The retail environment is changing chemically with technology becoming a major driver for change in the manner in which customers interact with brands and make consumption choices. The most revolutionary innovations in the recent past is the augmented reality (AR) that imposes digital objects over the existence environment providing interactions and immersion. As a tool, AR is revolutionizing the way retailers engage with customers and directing consumer behavior and physical store experience. These are the dimensions that this blog discusses, backed by the literature that shows the extent of Retail transformation by AR.
- AR and customer engagement: key to brand success
Consumer interaction is crucial to ensure more of their repeatedly purchasing your products which can be solved by AR. AR, hence, holds the possibility therefore to offer new and appealing forms of interactivity with products and brands. Analyzing previous work, it was established that AR-based applications engage customers more than traditional media do. In the context of the present discussion, Yim, Chu & Sauer (2017) have suggested that AR experiences offer entertainment value, information and an interactivity advantage, and that customer experiences are therefore richer.
Perhaps one of the many ways in which AR cultivates engagements is through enabling consumers to see a product in their home before purchasing them. For example, applications like IKEA Place use AR to assist customers to learn more about furniture placed in their homes. Not only are consumers captured with this hands-on, virtual concept, but they’re also able to make smarter decisions as they can visualize the product in their home. Therefore, AR is a mediator between online purchasing and sensing of physical environments as presented by real physical outlets (Poushneh & Vasquez-Parraga, 2017).
How AR affects the purchase behavior of customers.
In this analysis, AR influences consumer purchasing behavior as it reduces the amount of uncertainty in the purchase process. The conventional approach to internet shopping can sometimes result in the buyer delaying the final decision as he cannot touch the product. AR helps to deal with this problem because it offers opportunities for users to try on a garment, applying makeup, or picking up accessories without doing so. McLean and Wilson (2019) concluded that augmented reality improves consumers’ confidence in their choices and minimizes the probability of return as the provided product imagery is closer the reality.
Further there exists a way how AR can contribute to ownership and emotional attachment before the actual purchase occurs. Hilken et al., (2017) asserted that when consumers notice a product placed in their environment, they develop an emotional connection implying a high possibility of purchasing the product. This effect is commonly known as ‘mental ownership,’, and results in improved purchase intentions and customer loyalty.
The last thing is that AR bears opportunities for giving the clients access to the articles’ information through the interactive installations. In a physical store environment, for example, AR apps may offer consumers information about a product – including customers’ comments, characteristics, and price – by using their smartphone to point and scan this merchandise. Besides, it helps to eliminate the confusion in decision making by providing the most potent information on the menu in the form of a touch screen to consumers (Pantano et al., 2017). By that, AR becomes a tool that is capable of encouraging impulse purchases as it enlivens and improves the entire process of shopping.
- Augmented Reality and the Store of the Future
The designed AR experiences are no longer simply about physical and tangible engagement; they are rapidly transforming how users’ shop. Through adopting AR, the retailers or consumer electronics businesses can significantly build up new and interesting target-based shopping experiences as part of the new shopping behavior of consumers during their visit to the stores.
For instance, augmented reality in the form of AR-powered mirrors have become landmarks in the fashion niche. There are examples of AR like clothes fitting mirrors in Zara stores, makeup and accessories trying mirrors in Sephora stores, which also don’t require fitting rooms, and call for multiple trials. This also improves the overall shopping experience but also tends to particular issues, for example long waiting time for fitting rooms and the necessity to try on several articles of clothing physically (Javornik, 2016).
Also, AR apps have applied in the shopping experience as a form of fun and exciting way of shopping for consumers. Several stores such as Nike and Starbucks have used AR-based games and a variety of other engaging activities in their stores because each activity gives the customer a reward or an offer that is exclusive to the activity. These casual and entertaining AR experiences help the customer engagement with the brand, bringing more customers to stores, visiting stores longer, and, consequently, purchasing more (Huang & Liao, 2015).
Furthermore, introduced previously, AR can help improve visual merchandising. Static product exhibits are normally used in traditional store formats; on the other hand, AR-enabled stores permit dynamic exhibits that can be changed dynamically depending on the customer’s preferences. For instance, customers can make different settings in a showroom to see how they would look when the furniture is placed or arranged in real space through AR apps, and they can also get to know how different garments of clothes would look when they are worn together through a virtual mannequin through AR apps. These features not only enrich customer experience within the store but also make the customers navigate through the store from different aspects and therefore make the shopping remarkably interesting (Pantano et al., 2017).
- The Future of AR in Retail
AR in retail has limitless possibilities in the future. Retailers particularly will need to follow the advancement of AR technology as they seek to incorporate it into their customer relations. AR glasses and wearable technology may bring the concept of hybrid reality shopping even closer into the future and define new methods of seamless shopping.
However, it was ascertained that the application of AR for enhancing the store experience will bring fruitful results only when several factors can be brought into operation. AR must be easy to navigate and informative to the consumer, for retailers seeking to incorporate it into their business practice to guarantee it will provide value to the consumer. AR for the sake of AR is not enough; the innovation should create real added value for the consumer – in the form of added information, less hurdles in the buying process, or a more entertaining and engaging experience.
Conclusion
Customers can be easily engaged, and products can also be consumed by using augmented reality in ways that are inconceivable in the retail sector. AR creates more engaging and informative experiences that result in consumer confidence through enhancing the gap between tangible and virtual shopping experiences. Over the coming years it is without a doubt that AR has not only rounded the corner, it has and will continue to make a significant impact on the future of retail for both retailer and consumer.
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
Huang, T. L., & Liao, S. L. (2015). A model of acceptance of augmented-reality interactive technology: The moderating role of cognitive innovativeness. Electronic Commerce Research, 15(2), 269-295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-014-9163-2
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.2016.10.005
Yim, M. Y. C., Chu, S. C., & Sauer, P. L. (2017). Is augmented reality technology an effective tool for e-commerce? An interactivity and vividness perspective. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 39, 89-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2017.04.001
