With AR evolving industry-wide, Snapchat is expanding their eCommerce credentials by showcasing the evolution of the platform’s AR tools.
The multimedia instant messaging app has recently partnered with some big names, with the focus on AR shopping initiatives. The most notable initaitive being the ‘Snap Holiday Market’, which includes an immersive augmented reality shopping experience from Coca-Cola, Amazon, Under Armour, Verizon, Walmart and Hollister.
As said by Snapchat:
“Each brand will have a dedicated virtual store environment within the Holiday Market, where Snapchatters will be able to browse products and holiday deals in an AR space that’s been custom-built and unique to each brand.”
The new AR shopping experience will be accessible via Snapchat’s Lens Carousel. The advanced integrations will provide:
- Dedicated product showcases
- Interactive and try-on elements
- Up front branding for each business partner
Additionally, Snapchat has also partnered with an array of beauty and fashion brands to provide users with more AR try-ons. The partnerships include big-name brands such as:
- Dior
- American Eagle
- Tory Burch
It’s clear that online shopping has opened some new doors for brands. With all major platforms striving to overhaul the idea of shopping as we know it, Snapchat is looking to take things one step further with immersive and interactive VR tools and options.
Sure, online shopping, and the development thereof, has been in the pipeline for quite some time, but if lockdown never happened, brands wouldn’t have been forced to innovate on such a level. This innovation is reshaping the way people shop. Soon enough, people will no longer have to physically visit stores to see what certain clothing will look like on them.
In a sense, these developments, and those being steadily implemented by other social networks all leans into the metaverse shift.
Since the Meta name change news, no one really knows exactly what the metaverse will look like, or how it will function. But, Snapchat’s new AR shopping experience provides some solid insight into the collision of the physical world and the digital one, and how the younger consumers will lead this shift.
