Augmented reality in retail: The second coming | Computer Weekly

More accessible, more capable

In a 2021 Deloitte and Snapchat study, 74% of global consumers said they anticipated AR to become more important in their lives over the next five years. We’re now right in the middle of that period, and the signs suggest it was a prescient survey.

Cassandra Napoli, senior strategist at WGSN Insight, says: “From socialising and shopping to education and entertainment, AR applications are truly endless for brands, especially when it comes to commerce.

“While AR is certainly not new, brands have only recently started unlocking its true potential as a marketing and commerce tool that can completely redefine the consumer experience. In the last few years, consumers have grown more comfortable with the technology thanks to the ubiquity of social media filters which offer entertainment.

“In the years ahead, though, AR could become even more central to our communication and consumption habits, and so we should anticipate a future with more AR ad space and AR try-on tools,” she says.

The unlocking of the potential of AR comes as the capability and accessibility of the technology improves. “AR technology has advanced significantly in recent years, making it more accessible for businesses including retailers,” says Hornby. “Increased adoption of mobile devices with advanced cameras and sensors has also made it possible for more people to experience AR in their daily lives, and it will likely become a basic expectation of digital customer experience in the future.”

He adds: “More stable and easy-to-use software development kits have made it simpler for developers to create engaging AR experiences that delight customers and improve engagement and satisfaction. Advancements in technology have also made it quicker, easier and cheaper to produce the 3D assets required to offer an immersive AR experience at scale.”

The Very digital customer experience boss also talks up the proliferation of tech partners in the space as a contributing factor to AR’s rise in prominence.

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Stephen Hewett, future retail leader at Frog, a division of Capgemini, agrees, saying the underlying maturing of other technologies has helped AR, with hardware now able to run it with “better quality and accuracy”. The fact it is in the hands of more people now will trigger greater adoption, he argues.

Capgemini teamed up with magazine The Drum and internet of things agency SharpEnd before the pandemic to open a concept store in East London, where the latest technologies are tried out in front of consumers. The “Cornershop – store of tomorrow” concept, in Shoreditch, has trialled different AR deployments.

“We tested AR with a functional purpose – we asked ourselves, ‘can we signpost people to products that are compatible with their purpose goals?’ and the response was overwhelming,” says Hewett, adding that consumers saw it as a way to simplify shopping.