It looks good in the picture… but
will it look good on you? That is the number one question faced by consumers
when shopping online for clothing, accessories, and cosmetics.
Facebook is in the process of
fine-tuning some tech to answer this question so that you can make your next
purchase from one of their advertising partners. You are probably quite
familiar with this technology, if you have kids or have played Pokémon Go
yourself, it’s called augmented reality. Up to this point, its applications
have been fairly basic and more gimmicky than practical. It’s been mostly used
by retailers to demonstrate stationary objects like furniture, home goods, and
appliances. The concept is simple, you take a picture of a room and place the
item in the picture so you can visualize how it will look in the environment
It’s neat, but not earth-shattering. But with the rapid advances in both
hardware and software, AR technology has rapidly improved and is finally coming
into its prime with many retailers like Amazon, Target, and Ikea also jumping
on the AR bandwagon.
So what exactly has Facebook done?
It’s vastly improved AR tech by making it more fully interactive. Want to try
out a pair of sunglasses? Or see how that wild shade of lipstick looks on you
before you shell out 30 bucks? Well, that’s just what this new AR tool does.
Michael Kors, Louis Vuitton and Sephora will be among the first retailers to
test out the new ad format coming soon to your Facebook news feed. Michael Kors
first AR ad allows a shopper to try on a pair of sunglasses virtually, click on
the ad and it activates your device’s camera so you can see how the sunglasses
appear on your face, you can change the color of the frame or the tint of the
lenses of your shades. The virtual sunglasses move with your face seamlessly so
it’s far less cartoonish than some face filters you may already be familiar
with using Instagram or snapchat. Augmented reality is poised to play a crucial
role in the future of retail, it’s not just for games or making cartoon faces
with friends it’s becoming a new important marketing tool, and its applications
are boundless. For starters these interactive products are far more engaging to
consumers and engaging that shopper is the first critical step in converting a
casual shopper into a customer. This technology can also be used to measure
yourself, and the garment eliminating the need to try it on greatly reducing
losses suffered by retailers for items returned that do not fit properly. You
can also build and try out outfits and entire wardrobes virtually before making
your first purchase. That’s a lot of potential time saved by your average
shopper.
These tools will soon be in the hands of
independent entrepreneurs such as yourself and for those early adaptors, it
will be a tremendous asset to grow your business. Knowing what to sell and
utilizing all the tools available to you is key to your businesses success so
it’s always important to keep your eye on the horizon for the next tool to help
your business thrive.
It’s becoming clear that while
technology has not completely closed the gap between the real and virtual
shopping experience, it has certainly moved in leaps and bounds to narrow the
gap.
At Foxliquidation, your success is our success, which is why we stay up to date on the latest trends in fashion and upcoming technology. Take a look, foxliquidation.com has a vast array of liquidation merchandise that we offer for sale at a fraction of the wholesale price.