AR Is the Secret Weapon Retailers Need This Holiday Season

Editor’s note: This column is part of a series with Snap on augmented reality. Below, Sharon Silverstein, head of U.S. verticals, outlines the competitive advantages of AR when competing for consumer attention amid shrinking holiday budgets. All across the globe, the holidays are an important season for so many people for so many reasons. But for retailers, it is make or break. And this year is no exception. We’ve all read the reports and seen the headlines—the economy has shoppers cutting back, and retailers should expect to feel the pinch. A new survey from Gartner found that nearly a third of consumers are planning to spend less this holiday season. To overcome these challenges, retailers must offer more seamless experiences, leverage every touch point as a branding moment, convert at every opportunity and give their customers digital experiences that move the needle. And augmented reality can help. Consumers Are Ready for AR—Is Your Brand? At Snap, we’ve long touted the efficacy of AR in building consumer confidence and supporting the purchase journey. We recently found that shopping is the No. 1 reason consumers use AR, affirming that it makes experiences easier, better and faster overall. And last year, we saw AR users spend on average nearly $1,000 more than non-AR users on their end-of-the-year holiday shopping. Here’s some ways you can leverage AR to win share of wallet this holiday season. Exceed customer expectations The average consumer now sees up to 10,000 ads every day, so brands must compete for every impression to cut through the clutter. Since shoppers are more selective, they have higher expectations from brands. They want a seamless shopping experience whenever and wherever they are. Immersive solutions like augmented reality let them easily envision how your brand fits into their lifestyle or how your product will be the perfect gift to give friends or family. Retailers Hollister, Verizon and others did just that last year when they launched AR experiences in the first-ever Snap Holiday Market—enabling their consumers to explore products, browse for gifts and make purchases with a series of exclusive, customer-centric AR activations. Keep your brand top of mind all season long Meaningful moments happen all season long—not just during the gift exchange. Your customer is preparing for occasions by discovering, researching and sharing gift ideas for family and friends. They’re making purchases and sharing the moments of celebration—including the gifts they give—with their friends, through social platforms. That means at any given time, your brand can turn each of these moments into an opportunity to drive conversion and consideration. Last year, Walmart capitalized on the full holiday selling period with a 360 campaign on Snapchat, which kicked off on Black Friday. All season long, Walmart was able to reach high-potential holiday shoppers and keep their brand top of mind by combining a variety of tactics including National AR lenses, Snap Ads and a partnered takeover within Discover content. Turn content into commerce Whether it’s swiping up on an ad to make an immediate purchase, trying on a pair of shoes or scanning a product in-store, every AR experience is an opportunity to create a better shopping experience and convert audiences. Using AR makes the shopping journey more unique and personal for the audience, as your customer actively chooses to engage with your brand rather than mindlessly scrolling past thousands of static online posts or tuning out during a commercial break. AR is a truly immersive format that drives retention and attention when every brand is competing during the busiest shopping season. Enhance the retail shopping experience with AR Over half of end-of-year shoppers say that if they view or interact with a product using AR, they are more likely to purchase it. That makes AR invaluable. Imagine giving shoppers what they want—product trials, virtual storefronts, in-store experiences, celebration expressions—exactly when they want it. The Holidays Are a Great Time to Embrace the ‘Nonrational’ Side of Consumers That’s what JCPenney did when it launched AI- and AR-based skincare experiences on their website. These types of digital advisory solutions take gifting and purchasing to new levels of ease and prediction. AR allows shoppers to discover and see how products personally fit into their lives, which helps decrease returns, maintain brand loyalty and drive purchases faster. And that's a winning holiday formula for retailers. These are just a few examples of the growing number of ways in which AR can help retailers grow their bottom line. Make AR a key pillar of your business and marketing strategies during the holiday selling season and beyond.