5 November 2024, Tue |
8:18 PM
By: Mekhla Diwan, Head of Marketing & Alliance at Catalytics Datum
Are you adopting virtual reality as new gear for 2021? AR, VR, Face analytics, video analytics and image processing has revitalized the businesses & industry to take the shopping experience to a next level. The question is how the Retailers, Vendors, and Distributors prepare for the level up??
Augmented Reality (AR) technology enables humans to experience the real world around them using smartphones, projectors, screens, etc., generating the simulated 3D experience with the registration of real and virtual objects. Virtual Reality (VR) is a simulated experience that may be like the real world; the immersive VR uses motion sensor technology, along with analytics resonate the virtual view and cyberspace is used for distant learning. Video analytics amalgamated with CNN & RNN automatically detects and determines the mortal and spatial events, what is the real scenario behind, for video retrieval & browsing mainly for safety and detection. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) in deep learning is used to assign importance to an image and differentiate distinct images, in addition to it Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) creates the sense out of an image are widely used for computer vision.
AR, VR, and Video Analytics with the empowerment of CNN & RNN are trending which have re-shaped the shopping experience in different sectors and is expected to thrive along in every major sector in the upcoming 10 years. All the major, clothing, food and healthcare, automobile, home décor and furniture, beauty and cosmetics industries are adopting these technologies both online and offline for enhanced customer experience.
Gartner says, “100 million consumers will shop in augmented reality online and in-store by 2020”.
As per the pandemic, studies that are centralized to customer satisfaction and winning more customers, have found that customers are shifting to buy online rather than visiting a retail store. The Value Efficiency for wholesaler is transforming digitally reflecting deep impacts on Supply Chain, Manufacturing & Distribution Units.
When it comes to online shopping it’s not just about how you like something in your space, but the size of it, also looking into the details of the product material from which it is made and how it may feel like. Especially for the smaller details, texture or sheen can be felt before they are actually bought in reality but for clothing, it’s a bit tricky as in it’s important to feel clothing where the craftsmanship matters, the feel may vary in reality. Straightaway, there are some materials that can be portrayed realistically but some will be harder to scale with, as augmented reality is a bit different from reality and of course the cost challenges can be a factor that retailers juggle because it is challenging to achieve customer satisfaction.
A recent study by Fortune Business Insight, shows AR Market around the world, was around $4.6 Billion, but there’s is a slight decrease due to the pandemic, which is expected to grow $97.76 Billion in the year 2028 at a CAGR of 48.6% in 2021-2028. According to another recent survey by PWC in the Middle East, it is found that VR and AR have the potential to add $1.6 Trillion globally, and it is estimated that AR & VR will result in an increase in UAE GDP by 1% by 2030.
With the emerging AR Technology, the Food sector & healthcare sectors are adopting AR and VR rapidly, as mentioned for Nespresso, a coffee company & LV Prasad Eye Institute for eye surgery are able to perform & test tasks adequately, with more efficiency and accuracy to drive better real-time results & provide high customer satisfaction. Also, cosmetic brands like Sephora & L’Oreal are using AR apps implementing Virtual makeup try-on to imagine a new look as per the skin type & texture.
Video Analytics, is becoming popular in retail for obtaining consumer behavior and insights, resulting in increased sales. As per the research by Report & Data, the retail segment from among the end-user verticals held a share of 31.7% in the year 2019 for the video analytics market. Automobile industries, gaming industries, shoe companies & clothing industries are able to create a realistic framework, to delight customers and building a deeper product knowledge by capturing insights keeping security and privacy as a top priority.
With the help of CCTV, Video Analytics & Facial Recognition systems; some retail stores capture customer responses for generating deeper insights as per behavior, feedback, and review purchasing of a product. The facial recognition segment as per analytics is expected to emerge as the fastest-growing segment registering a CAGR of 25.9% contributing to annual growth.
