Snap is launching a new company to help retailers with AR shopping
Snapchat has been letting you try out new lipstick shades, hats, and outfits from major retailers for years now. But starting today, you can apply these Snapchat-powered capabilities in other apps.
Snap just announced a new business unit, AR Enterprise Services (ARES), that will equip retailers with tools so you can try on clothes, jewelry, and more from a variety of brands — all from the comfort of your home.
The new ARES company aims to help retailers increase conversions and reduce returns with augmented reality shopping tools. To this end, ARES will provide professional services to its customers, from product marketing to customer support. That’s in addition to the tools included in the first solution – the “Shopping Suite” – which is aimed at retailers in industries such as fashion, apparel, accessories and home furnishings.
The Shopping Suite includes virtual fitting functions that allow customers to try on products such as clothing, sunglasses and shoes. They can upload a photo of themselves to see what they look like or interact with AR experiences to see what the product would look like on their body in real time.
There are also a few other tools, such as one that provides shoppers with fit and size recommendations based on their body size and shape. Meanwhile, the 3D Viewer tool allows customers to explore different angles and details of products.
The Shopping Suite also includes the Enterprise Manager Backend system. Snap says it should be easier for businesses to use Snap’s software development kits so they can build AR experiences and even see real-time performance analytics.
More than 300 customers have used various Shopping Suite features to date, including retailers such as Goodr, Princess Polly and Gobi Cashmere, according to Snap.
The move comes a few months after Snap suggested monetizing AR features was critical to its success. In December, the company announced it was partnering with creators to help them monetize in-app lenses. For example, these lenses contain digital in-game items that users can purchase with Snap Tokens.
“At the end of the day when platforms succeed and fail, what matters is whether the developers and those building on the platform can make money,” Sophia Dominguez, Snap’s director of AR platform partnerships, explained at the time.