On June 10, Amazon launched a new shopping feature called “Virtual try-on for Shoes.” The feature will allow consumers to use their phone’s camera to see how the foot looks when choosing a shoe style. As a pilot, the feature is currently only available to consumers in the US and Canada, two North American markets, on iOS.
It is understood that consumers in eligible regions will be able to try on thousands of brands and different styles of shoes on Amazon. For shoe sellers deeply rooted in the North American market, Amazon’s move is undoubtedly a good way to increase sales. The introduction of this function enables consumers to more intuitively see the fit of shoes, which can not only increase sales but also greatly reduce the probability of consumers’ refund and return, thus improving the profit margin of sellers.
In AR virtual try-on, consumers can point their phone’s camera at their feet and scroll through various shoes to see how they look from different angles and try on other colors in the same style, but the tool cannot be used to determine shoe size. While the new feature is currently only available to iOS users, Amazon says it is refining the technology to make it available to Android users.
It is not new for e-commerce platform to launch “AR virtual shopping” function. In order to improve consumers’ experience satisfaction and reduce the return rate to maintain profits, e-commerce platforms have successively launched virtual shopping functions.
Back in 2017, Amazon introduced “AR View,” which allowed users to visualize products at home using their smartphones, followed by “Room Decorator,” which allowed users to virtually fill their rooms with multiple products at once. Amazon’s AR shopping is not just for the home, but also for beauty.
Relevant data points out that AR’s try-on function enhances consumers’ buying confidence. According to the results of a survey, more than 50% of the surveyed consumers believe that AR gives them more confidence to shop online, because it can provide a more immersive shopping experience. Of those surveyed, 75% said they were willing to pay a premium for a product that supports AR preview.
In addition, data show that AR marketing, compared with simple video advertising marketing, product sales are 14% higher.
Robert Triefus, Gucci’s vice president of brand and customer interaction, said the company would double down on AR functionality to drive e-commerce.
Amazon has been making new moves to retain more customers and third-party sellers and boost positive revenue growth, but it remains to be seen how effective they will be.
Post time: Jun-11-2022