Recent analytics by Business Wire shows, 54 percent of men don’t feel comfortable in trying clothes at in-store trial rooms, 64 percent of women don’t feel comfortable in trying beauty products, as well as 64% of consumers, were not comfortable working with a Sales associate. With the growing advent of the Customer First & Customer Experience, AI has become a vital factor in engrossing sales. As per the safety concern, Zara & Victoria’s Secret introduced AR shopping apps, whereby one can try on clothes virtually on dummies. Burberry, Tencent has collaborated with WeChat to mystify shopping by allowing them to play their own music in the fitting rooms. Memomi Labs Inc, has introduced the first digital mirror, which allows users to try 5 clothes virtually at a time, which is time-efficient & thus increases complacency. Also Walmart, Ralph Lauren & Oak have introduced obtrusive interactive fitting rooms, where shoppers can choose the clothes of their respective fitting for a try.
Some of the brands have started to put into Realistic fitting rooms for better customer-driven experience and to understand the psych for getting more profitability and sales.
It’s just a revolution, customers have begun to shop online for all about their homes, they are becoming more aligned to mobile AR as a recent study by Business Insider shows that AR has become popular for increasing customer engagement and driving immersive experiences & sales especially on social media. Augmented shopping experiences can be configured, ask for the user selection and can be personalized by adding a reality check and personal creativity to deliver a satisfactory shopping experience. The cost estimate and management help users to provide extra portfolios for virtual products and retailers that are finding it really effective in terms of conversions as a system of easy returns and providing a realistic look and feel before the actual placement of the product in their homes.
The idea came into action when furniture retailer with stores located nationally decided to integrate e-commerce with augmented reality and the conversion rates were reported between 65 to 69% within the app; It was in the mid of the Year 2018, that the company saw double sales in just a period of eight months. Currently, Lexington Home Brands is using 3D upholstery Experience & Online catalogs to provide the best furniture
The adverse effect of a cosmetic can congeal or jellify skin. Experimenting with a beauty product becomes a challenge when adverse effects are found as per the customer reviews. Around the world, with diversified Skin Type, color and texture differ the beauty product. Introduction to AR apps has made the make-up try on a delightful experience.
Video analytics algorithms offer unstructured information such as appearance, trajectory, and keyframe that helps to detect objects and faces. The face tracking algorithm present in the facial recognition systems cascades with classifiers based on disparate geometric samples which help in real-time detection of color field, texture and skin type, a probabilistic appearance can be generated based upon pixelwise resolution and occlusion to identify real faces and thus assist the cosmetic try-on of a product virtually without any harm.
BMW, RENAULT, Audi City, Volkswagen are using Video Analytics, Facial recognition, Image processing AR & VR on collecting mobility, dimension, driving time, Image processing insights, and other KPIs for customer analytics to upscale decision making, faster results with cost-effectiveness. BMW has introduced VR analytics while driving in order to give a closer look to the objects on –road also to prevent accidents with a trial on VR headsets. A recent launch, Morphoz by Renault has got with Facial recognition to unlock the car from a distance to prevent car from theft. Audi city has come with a virtual ad banner which allows helping customer configure each vehicle’s parts and understand features realistically.
Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Video Analytics & Digital Transformations will be forthcoming up with noticeable advancements in e-commerce, online shopping & offline shopping trends, the time is not so far when virtual catalogs will allow users to slide and apply the clothes of their choice & use the Interactive 3D Environment whereby a customer can interact and apply what they’re looking for according to the comfort, color combination, style and dimensions.
With the advent of next-gen analytics adding on to enhanced monitoring, bringing up real-time strategy for both retailers & consumers to enter a new era of virtualization in order to optimize the use of resources with consumer security, privacy & sensibility & “Customer- Satisfaction-Only model”; is probing to grow Global market and GCC market in future times.
Mekhla Diwan heads the Marketing & Alliance of Catalytics Datum Pvt. Limited, a Data Science & AI-based Start-Up, largely into product development. An avid follower and thought leader in the area of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data & Advanced Technologies. Mekhla holds a significant role in Catalytics’ Marketing, Digital Consultancy & Global Alliance
