Augmented Reality in fashion industry

What is Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is an interactive experience in which information and objects are played onto natural environments. In this environment, the computer-generated images are enhanced. These images are generally touchable. In some cases, they may not be interactive.

Augmented reality has opened its way into fashion and beauty space recently. In 2017, Japanese company Shiseido released a smart mirror which enabled consumers to try on and apply makeup virtually before buying. This allowed customers to try on shades they wouldn’t necessarily try on. In addition, it did not need the long time of a real program. Shortly, brands such as L’Oreal followed suit with its Modiface emulations for makeup, hair care and skin care.

Similarly, Converse targeted their customers with their augmented reality app specifically built for physical shopping. By pointing the phone at their feet, customers can order directly via the app without visiting stores. Gucci also has one.

Augmented reality in fashion

Fashion lovers have turned to augmented reality for a variety of uses, from try-on shopping to fun filters on Instagram Stories. Fashion brands are utilizing the potential of AR via lenses, virtual try-ons, AR runway shows, augmented reality mirrors and embedded experiences. Augmented reality will change online shopping. Brands and retailers prefer to improve their customers’ shopping experiences. As a result, AR drives customer conversion by providing consumers with an immersive, fully personalized experience.

Augmented reality runway experiences may become popular as a response to the post-Covid-19 normal. Runway shows are generally expensive to produce. Companies would see this as a good way to reduce the carbon footprint of their shows as well, often held in exotic locations. AR runway experiences follow social distancing rules and enable more accessible fashion shows. Brands can recreate runway looks on holographic or augmented reality models, while they walk through many living rooms, in various places.

This idea was discovered at London Fashion Week 2020 as a three-dimensional performance by Adwoa Aboah on the runway. The 3D images was a cooperation between Central Saint Martins and the Internet service provider Three.
With the improvement in smartphones and other technology, AR is presently built into nearly every new device with a camera. Apple’s ARKit helps independent developers to generate augmented reality apps for iPhones, as does Google’s Tango mobile and Facebook’s AR Studio. By increasing the level of access, its uses and acceptance in industries will increase.

The case for and against augmented reality in fashion

Augmented reality brings products closer to the consumer in several ways, for example, it removes the uncertainty of wrong sizing from decision-making. Significantly, data layered on top of having a physical store to visit allows the shopper to purchase with confidence. In addition, brands can incorporate interactive visual experiences into packaging, for instance, styling beside practical applications of products. Likewise, the in-store retail experience can be given new depth via fascinating visuals.

Possibly, the downside to augmented reality is that it can become addictive because it provides a higher level of immersion than conventional apps. This can make human communication worse in fashion. Additionally, augmented reality can be unsafe if users are so busy with their devices and are not conscious of traffic and other dangers while walking. Just as important is the security of the data we share.

To use augmented reality applications, we need to share a large amount of data about ourselves, like biometric data and facial recognition. Snapchat and Instagram filters collect data about facial expressions, speech data, retinal patterns, which are used for identification.

Augmented reality market share in fashion industry

According to Statista, the augmented reality market is valued at $30.7 billion and is estimated to reach $50 billion by 2024. In 2021, Deloitte Digital company surveyed over 15,000 consumers to discover that 76 percent are willing to use augmented reality in their future shopping. 100 million consumers used AR shopping in 2020, according to Gartner.

The augmented reality in fashion market share is expected to grow as more and more brands hear their customers’ wish to get into more tech-oriented shopping experiences.

Benefits of using augmented reality in fashion

There is a reason why both consumers and fashion industry professionals aim to use augmented reality technology in their business.

Immersive customer experience

Regarding fashion, customers aim fully to experience the clothing item before buying it. Augmented reality trying-on clothes allows consumers to see how the design matches their style, body type, and hair color as well. They can blend the item with the clothes they have to see what winning outfits they can make with it.

Rising profits with decreasing returns

Online shopping can be tricky, because, it is easy to get the wrong size of the item you bought, and judging by the photo, you may feel that it doesn’t fit as well as you thought. Due to this, 30-40 percent of items people buy go back to the store as the returns, affecting the brand’s profitability.

Augmented reality clothes offer the consumer a greater understanding of their body shape and fit, which is why buys are made with more confidence. Thus, it has already increased the profits of brands using AR and is expected to increase them even more.

Augmented reality makes your content go viral

It is rare to find anyone who has not used social media filters. Without posting something, you won’t be able to fight the temptation to find out how you look like with red hair or what shape of sunglasses suit you best. Fashion brands had tried the filters already and other augmented reality technologies to make their content go viral. Among them, we can mention Gucci, Calvin Klein, H&M and LV.

Augmented reality differentiates the brand from competitors

52% of retailers say that they are not sure about using AR technology in their businesses, apart from the increased number of customers they expect. For this reason, the brands that use augmented reality clothing stand out amongst the competitors while meeting the expectations of their audience.

Customer trust in the brand

The augmented reality technology aims to increase customer trust in a specific brand. When consumers see how much the brand wants them to feel the items they make, it helps them know that they care. Every social media post, virtual experiment, and augmented reality cloths brings customers closer to the brand.

More data for analytics

When augmented reality delights brand creators by bringing customers closer to their perspectives and captivating designs, it’s a valuable source of data for marketers and data analytics. Augmented reality was that effective in analytics, which became a separate stream, augmented analytics. It helps to understand how customers feel about the new collections, collect their reactions, and make recommendations according to them.

Augmented reality is good for the environment

Sustainable fashion brands made a great effort with augmented reality. Sustainable brands have created digital clothes in opposition to people using clothes as “one wear” things. In fact, fashion influencers, bloggers, and everyone can try them on, take photos, and put them out without harming the environment.

How companies are using augmented reality in fashion

Although some companies are still unsure if augmented reality technology is the right investment for their business, many have already developed unique ways to blend it into their sales techniques.

Augmented reality try-on

It is the dream of every shopper to try on every piece of clothing in the online store. The AR feature of trying on clothes makes it a magical reality, and shoppers can try on virtual clothes using their phone or tablet and see how well they fit them.

For example, the luxury online store FarFetch tried this feature with the brand Off White. The store allowed customers to try on coats from the collection using the photo messaging application. The 3D and stimulation technologies made clothes appear on the body and move with their actions.

Virtual tailor

The most frequent reason the customers file for returns of their ordered items is the wrong size. For example, it is difficult to guess the size of your pants when many brands have different size charts. Many shops try to address this by making accurate size descriptions, but some make more right decisions.

That is to say, the virtual augmented reality powered virtual tailoring feature is used by brands Hugo, Boss, and Superdry. According to different researches, it helped to adapt the items to anyone’s practical measurements.

Besides, Nike managed to combine the tailoring and trying-on features. The brand allows the app visitors to measure their feet to find the right shoe size, and after that try it on virtually to see how it looks.

Conclusion

Implementing augmented reality technology in your fashion business is a solution that works both in the short and long term. Moreover, making it a part of your strategy can be difficult. If you are hesitant to hire a team of in-house professionals who can turn the dream into reality, you can always turn to experienced companies for help.