How does augmented reality help in online sales?

Statistics show that in 2019, about 1.92 billion people in the world, almost a quarter of the entire world’s population, made their purchases online. During this period, more than 2 thousand online stores were registered in Kazakhstan, the amount of purchases for which amounted to 422 billion tenge, while Kazakhstanis spent 280 billion tenge in international online stores. This trend is not surprising, since modern man is faced with a constant lack of time. The situation with the coronavirus also affected the growth of electronic purchases: 55% of buyers began to purchase goods in online stores more often than before the period of self-isolation.

Under the current conditions, companies that sell offline had to actively explore the Internet space and face high competition. Wanting to stand out, online stores use the latest marketing techniques and digital technologies, including augmented reality. The results of a survey by the digital agency Techies India Inc. showed that consumers are waiting for as many opportunities as possible for interactive interaction with products and brands using AR. According to Vertebrae, the introduction of augmented reality gives a 19% increase in engagement, a 52% increase in conversion and a 25% increase in the average order cost.

Why is augmented reality so popular with the consumer audience?

According to the data provided in the Hubspot e-commerce statistics, 80% of customers stop interacting with the company due to unsatisfactory service. Four out of five respondents stressed that such negative aspects of the service, such as lack of knowledge on the part of the staff, late response to messages and incomplete information about products, forced them to refuse offers.

The results of these studies are also relevant for e-commerce companies. Since online sales do not give the customer the opportunity to touch and try on the product before making a purchase, there is a greater number of product returns in this segment than in regular retail outlets. Despite the fact that online companies demonstrate the product with the help of videos and photos, the buyer still has a feeling of uncertainty in the purchase.

The use of augmented reality allows companies to overcome consumer distrust, and customers to visualize their favorite products in real time without leaving home. According to the results of the study, AR content involves 2.6 times more than ordinary photos, and 2.1 times more than videos. At the same time, 78% of respondents would prefer to interact with augmented reality instead of watching a short video.

Augmented reality in online sales allows you to:

• build and maintain relationships between the company and the client;
• increase the loyalty of the target audience through emotional impact;
• convey information about the product and be remembered by the buyer;
• view and» try on » the product to the consumer before buying.

Therefore, more and more companies are including augmented reality content in their mobile applications. Given the annual growth in the number of mobile users, it is expected that the relevance of augmented reality, which allows to strengthen interaction with the brand, will also grow. According to GSMA Intelligence, today 5.2 billion people have mobile devices, which is approximately 66.83% of the world’s population. Among them, 3.8 billion people use the mobile Internet.