Augmented reality in fashion with virtual try-on tools is fast bridging the gap between physical and digital retail. This, in turn, has made it possible to generate viable data for effective planning, product development, and customer retention.
If you consider the big picture, AR holds the best cue to shape a fashion industry that serves consumers and businesses alike.
More than 60% of consumers like to shop in stores that have already adopted AR tech. Another 40% wouldn’t shy from paying extra for a product they could experience via virtual reality in 2023.Such stats draw the perfect tangent highlighting the potential impact of augmented reality in fashion.
For clothing brands, AR try-ons are fast becoming necessary to stay afloat with the competition and increasingly meet customer demands.
Embracing AR Tech As A Conversion Hack
One of the biggest setbacks of online shopping is the need for more touch and feel. This is one principal area where AR-driven shopping can be a savior.
Threekit reports how more than 70% of customers prefer shopping from a brand that has already incorporated AR tech as a part of the customer journey. As customers get to browse a never-ending catalog of clothes and try as many as possible, they are left spoilt for choice.
It’s an excellent retention strategy for fashion brands to keep people engaged for as much as 2.7x longer than average. In other words, there’s unlimited scope for up-and-cross-selling.
Besides, AR clothing try-on tools do away with the guesswork of choosing between sizes, as customers can visualize how a particular dress would look on them. This gives them the confidence to purchase and guarantees sales for the brand.
AR Clothing Try Ons-Forget Novelty, This is Necessity
In a recent industry report by Grand View Research, the global AR market size was predicted to reach a figure no less than USD 597.54 billion by the end of 2030. That’s an impressive CAGR of 39.8%. Industry experts believe that apps like virtual try-ons and product visualizations will be the top contributors like nothing else in comparison.
When it comes to AR try-ons, Zugara was the first brand ever to have embraced the tech.
Back then, it was an amazing experience for customers to use their webcam and superimpose a dress on their body. Fast forward to 2023, and there’s zero room for novelty. It’s either a necessity that you fulfill or goes extinct.
A McKinsey Returns Management Survey reports that clothes bought from e-commerce platforms run the risk of return by as much as 25%. AR clothing try-ons are a foolproof way to change the game. More than seventy per cent of clothes are returned due to poor fitting or style. AR clothing try-on does away with customers’ reliance on predefined size charts, which drastically differ from one brand to another.
For fashion retailers, it is a befitting call as they can create products to customer’s liking and help create a sustainable industry. Think how typical brick-and-mortar stores can make the most of it using smart mirrors and 3D dressing rooms.
Truth be told, consumers today are busier than ever. They want to waltz into a store, pick up their clothes, and move on. Virtual reality in fashion is a great way to help them save time from waiting in the queue for changing rooms and the time taken to undress and dress themselves only to find the right size. In other words, more freedom, less hassle.
Undeniably, augmented reality in fashion is definitely a game changer:
- Boosting Sales: AR tech has shown brands the way to boost sales as it allows customers to try a range of clothes and accessories virtually. This allows a customer to make informed decisions, a plus point in buying experience, thereby leading to higher conversions and more sales.
- Lowering the Number of Returns: This is a perennial issue with fashion brands. By embracing virtual try-ons, brands can help customers get an accurate idea of how a desired piece of clothing would look on them. With the right size and style confirmed, customers will gain confidence, thereby narrowing the chance of return.
- A Step-Up in Customer Experience: AR clothing try-ons and virtual make-up tools are increasingly helping fashion brands elevate customer experience. It’s more to do with enhanced personalization, where a customer can visualize herself in a dress that matches her body type and pair the right kind of make-up to go with her skin tone.
- Saves Money: AR tech can help brands spend less towards physical inventory. Thus, overhead costs are reduced, and retailers will have more room to expand their offerings without hefty investments to store products.
- Increased Sustainability: Virtual reality in 2023 can help fashion brands and retailers become more sustainable by reducing the cost of shipping and packaging materials. This, in turn, helps bring down the environmental impact and helps a fashion brand realize its sustainability goals.
Wrap Up
Fashion brands looking to make the most out of augmented reality in fashion can gain maximum leverage by embracing AR clothing try-on solutions. That way, they can effectively utilize advanced body scanning technology to generate precise digital models of individual customers to work with significant depersonalized information.
Further, such data can serve as a foundation for several upcoming apparel lines tailored to meet a customer’s preferred style, size, and taste, with refined grading criteria and strategically allocated garments based on a range of preferences.
Such insights into the demographics and purchasing patterns of clientele will help manufacturers optimize their production and distribution processes. This will also ensure that the clothing items are manufactured and dispatched to locations where they can sell faster.
