Retail businesses are in a constant uphill battle against the distractions of the real world. In a brick-and-mortar store, people are immersed in their surroundings and can engage with that environment in natural ways that focus on the purchasing process. Until recently, online storefronts haven’t been able to provide the same experience, and this has resulted in a high rate of abandoned carts.
Augmented reality technology has provided useful tools in the battle for e-commerce businesses to immerse and engage their customers. However, offering these valuable experiences to retail clients as a SaaS business comes with a fair share of challenges: ineffective technology strategies, resource shortfall, and innovation deficiencies.
In this guide, I’ll share some of the best use cases of augmented reality in retail based on my experience in leading AR projects at MobiDev since ARKit was first launched in 2017. In what follows, you’ll see how your retail SaaS platform can realistically deliver value to your business customers using AR technologies.
Benefits of Using AR in Retail
The core benefit of AR in retail is its ability to provide more immersive experiences to guests. For example, many people prefer to shop for furniture in person because it’s easier to determine the size of the product. It’s very difficult for a customer to know if they will enjoy a particular product based on a picture alone.
A common return reason for furniture is that an item simply doesn’t fit in with a room’s design or color, which can be difficult to determine both at the store and when ordering online. Augmented reality technology can help mitigate this problem by allowing customers to see what furniture will look like in their homes before they buy it. Customers might use a smartphone or a head-mounted display like the Apple Vision Pro or future Android XR devices to access these experiences.
By utilizing augmented reality solutions in your SaaS product, you can help e-commerce businesses reduce return rates and improve conversion rates, saving money and generating greater revenue.
TOP 5 Augmented Reality Use Cases in Retail
To understand how this technology can be useful for your business customers, let’s explore how AR is used in retail by looking at different use cases.
1. Virtual Fitting Room and Virtual Try-On Solutions
One augmented reality use case in retail that’s been in high demand is virtual fitting room technology, where customers can visualize merchandise like clothing using AR from the comfort of their own homes.
The main appeal of a brick-and-mortar store when it comes to engagement is fitting rooms, something that e-commerce platforms fundamentally lack. Virtual fitting rooms with AR technologies can help bridge that gap and provide customers with more than just static images.
A demonstration of a virtual try-on application in action, created by MobiDev
This technology isn’t just good at helping connect with e-commerce customers — it also has demonstrated its potential to benefit physical storefronts. For example, smart mirrors can increase customer engagement. They can also incorporate more complex technologies that may not be available on mobile devices, meaning that results can be more accurate and the quality can be higher.
Intersection with Other Technologies
When companies look to build virtual try-on solutions for retail brands, it’s important to understand that there’s more to making a successful product than just augmented reality. Although AR is a key component of those applications, it’s not enough to achieve the quality that customers expect.
Artificial intelligence can enhance the quality of an experience by improving tracking mechanisms. For example, trying on hats virtually is relatively simple. However, more advanced applications like cosmetics need a combination of AI and AR frameworks to segment the face zone correctly.
Advanced Measurements
The technologies used for smart mirrors and AR experiences in-store can also be used for measuring tools. For example, DSW is employing Aetrex Albert 2 Pro 3D scanners in their stores to allow customers to get detailed 3D scans of their feet to help them get important insights about their shoe size.
Get valuable insights into development of AR-based aplls
Check out Our Guide to Building 3D Body Measurement Applications2. AR Space Measurement and Visualization
Another powerful application of retail augmented reality is the ability to measure spaces and visualize modifications and additions to those spaces. This makes it possible to change aspects of the space through the camera viewfinder like replacing wallpaper or flooring and adding furniture to rooms.
The most important part of this application of AR is measurement. By using depth sensing hardware on mobile devices like LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), ToF (Time of Flight), and other sensors, rooms can be quickly measured in 3D by software.
Since rooms can be measured accurately, applications can even estimate the amount of paint, wallpaper, or flooring materials needed to cover the space. This can help customers save time and money by ensuring they are purchasing the right volume of materials.
HomeScanning Demo Augmented Reality Measurement App for Home Renovation
Our team at MobiDev developed such an application for a United States-based client in 2021. The resulting product enabled customers to measure and visualize spaces to get comprehensive cost estimates for different home improvement changes. The application used iPhone LiDAR sensors and the ARKit framework.
Learn how MobiDev can help you incorporate AR in your product. Check out our client's success story:
AR Consulting & Development for Home Renovation Software Product3. Augmented Reality Navigation for Shopping Malls
Supermarkets and big shopping malls can be challenging to navigate and can be overwhelming to engage with. Another valuable augmented reality use case in retail is navigation.
Augmented reality navigation can help bring shoppers to points of interest and stores that they’re interested in at a mall or help them find the aisle they’re looking for. Today, it’s possible to achieve this with a smartphone. Tomorrow, it may be possible with lightweight AR glasses.
It’s true that AR hardware is advancing quickly, with more portable head-mounted displays on the way. However, this isn’t the main bottleneck when it comes to the performance of indoor navigation and AR in retail. The main obstacle is actually the core technology behind indoor positioning systems: positioning and tracking.
