The internet is full of blogs and articles demonstrating how AR is effective for the user engagement and higher conversion. I have written many articles on them too 🙂
However, these overview often do not help people who are going to start business with WebAR since it is important to know the actual truth from customer side. What is people thinking while using AR? Is it just an act of gimmick or do they really see values in there? I became curious lately because these facts are also important for me. So I tried to skim through few research papers.
A recent research paper (Augmented Reality and the Customer Journey: An Exploratory Study) published from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia showed that customers a.k.a common people really do get help from AR based shopping. What are the key points from customers' point of views? Let me share the essence with you today.
Disclaimer – today's article can look like a boring academic show but I think it'll be beneficial for you to define a concrete strategy based on accurate impact of AR to consumers.
Why Should you read it?
Retail technology is increasingly seen as an interface between brand and customer interactions (van Doorn et al., 2016), which is relevant to all the stages of the customer journey. Specifically, there is little knowledge about how and whether such technology enhances or detracts from the customer experience at different stages of the customer journey, from pre-purchase to purchase and then post-purchase.
The Role of AR in the Customer Journey
In the pre-purchase stage, consumers can be influenced by internal and external stimuli when deciding whether to engage with physical or online stores (Pine & Gilmore, 2011).
Internal stimuli are individual difference factors, such as purchase frequency and involvement, while external stimuli are the environmental factors which can include design elements and technology.
At the purchase stage, the consumer makes a choice and decides to purchase (Inman et al., 2009). However, retail technology offers consumers a multitude of items from which to choose, which can increase choice complexity and reduce choice confidence (Garaus & Wagner, 2016). As a result, cognitive dissonance can occur when, after a customer evaluates the purchase, she/he feels that it does not meet their expectations or that a competing choice may have been wiser.
At the post-purchase stage, the customer might have to decide whether or not to complain and this decision can also influence other behaviours such as product return or WOM intentions (Bolkan et al., 2012).
AR and the customer experience
A range of theories have been drawn upon to explain consumer responses to technology, AR in particular. Technology can enhance consumers’ utilitarian and hedonic purchase experiences.
In physical stores, virtual fitting rooms with smart mirrors are the most common technology types, where consumers visualise the item projected on a mirror, without needing to actually try it on (Beck & Crié, 2018). In digital settings, a website or smartphone application can allow the consumer to virtually try items by using the phone’s camera or uploading a picture. Thus AR can simulate an experience (Baudrillard, 1994) by blending the real and virtual worlds.
How AR can enhance the customer experience
As a retail technology, AR has been gaining popularity due to its ability to overcome the inadequacies of both online and offline shopping (Javornik, 2016).
Regarding offline shopping, one of the major concerns is related to effort, and having to physically try on clothes is not always a pleasurable experience for consumers. Admittedly, online shopping is often preferred so as to overcome this issue (Hao Suan Samuel et al., 2015). AR is expected to alleviate these issues and provide a better experience by delivering a playful experience. Perceived playfulness refers to the recreational element of the shopping experience (Kang et al., 2020).
How AR can detract from the customer experience
One reason that consumers shop online is the lower perceived effort as browsing and purchasing can be undertaken easily. The use of AR as a virtual try-on tool, however, would add an extra step to a consumer’s online shopping experience. Some shoppers might consider this additional step as requiring too much effort.
The concept of effort is comprised of four components: cognitive, emotional, time and physical effort (Dixon et al., 2010). It has been found that AR is able to save consumers’ time and effort, and improve their decision-making ability (Hilken et al., 2017).
Somewhat linked to novelty, playfulness is another important factor to consider. AR has a component of playfulness (Kang et al., 2020), which might lead consumers to interact for fun, but not convert to purchase.
What I think about VTO (Virtual try-on) and AR in Ecommerce
Looking at the bunch of academics researching on the longer term impact of AR in ecommerce – one thing is sure. AR is not going anywhere soon. At the same time, the playfulness of AR can distract customers from shopping – it is a true concern too.
I think WebAR is a really good niche combination to avoid too much effort spent by customers while trying VOT in digital marketplaces with a better focus to buy products. The less immersiveness (compared to AR apps) of WebAR can play as a bliss to the brands to scale sales.
Overall I'm very optimistic about the scope of WebAR being used in ecommerce in coming years. If you want to adopt/sell WebAR and VOT as a service to ecomm, 2024 is the best year to begin with.