AR to Change Retail World, Snap CEO Says

250 million people are Using AR today, the high-level executive said at a recent event

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AR to Change the Retail World says Snap CEO
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Published: July 8, 2022

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Rory Greener

Last month at the VivaTech Paris 2022, the Co-Founder and CEO of Snap Inc, Evan Spiegal, explored augmented reality (AR) as a tool for brands to increase customer engagement in a keynote speech.

Snap Inc is the parent company behind Snapchat, the popular social media app supporting rich AR content and immersive filters via its Lens Studio.

Brands and businesses are using Snapchat’s Lens Studio as a powerful engagement tool which enables customers at home to interact with brands and potential purchases.

AR Can ‘Change the World’

Spiegal discussed the importance of AR in retail during the keynote, where he said,

“We’re already seeing the profound ways that it [AR] can change the world. – The retail experience is something that’s very difficult today, online. Everything looks the same. You’re looking at little pictures of clothing. It’s very hard to know how something actually looks on you”

Many brands have adopted Snapchat to utilise digital try-on tech that uses Lens Studio-based filters that recreate how a product appears on a person.

The CEO added that AR was “exciting” by allowing people to try on products, leading to major increases in conversion rates for retailers.

During the Viva Tech Paris event, Evan Spiegel continued, stating,

“What we’re really responding to is the way people are using AR today. So, we are not talking about something that might happen in the future. As I mentioned, there are 250 million people using AR today just inside of Snapchat”

Despite a significant decline in Snap shares in Q2, figures in Q1 reveal that Snapchat users increased by 18 percent. The parent firm also focuses on an enhanced hardware initiative following its Snap Summit event in May.

The news comes after Snap acquired KeyDB following its summit and quarterly loss. The purchase enables the California-based firm to utilise KeyDB’s open-source databasing infrastructure to enhance accessibility and support for Snapchat-based marketing operations.

Snapchat is using KeyDB Pro and Enterprise for its clients, with each service providing transparency for developers designed to solve community-wide bugs and problems.

During this month’s Cannes Lions advertising festival, which also took place in France, the CEO explained how Snapchat is potentially a “super-app” similar to Twitter following its purchase by the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk.

Spiegal explained how Snapchat is becoming a super-app that unifies various digital tools to create a hub for businesses to engage with customers.

Snap revealed crucial technology to bolster the firm’s continued immersive efforts during its online Summit event. The Santa Monica-based firm announced Pixy, an AR-ready drone that autonomously records videos and photos of a user, which an operator can enhance with Lens Studio assets. The firm also announced updates for its Lens Studio and Camera Kit, improving smartphone-based WebAR opportunities for brands.

 

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