2020 is the year that forever changed the adoption of eCommerce. As physical stores have closed for an unknown period of time, digitalisation became a way out and fair to say vital for almost every retailer. Visual e-commerce, a combination of augmented reality (AR) and 3D rendering will further improve the user experience, accelerating the use and benefits of digital commerce.
One area of technology that is shaping e-commerce today and one of the most interesting areas of innovation is the product visualization. The use of 3D and augmented reality for e-commerce might have a huge impact on customer shopping experience which is nowadays one of the highest priorities for retailers.
Daniel Beauchamp, Head of Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality at Shopify, Shopify Unite 2019
Let’s compare two companies that sell similar products online. One of them has static images and a text description, the other one has an interactive 3D model as well as a WebAR feature which allows customers to experience their products safely at home. Which one do you think is winning at selling more, increasing customer engagement, and reducing product returns? You probably guessed right.
Here are some research regarding the impact of visual commerce:
Image influence: 83% of shoppers point to product images as the most influential factor in their purchasing decision.
Order value: increases by 20%.
Increased shopper engagement and trust: 3D images boost customer engagement 66 percent over traditional 2D images.
Increased conversions: Actual purchases can rise 40 percent when a brand adds 3D images, thanks to increased trust and increased customer certainty about what they’re seeing.
Decreased returns. 3D images can reduce returns of online purchases by 35 percent, again thanks to the amount of information these images provide.
Zound Industries, Adidas RPT-01 Headphones
In the wake of COVID-19, in which retailers worldwide shut down for months, retailers using AR are enjoying a 19% spike in customer engagement, according to data from Vertebrae, and the customer conversion rate increases by 90% for customers engaging with AR versus those that don’t.
And yet if it’s still not convincing enough, According to Google, the engagement rate of 3D ads is 3x higher compared to standard display or rich media ads and leads to higher lifts in brand equity data points like purchase intent (6.9x) and brand favorability (4.7x).
However, while it’s relatively easy to produce and implement 3D & AR to your website, it’s still very important to track performance using metrics that capture engagement and interaction as well as manage deployment strategically to meet changing consumer expectations.
In conclusion, it’s a challenging time for retail but technology can prove to be a lifeline and that’s the case when it comes to 3D and Augmented Reality. The only thing to keep in mind is that now is the right time to jump on a train and start implementing it as soon as possible until it’s still a competitive advantage.