How Augmented Reality is Reshaping the Future of Sales
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
One of the major challenges of online sales — both for businesses and shoppers — has always been the lack of that authentic ‘touch and feel’ experience. But technology is not standing still, and augmented reality (AR) has already addressed this challenge. While AR is not at its full tech capacity yet, many retail businesses already use its potential to revolutionize sales. Below, we will take a look at the main reasons why AR has the power to reshape sales, list a few businesses that already implement this technology in their marketing efforts, and give a few tips and future predictions for boosting sales with the help of AR — because make no mistake, AR is one of those sales trends that are here to stay.
How Augmented Reality Enhances Sales
Besides the obvious benefit of offering customers more visualization and realism — something that still draws most people to the brick and mortar stores, the use of AR in sales can also:
Offer a more personalized shopping experience
The try-before-you-buy approach offers a more personalized shopping experience, allowing customers to explore different options, which both creates an impression of being assisted in an on-site store and enhances the sense of ownership. Simply put, AR gives a chance to forge a more personal connection with a product, which increases the likelihood of a purchase. The logic is not much different from shopping in a real store — if we’ve tried on a few sneakers already, we don’t want to leave empty-handed.
Help collect analytics data
Successful sales campaigns involve meticulous data analysis, and augmented reality simplifies this part. It’s not unlike website analytics; it is way better because it allows salespeople to see which products are most popular and which are discarded quickly. Even at its initial stages, AR already has the potential to show businesses precisely what customers are ‘trying on,’ which results in better analytics and makes enhancing future marketing efforts easier.
Showcase more product features
The primary role of a sales manager in any industry is to highlight product features and make those features attractive to the end buyers. But some products are so complex and multi-layered that highlighting all the features within one promotional campaign is simply impossible. While this is hardly ever the case in the retail industry, many digital products require a long learning curve — something AR can shorten. This, once again, adds visualization and realism to every purchase while helping companies downsize educational guides and materials.
Increase brand loyalty and engagement
AR is fun — as simple as that! Even conservative users are usually interested in trying out a new ‘thing,’ especially from the comfort of their home, with minimum effort and maximum privacy. And, if the AR visualization fails to impress (which it still does sometimes, considering the current state of technology), there is more reason to have a little laugh. Even in its budding stages, AR appeals to emotion—which is the primary factor inspiring loyalty and engagement. ‘All right, the dress was horrible, but at least I had a good laugh, so maybe I’ll check out this store a bit later,’ that’s pretty much how it works inside a shopper’s head.
On the other hand, AR, as it is today, has its limitations, too. According to a Harvard Business Review study, the main challenge is the cost of adopting the technology and the simple fact that AR is still far from perfect. But this is the path of every new tech ever developed. Besides, several major brands within different industries are already making use of the AR’s visualization features — and are doing a good job.
Industries Embracing AR in Sales & Marketing
Augmented reality is not just a helpful tool for selling sneakers — even though it already helps Converse do just that. Clothing retailers are not the only ones who have grasped the potential of this technology. More niche industries include:
Beauty: Sephora, L’Oreal
It’s really no surprise that the beauty industry became one of the AR implementation pioneers in sales. Both L’Oreal and Sephora use augmented reality apps to help customers try on different shades of lipstick, eye shadow, and other beauty products available in their stores. Eventually, that results in satisfied customers who are delivered exactly what they bargained for. This, in turn, transforms into customer loyalty and high retention rates.
Automotive: BMW, Tesla
In the automotive industry, AR helps with product visualization and informing potential buyers about all the available features and configurations. Automotive is undoubtedly an excellent example of an industry where additional guides are necessary, and both Tesla and BMW use AR in their virtual showrooms. Clients get a chance to take a good look at car interiors and exteriors. More importantly, they get to play with different car configurations and enjoy interactive access to an entire product catalog.
Furniture: IKEA, Macy’s, Wayfair
This is another excellent example of a retail niche where sales thrive from AR implementation. IKEA, Macy’s, and Wayfair all use pretty much the same logic with their apps — they help customers visualize how the furniture would look in their homes. In a way, this approach beats shopping in a real brick-and-mortar store because it shows customers the `end results, dispels any doubts they have, and helps them make genuinely informed buying decisions.
Home Depot, a US company that sells different home renovation tools, uses a very similar approach. Even though this business does not sell furniture, it uses AR to help customers measure spaces, offering some tips (and tools) that would prove useful with their home renovation projects.
Current strategies and future AR sales predictions
Today, only 16% of retailers use AR during sales, but this number is expected to grow exponentially before the end of this decade — from $2 billion as of 2021 to $61.3 billion by 2031. The AR sales strategies that work today mainly rely on the following:
- Integration with top e-commerce platforms
- Gamification of a shopping experience
- Remote consultations
- Creation of interactive catalogs
- Developing enhanced educational guides and programs
- Improved analytics for further marketing
This is already a lot, but definitely not the limit of what AR has to offer. First of all, there is much room for improvement within each of the strategies described above. Besides, some businesses have already started advertising their AR-assisted sales process and goods through influencer marketing — a wise call considering what fun and engaging experience AR-assisted shopping helps nurture. In combination with influencer marketing, brands can enhance this experience further while expanding their reach.
Currently, the US and China are the leading markets with the highest percentage of brands relying on AR in their marketing efforts. However, more countries are starting to catch up — and for a good reason, considering that an average revenue per user is expected to reach $5.5 before this decade is over.
So, even though augmented reality remains a relatively new technology in sales, its overwhelming potential most likely means that AR sales trends will keep evolving. So, sales marketers should hurry to get their spot in the sun before the beach becomes too crowded. And, while AR marketing strategies are in their initial stages, this leaves more room for experimentation and creativity, with a chance to reap great rewards.