To help navigate a shopper to a specific product on a shelf, you’d need much higher accuracy. That may not be possible yet, but tracking is still good enough to get shoppers to a specific store in a mall or to a particular aisle at the supermarket. Keep these limitations in mind when planning your project.
In the demo video above, you can see the indoor navigation system for smartphones developed by MobiDev. The app provides users with the heads-up AR directions in 3D.
Augmented Reality Indoor Navigation Demo - ARCore based
In this example, we utilized unique 2D patterns to help orient and calibrate the navigation application. There are other ways to achieve indoor navigation, such as using Bluetooth beacons, Wi-Fi Round Trip Time (RTT), or ultra-wideband (UWB).
4. AR User Manuals and Instructions
Retail augmented reality can make a big difference when it comes to customer satisfaction and understanding of the products that they receive. It can also help customers understand how products work before they buy them. With AR-powered user manuals and instructions, customers can see overlaid digital information on real-world objects.
Augmented Reality User Manual Demo
In the above video, you’ll see an AR-based user manual for a coffee machine developed by our team. Instead of referring back to a 2D book or PDF manual, an ARCore-based mobile app allows the customer to quickly see what each button does just by pointing their camera viewfinder at the machine. Although the above demo was accomplished using ARCore, the same functionality can be achieved with ARKit for iOS devices as well.
5. Augmented Reality Product Visualization
Earlier, we talked about how AR in retail is helping e-commerce customers visualize wearing clothes digitally. However, there are other kinds of products that we can visualize. Other than clothes, the most popular option is furniture.
Being able to visualize what a couch would look like in your space while taking measurements into account is a powerful tool for e-commerce customers. Ikea, Walmart, and other brands have their own applications that allow customers to achieve this.
Additionally, immersive experiences can be used to engage with in-person customers. For example, a pet store might consider incorporating an AR experience into their mobile app that allows customers to see fish swimming around the store as if they were at a large aquarium.
As another example, perhaps a toy store could provide an AR scavenger hunt experience through their app. Finding virtual toys in the store could unlock special discounts and bring customers to areas of the store that are less frequently visited.
Engaging Brand Identity with AR
Another important aspect of augmented reality and retail is branded materials. Using AR to enhance these materials can provide new opportunities for customer and partner engagement.
For example, AR business cards can generate curiosity from viewers. Scanning a QR code on a business card can reveal a WebAR experience on a viewer’s mobile device, overlaying the card with digital content. This can make the experience much more memorable for the viewer.
The above demo demonstrates an example of an AR business card the MobiDev team developed for our CEO Oleg Lola. With the help of Augmented Reality, we turned a simple business card into a compelling video, showcasing how attention-grabbing these kinds of branded materials can be.
AR in Sales
Thanks to the technology’s ability to provide immersive product demonstrations, one of the best AR in retail use cases is in sales. Augmented Reality can greatly advance the efforts of sales teams and encourage them to continue buying.
In this case study, our team at MobiDev worked with a multinational travel corporation to produce AR-powered applications for iOS and Android. These apps featured AR, animations and ticket booking. By pointing their camera at places of interest, travelers can get information about landmarks and destinations.
The Future of Augmented Reality in Retail
According to Allied Market Research, the augmented reality in retail market size is on the rise. By 2031, the firm estimates that it will reach a value of $61.3 billion, with a CAGR of 41.4%. This estimation is based on an initial measurement of $2 billion in 2021.
At one point, augmented reality in retail industries was an exciting novelty. Customers found it fun to try and play with, but at its core, it was an experimental gimmick. Brands like Ikea would operate their primary mobile app with traditional e-commerce features without AR, and then experiment with AR features in a separate app called Ikea Place.
However, brands have now directly incorporated these AR tools into their primary mobile apps and websites. This is indicative of AR becoming widely accepted and even demanded by customers. Customer expectations for the quality of these experiences are increasing each day, requiring brands to pay careful attention to the user experience.
Companies that develop retail applications must constantly study the current trends and expectations to offer their clients, retail e-commerce brands, and cutting-edge features.
Although meeting those expectations is challenging, it’s an opportunity for businesses to provide what customers need: immersive and engaging shopping experiences in-store and at home. Businesses able to provide those experiences and bridge gaps to reach their e-commerce customers will thrive in the coming decade and beyond.
Build Your AR-Enhanced Retail Product with MobiDev
Over my time leading AR product development for MobiDev, I’ve seen firsthand just how important it is to stay ahead of the competition in a rapidly evolving retail landscape. Bringing AR to your product can be game-changing for your retail clients, but there are significant challenges ahead.
Ineffective technology strategies, resource shortfalls, and innovation deficiencies may stand in your way. What our company has come to understand is that those same challenges can be great opportunities to stand out against the competition, achieve the goals of our clients, and improve return on investment.
Work with our AR consulting team, and you’ll be able to meet the needs of not only your retail clients but also their customers. That’s how you stand out against the competition, and that’s how you secure your SaaS business’s future.
Read more about our retail software development services or contact us to start talking about your product needs.
