If you shop online you’ve probably encountered a virtual fitting room. This is becoming a more common practice for online stores, as it allows customers to try on a cosmetic product, accessory, clothing item or even see how a piece of furniture will look in their home without ever physically touching it. In 2022 the global market for virtual fitting rooms was $4.03 billion and is estimated to grow to $14.87 billion by 2029. The way this technology works is by overlaying a product onto a live video of a customer with their mobile device or computer. The camera take a 360 degree scan of the customer using augmented reality, which is similar to AI as it uses algorithms and machine learning to create a 3D model. To incorporate a virtual fitting room into your online store, there are a variety of apps that can range from $129 to 549$ per month to implement. It could be worth it though, as 65% of shoppers are more likely to make a purchase after interacting with products through AR technology. Here are a few more reasons why a virtual fitting room could be the next innovation that helps you meet your goals.
Benefits
Improve the Customer Experience
Personalization is a huge consideration for optimizing the customer experience. Consumers want choice and control. Retailers have learned to use technology to personalize every aspect of the shopping experience and this is just one more way to do so. Anything that makes the customer experience better will make it just that much easier for consumers to choose your brand over a competitor.
Drive Revenue
The customer experience is important as it can be the reason that customers choose you! Keeping up with trends and innovations is part of what makes your brand stand out, and that means more profits. Helping customers to choose which items they want can increase average order value as well.
Reduce Returns
As customers will feel more confident in their purchases since they had the opportunity to try it first, they will be much less likely to return their items. Returns are expensive and result in more resources and effort from your team as well. Reducing returns means increasing trust with your customers and increasing profits.
Offer Convenience
Convenience is a big one for consumers. They want to feel confident in their purchases too and they don’t want any roadblocks making their decision more difficult. We’ve all come to expect convenience so keeping up with that growing demand is integral to the success of your business.
What are some potential downsides to this revolutionary technology? Is this just another trend that may not yield real results? Let’s discuss some things to consider about how this technology may not benefit your business.
Drawbacks
Expensive
This technology can be expensive and out of reach for small businesses. For small retailers who are looking to get ahead, a complicated integration could feel like more trouble than it’s worth. For larger companies who want to innovate their customer experience, it may be an easy choice, but it isn’t accessible to everyone.
Consumer Distrust
As this technology is new and not standardized, consumers don’t always feel confident that the items they see in augmented reality actually look like the real-life item they’re interested in. Though this technology is advanced, that doesn’t necessarily mean that consumers will be ready to see its value.
Lack of Physical Touch
Not only does virtual reality potentially risk portraying items differently than their real-life counterparts but consumers could still decide they don’t like an item only after they see it in person. Seeing how an item will look on you doesn’t inform how the item will feel so this can still result in unsatisfied customers.
If a virtual fitting room experience is an option for your online retailer, you will see increased eCommerce sales and fewer returns with the implementation of this eCommerce integration. Though there are other factors to consider, one thing that remains is you will always have a responsibility to keep up with consumer demands if you want to compete in your industry. Is your eCommerce platform ready? If you’re looking to accomplish some complicated eCommerce integrations or want to try some new eCommerce technology with your website, our eCommerce platform marketAgility 7.0 is a single-source commerce solution to all of your eCommerce integration challenges and so much more.
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