There are few inconveniences left with online shopping: you don’t have to leave your home, you can do it at any time of the day or night and the order is delivered the next day (sometimes even the same day). But what about sunglasses and makeup? For these, people seem to prefer to go to the store. The communication app Snapchat wants to make online shopping in these categories even easier with augmented reality. FashionUnited attended the ‘Snap AR Fashion & Beauty Experience’ event by invitation and delved into the digital – or augmented – world.
Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that projects computer-generated images onto the screen, superimposing them on the image of the real world. Snapchat has been using AR technology for years. It started with humorous filters, but now technology is starting to play a serious role in the fashion and cosmetics industries. Big companies like Adidas, Dior, Nike and Prada are already using them. Snapchat is attempting to mimic the offline shopping experience by allowing its customers to try on products virtually.
Many fashion and makeup stalls are to be explored at the Hallen Studios in Amsterdam. All are provided with yellow signs with a snapcode. The Snapcode – similar to a QR code, with a small icon of the item in question – needs to be scanned with the Snapchat camera. The element appears as a filter on the screen. Whether it’s a jacket, bag, pair of trousers, a shoe or a watch, they are projected onto the body of the person who scanned them, simulating what they might look like in real life. This is due to three technological innovations of the Snapchat camera. The lens has the functions ‘World object scale’, ‘Body Mesh Enhancement’ and ‘Ray Tracing’. ‘World object scale’ ensures that the object can be seen in its actual size. With ‘Body Mesh Enhancement’, the object adapts to the body of the consumer. ‘Ray tracing’ adds light and shadow effects so that the object looks ‘real’. In this way, the most realistic image of the item is recreated.
Snapchat mimics offline shopping experience with augmented reality
One item where there is (almost) no difference between AR and reality during the event is a red Puma sneaker. Even the white details on the toe of the shoe and the pattern on the sole are included in the AR version. As soon as interested parties have tried on the product virtually and are convinced to buy it, they can access the online shop via the filter. The customer is shown the virtually matching article and can place an order. With this, Snapchat wants to reduce the number of returns and thereby reduce the negative impact on the environment. “Around 66 percent of consumers in the Netherlands say they return less because they have already seen the product ‘in real life’. Consumers see what it looks like on them, which creates more confidence in their purchase,” said Toccara Baker, Product Marketing Lead at Snapchat EMEA. A disadvantage of a virtual try-on is that consumers do not (yet) receive a size suggestion. This can result in multiple sizes being ordered, resulting in returns of the mismatched sizes.
Snapchat works with fashion and makeup brands that want to offer their customers a unique, playful online shopping experience. “When a brand wants to work with us, we talk to them about the ideas they have and see if they fit Snapchat’s vision. Companies should be open to designing lenses and filters that are unique. Nike, for example, created a filter that shows how to do a proper squat while customers try on a pair of athletic leggings,” says Baker. Snapchat filters and lenses offer brands the opportunity to build an advertising platform that encourages consumers to buy. “And it works,” Baker nods. “94 percent of the brands we work with find that consumers place an order faster.”
This article was similarly published on FashionUnited.nl. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