Snapchat Is Rolling Out Real-Time Pricing and Purchasing to Its AR Shopping Lenses
Molly Wright is an intern for dot.LA. She previously edited the London School of Economics' student newspaper in the United Kingdom, interned for The Hollywood Reporter and was the blogging editor for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
Snap is upping its game when it comes to both augmented reality and ecommerce.
The Santa Monica-based social media giant has launched a series of updates to its Snapchat app’s AR shopping experience, including easier-to-use features for consumers and real-time analytics for brands and retail partners, as reported by Techcrunch and Adweek.
The updates to Snapchat’s AR Shopping Lenses—which deploys AR technology to allow shoppers to virtually try on clothing, makeup, jewelry and accessories—will provide users with enhanced product information such as real-time prices and item descriptions, as well as direct links to purchase items via the shopping tool’s Lens Product Cards.
The upgraded shopping experience benefits brands and retailers, too, by offering real-time analytics linked directly to companies’ product catalogs. Brands and retailers can now access instant data on what products resonate with users the most—specifically with Snapchat’s younger, online shopping-focused population. Brands can then develop ad-targeting strategies and future products based on this data.
As TechCrunch reports, Snap beta-tested its new AR Shopping Lens features with more than 30 brands, with Snapchat users “trying on” products over 250 million times. The features appeared to test quite well; cosmetics brand Ulta Beauty reported $6 million in incremental purchases through Snapchat and 30 million virtual try-ons within a two-week period. Likewise, MAC Cosmetics reported 1.3 million try-ons and an increase in purchases among women, brand awareness and purchase intent.
Snap has looked to make shopping an integral part of its app. Last year, Snapchat upgraded a feature that allows users to “scan” an item, such as a friend’s jacket, using their Snap Camera, which then populates recommendations from hundreds of brands. Snap also updated their Lens Web Builder, which will allow brands to upload products onto AR Shopping Lenses in a matter of minutes, according to the company.
“Augmented reality is changing the way we shop, play and learn, and transforming how businesses tell their stories and sell their products,” Snap chief business officer Jeremi Gorman told TechCrunch. Gorman added that the revamped AR Shopping Lenses will enable brands to better sense “which products resonate with Gen Z and millennial audiences.”
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Molly Wright is an intern for dot.LA. She previously edited the London School of Economics' student newspaper in the United Kingdom, interned for The Hollywood Reporter and was the blogging editor for UCLA's Daily Bruin.
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