Introduction to Snap’s E-commerce Expansion
The Snap Partner Summit, which took place in late April, unveiled a variety of features designed to reinforce the e-commerce capabilities of Snapchat, a photo-messaging app particularly popular amongst younger consumers. These recent features include software tools that enable the creation of augmented reality (AR) shopping content, providing brands with an extra means to interact mobile users and guide them towards making a purchase order.
Expanding AR Shopping Capabilities
The company highlighted how several brands, including sportswear brand Puma, sunglasses maker Goodr, fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters, and eyewear company Zenni Optical, utilize Snap AR Shopping to supply virtual try-ons of their products on Snapchat and their very own apps. A brand new in-app feature called Dress Up brings together these fashion try-ons, allowing users to experiment with recent looks and share them with friends before making a purchase order. This feature is accessible to consumers through Snapchat’s Lens Explorer.
Virtual Try-Ons Made Easy
Carolina Arguelles Navas, head of AR business strategy at Snap, noted, “For the primary time, you’ll be able to try on a brand new outfit without having to alter your clothes. Ultimately, we’re going from ‘this looks good’ to ‘this looks good on me.’” The recent feature guides users through the technique of taking a full-body picture of themselves while fully clothed. Computer vision technology then analyzes the image and overlays digital renderings of apparel in several poses, aiming to assist consumers make more informed purchase decisions. Since January 2021, greater than 250 million Snapchatters have used AR Shopping Lenses, leading to over 5 billion total engagements.
Social Commerce Growth
Snap is amongst several social media corporations working to reinforce their commerce functionality to assist advertisers bring consumers closer to buy. Other platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter, are also vying for a share of the growing social commerce market, whose U.S. sales are forecast to expand from $45.7 billion this yr to almost $80 billion by 2025.
The Role of AR in Social Commerce
Kelsey Chickering, principal analyst at Forrester, commented, “Snapchat is immersed within the battle for share of social commerce wallet, as they — and other social media corporations — proceed introducing recent ways to transact on their platforms. Leaning into AR use cases related to shopping, reminiscent of virtual try-on, uniquely positions Snapchat in comparison with other social platforms within the commerce space.” The percentage of U.S. online adults younger than 25 who said they’d accomplished a purchase order on a social network without leaving the web site or app rose from 53% in 2020 to 61% last yr, indicating a growing appetite amongst younger consumers to buy while browsing their preferred social platforms.
Improving AR Workflows for Fashion Brands
Merchants that add AR content to their stores see a median gain in conversions of 94%, in accordance with e-commerce software company Shopify. However, creating 3D models for AR generally is a time-consuming process, especially for fashion brands and retailers with 1000’s of things in several styles and colours. To address this, Snap introduced the brand new 3D Asset Manager, which incorporates AR Image Processing Technology. This technology allows select apparel brands to repurpose product images they have already got of their catalogs to more easily create AR try-on lenses.
Enhancing AR Capabilities
Snap added a choice of AR Shopping templates in Lens Web Builder, its self-service platform for creating digital imagery that buyers use to embellish photos and videos. These templates are free for brands that import AR assets to create shoppable virtual try-on and product visualization lenses. Additionally, Snap expanded its tools for software developers to assist them add AR features to their apps. With the brand new Camera Kit for AR Shopping, third-party apps can add AR try-on and product visualization technology, available for iOS and Android apps, and shortly for web sites.
Measurable Business Results
For Snap, the introduction of AR shopping tools comes as the corporate seeks to construct on relationships with its growing user base, which expanded 18% from a yr ago to achieve 332 million people by the top of 2022’s first quarter. AR is some of the popular features in Snapchat, with over 250 million users engaging with AR features each day, and content creators constructing greater than 2.5 million Lenses. Jeremi Gorman, Snap’s chief business officer, noted, “In the past, larger brands used augmented reality for brand moments to drive awareness and reach through expensive one-day takeover Lenses. Today, each brand and performance-oriented advertisers are utilizing augmented reality to drive significant and measurable business results.”
Conclusion
The expansion of e-commerce capabilities on Snapchat, particularly through the usage of AR shopping features, marks a major step forward in social commerce. By providing users with immersive and interactive shopping experiences, brands can increase engagement and drive sales. As the social commerce market continues to grow, the combination of AR technology is more likely to play an increasingly vital role in shaping the long run of online shopping. With its user-friendly features and measurable business results, Snapchat is well-positioned to stay a key player on this evolving landscape.
