will look on their face in real word without actually putting them on. The concept of virtual try-on has changed the way customers shop for beauty products, allowing many to not only test makeup products but also have a great time doing it from the comfort of their own home.
This study also notes that the options for virtual try-on play a major role in influencing customer decisions leading to purchase Online Shopping since they minimize the customer’s apprehensions. Another benefit of Sephora’s AR application has been highlighted in the case is that it can help minimize the rate of returns that have become rampant in online fashion retailing since the apps gives a life like rendition of the products (McLean & Wilson, 2019). Through evaluating and combining the ideas of AR, Sephora is able to tackle one of the main issues associated with e-commerce – designing for touch and, more specifically, for the shopping experience of beauty products.
Case Study 3: Gucci’s AR Shoe Try-On
AR is used by Gucci, which is a luxury fashion brand to increase customer experience by allowing them to try virtual shoes through the app. This is a special augmented reality which enables people to attempt different types of Gucci shoes by just aiming the phone camera at their shoes. The application overlays the chosen shoes on the wearer’s feet in the form of the 3D image where the users are able to see different views of the shoes. This feature can be more valuable for such categories of goods as luxury products that expensive productions, and customers do not want to buy them without firstly having a trial on the chosen item.
The use of AR try-on by Gucci has ensured that customers minimize their purchase rand and their confidence with the product is increased hence the increased conversion rates among audiences. Due to the research findings of Pantano et al (2017) it was found that fashion retailers wherein incorporating AR augmented try-ons to enhance the attractiveness of the shops and boost the level of satisfaction among the clients. The application of AR by Gucci is also a way of satisfying the evolving consumer trend of wanting to try products before buying because buyers can can see how the product looks like without having to wear it. Moreover, it is very interactive, which is another trend since Gucci is already known as an innovative and a vanguard luxury brand.
Case Study 4: Nike’s AR Size-Fit Technology
Nike has gone about implementing AR in a way that is vastly different from apps like Ikea’s AR app with the creation of the “Nike Fit”. A Nike app featuring this augmented reality app enables the customers to discover the most suitable shoe size for them by simply capturing their feet. Nike Fit via smartphone cameras measures the customers’ feet and then recommends the appropriate size for various Nike shoes. This AR application targets one of the largest challenges inherent to footwear purchase which is size ambiguity by providing a custom and accurate size identification.
Hilken et al. (2017) indicate that the complexity of decision making is decreased and perceived customer utility is increased with the help of AR technology to deliver accurate personalized information. Nike Fit does so in the sense that the experience narrows down the possibilities of incorrectly estimating a correct shoe size, and the frequency of a return, which is often seen with shoes bought online since one gets the wrong size. Further, AR is integrated at the Nike to improve the over-shopping experience through the invention of an efficient and colorful solution for clients.
Case Study 5: ASOS’s Virtual Catwalk
The British online fashion e-tailer ASOS launched its augmented reality hub offering customers a real time view of models wearing the clothes they have chosen. Customers would be able to use their smartphone camera to see virtual models walk on the floors of their living room as they preview ASOS clothing’s movement and fit. This augmented reality function enables a customer to see how garments move on the body, which gives a closer to reality view of the dynamics of an article.
From the case of ASOS, the use of AR exposes the centrality of experiences on the marketplace. Javornik (2016) found out that AR can create a strong bond with consumers because it is interactive and produces visuals that cannot be offered by simple images or videos. Besides, entertaining the customers through the Virtual Catwalk which brings the fashion on the runway into our homes, the more time spent on the app increases sale chances due to its constant appearance.
The Impact of AR on Fashion Retail: Key Takeaways
Thus, the authors confirm that the use of AR in the practice of fashion retail can help to solve the problem of low customer engagement, low confidence in a particular item of clothing, and provide a positively extraordinary experience when purchasing clothes. The different examples highlighted include Zara’s AR models, Sephora’s Virtual Artist, Gucci’s shoe try-on, Nike’s size-fit technology, ASOS’s virtual catwalk all show how AR can be used to satisfy myriad consumer requirements. These case studies fall in line with other literature highlighting the advantages of AR which includes; minimal purchase risk (Poushneh & Vasquez-Parraga, 2017), customer involvement (Hilken et al., 2017) and decision making (Javornik, 2016).
AR does more than create unique methods for customers to engage with fashion brands; it enables businesses to stand out in a saturated space. Growth of these technologies indicates that more interesting and unique allies of AR in fashion retail will surface in the near future and cause integration of physical and online shopping.
Conclusion
The implementation of AR technology in the fashion retail is steadily revolutionizing the market with the possibilities any brand or retailer could used to decrease the risk factors in a purchase and improve the overall experience of shopping. Engaging the consumers with AR in a friendly and personal way means that consumers get to make the right choices and so companies increase sale and customer satisfaction. Likewise, the case of Zara and Sephora, Gucci, Nike, and ASOS has proved that the technique of AR is no longer unique but compulsory for fashion retailers to be strong in the digital world.
References
Hilken, T., Ruyter, K. D., Chylinski, M., Mahr, D., & Keeling, D. I. (2017). Augmenting the eye of the beholder: Exploring the strategic potential of augmented reality to enhance online service experiences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(6), 884-905. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-017-0541-x
Javornik, A. (2016). ‘It’s an illusion, but it looks real!’ Consumer affective, cognitive and behavioural responses to augmented reality applications. Journal of Marketing Management, 32(9-10), 987-1011. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2016.1174726
McLean, G., & Wilson, A. (2019). Shopping in the digital world: Examining customer engagement through augmented reality mobile applications. Computers in Human Behavior, 101, 210-224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.07.002
Pantano, E., Rese, A., & Baier, D. (2017). Enhancing the online decision-making process by using augmented reality: A two country comparison of youth markets. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 38, 81-95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2017.05.011
Poushneh, A., & Vasquez-Parraga, A. Z. (2017). Discernible impact of augmented reality on retail customer’s experience, satisfaction and willingness to buy. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34, 229-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2016.10
