Snap Inc. Launches Enterprise-Wide Augmented Reality Solution ARES
The Shopping Suite is ARES’ first solution, a suite of products and services which provides 3D Viewer, AR Try-On, and Fit Finder, embedded directly inside retailers’ own apps and websites.
Snap Inc. unveiled AR Enterprise Services (ARES), a new enterprise solution to enable businesses to integrate Snap's augmented reality (AR) into their owned and operated channels at scale.
ARES’ inaugural offering is for retail, and among the first group of customers are Goodr, Princess Polly, and Gobi Cashmere. Each of these companies has been using various products from Fit Finder to AR Try-On, which are features that make up Snap's new Shopping Suite.
“Over the last decade, we've been hard at work bringing fun and personal AR experiences to Snapchatters. In the next decade, we’re excited to take our world-class AR technology to businesses' websites, apps, and even into their physical locations,” said Jill Popelka, Head of AR Enterprise Services of Snap Inc. “We look forward to making the shopping experience more delightful for consumers and transforming businesses around the world with AR Enterprise Services.”
In MENA, Snapchatters continue to adopt AR in various aspects of their lives whether it’s in fashion & beauty, entertainment, sports, or even culture. In markets like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, interacting with products that have AR experiences leads to a 94% higher conversion rate, while an average of 80% of consumers expect and desire to use AR as a practical "tool" in their everyday lives and 85% of MENA daily users interact with lenses every day, according to Snap.
ARES unifies Snap’s AR technology with technologies from Snap’s acquisitions of Vertebrae, Fit Analytics, and Forma over the last two years, which built the groundwork for Snap’s AR enterprise offering.
The Shopping Suite is ARES’ first solution, a suite of products and services which provides 3D Viewer, AR Try-On, and Fit Finder, embedded directly inside retailers’ own apps and websites. ARES’ Shopping Suite will be widely available to customers in Q2 and includes AR shopping for apparel, footwear, and accessories. Shopping Suite also includes:
- Dedicated services and support: Businesses can leverage dedicated services for AR asset creation and robust technical implementation support. The Shopping Suite’s AR asset creation services help businesses create digital versions of their apparel, footwear, and eyewear products using proprietary photogrammetry hardware and machine learning creation pipelines to deliver high-fidelity assets optimized for end-user performance.
- Enterprise tools to manage assets and integrations: Businesses can manage and optimize their AR assets and integrations, measure performance analytics, and receive dedicated Shopping Suite support.
- Experience delivery: Businesses can integrate Snap's AR Try-On, Fit Finder, and interactive 3D Viewer technology into their own apps and websites, offering shoppers the ability to receive accurate fit and sizing recommendations, try-on or view products in augmented reality, and interact with products in 3D.
According to Snap Inc, internal data, ARES is already seeing promising results from early customers using Shopping Suite features:
- Goodr leveraged AR Try-On and interactive 3D Viewer technology to replicate the experience of in-store shopping on customers’ mobile devices and saw an 81% uplift in add-to-cart and a 67% uplift in conversion for mobile device users, leading to a 59% increase in revenue per visitor.
- Princess Polly incorporated Fit Finder and AR Try-On features to deliver recommendations to over 7.5 million shoppers who had a 24% reduced return rate than shoppers not using the technology.
- Gobi Cashmere’s conversion rate was 4X higher for shoppers using Fit Finder recommendations and AR Try-On features, helping provide personalized experiences to 1 in 4 of shoppers.
