Augmented reality: the potential to connect online and offline customer experiences

Tuesday, Jun 28th 2022
Augmented reality in marketing. Woman traveler with phone. Navigation on the projection of the display

Augmented reality (AR) has been proven to be able to successfully improve the uncertainty in ecommerce purchases (eMarketer, June 2017). An old but great example of this is Ikea’s AR based application that could simulate furniture in a customer’s home. However, the real value in AR is when it can facilitate a conversation between the customer and business using visual data. An example of this is Amazon’s mobile app, and being curious on just how well this conversation could occur, I decided to go to Staples and try it out live.

Amazon has had AR technology in its mobile application since 2012, but it’s now getting new attention as it is a key way to make purchases in their growing ecosystem of brick and mortar stores. A consumer can also use this technology to comparison shop, as I did at other retail locations. I scanned a variety of items to see cost and determine accuracy of the application.

One of the first things I scanned in Staples was a mouse. I thought that the application would pick up on the packaging and send me straight to the item. Instead the capture technology got very confused by the packaging, and pushed me to buy emoji stickers instead. Then, I decided to take a picture of the mouse on display, this time the app had no issues and immediately pushed me to buy it via Prime.

In a more entertaining error, when I took a picture of a fur keychain, the item it suggested was a pair of men’s boxer-briefs!

My next test was with a larger item, an office chair. The shape was far too complex for the capture technology and it shot me an error message. I then decided to try a more compact object and scanned a multi-function printer (MFP). This time Amazon’s application did work and it pushed me to purchase via prime for $10 cheaper than what Staples was selling the MFP for.

Throughout the process, I noticed that the Amazon app wasn’t giving me much of a deal compared to the pricing of Staples. If the idea is to use the technology to undercut another retailer, it’s not efficient in doing so. However, for larger items such as the chair or MFP, Amazon does offer convenience.

But let’s be honest - Amazon isn’t allowing me to use AR to shop for fun of the technology or to get the best deal, they want my visual data. By leveraging visual data Amazon can better understand how a consumer moves about a store or how to group items in a brick and mortar. My theory is that, just like Google, Amazon is looking to better connect online and offline customer experiences.

As an app user, you can check in on your history of scanned items to see what data Amazon has on your behaviors. When I checked, I was surprised to find that the only item that it recorded from my Staples trip was the computer mouse.

It’s interesting to look at this data gap from a customer journey or experience angle since if Amazon’s goal is to have a continued visual commerce discussion with me, they are missing big pieces. In addition, if the goal is to connect the online to an eventual offline experience, they also have not captured the entirety of my data profile. Whether a business is Amazon or a regional bank, leveraging AR or similar technology, to connect customers to have true customer experience, means having the full data story for a continuous experience.