With AR set to become a much bigger focus over the next few years, it’s important for all brands to consider the potential for their marketing and promotional efforts, with 3D digital initiatives set to change the game, in many ways, as usage behaviors evolve.

To provide some more context on this, Snap recently partnered with Breakthrough Research to conduct a study into how consumers view AR, and how likely it is that AR experiences will influence their shopping process.

As per Snap:

“Across 7,500 respondents in US, UK, DE and covering shopper journeys within the Auto, Beauty, Entertainment, Fashion Retail, and Travel verticals, we uncovered how consumer attitudes and behaviors towards brands shift when they imagine themselves going through a shopper journey with AR as a part of it.”

The response data shows that consumers are excited about the possibilities, with AR able to help consumers make faster decisions, and likely purchase more as a result.

The data also shows similar results within the Fashion vertical, with AR set to drive an $11.2 billion increase in spend.

Travel is another area set to benefit from increased AR usage:

“For Travel, Snapchatters expect to spend more than they typically would when AR is a part of their travel planning journey. This is because AR helps them be more confident in making decisions about the trip and ultimately planning longer trips by adding travel excursions or other add-ons to the itinerary.”

In other words, the enhanced AR experience provides more context when shopping online, which can be a big help in reassuring shoppers, or just by adding context that drives value in the process.

Snap says that these results show that AR has already evolved beyond its initial use case:

“Although Snapchat first created Lenses because they were a fun and entertaining way to enhance the way we communicate with our friends and family, the technology has evolved from being just a toy to a fully utilitarian tool that brands can leverage to drive impact for their businesses.”

Which is why brands need to be taking it seriously, and with the coming shift towards AR-enabled glasses, and engaging with 3D virtual objects, in both the metaverse and in AR experiences, it makes sense for brands to at least begin to align their processes with this shift, where possible.

So how do you do that?

As a first step, it may be worth acquainting yourself with Snap’s Lens Web Builder platform, which enables you to create AR experiences within Snap. There are tutorials available on the process, and getting that first-level knowledge of the system could be all that you need, at this stage, to glean more of an understanding of the possibilities and potential for your process. 

By getting a base-level view of what’s possible, and how to go about it, that could open up your thinking on the next stage, and where your businesses needs to be placed to integrate into this new shift.

The possibilities are significant, and if you can start progressing towards creating AR experiences, that could hold you in good stead to capitalize on these trends.

You can read Snap’s full ‘Augmented Reality as a Business Solution’ report here.