Amazon confirmed on Tuesday that it would partner with Snap to trial online shopping via the popular messaging app service.
The announcement comes after the two companies inked a deal for augmented reality (AR) try-on services for eyeglasses. The try-on experiences come as Snap noted at the time it had reached 363 million people on its platform each day.
Snap’s service will continue these integrations by allowing users to shop directly using Amazon from its social media platform.
News of the collaboration sent Snap’s shares skyrocketing over 7 percent, or $12.15 per share at closing.
An Amazon spokesperson said as quoted by AFP that the service would apply to select products advertised on Snapchat, adding,
“For the first time, customers will be able to shop Amazon’s Snapchat ads and check out with Amazon without leaving the social media app. Customers in the United States will see real-time pricing, Prime eligibility, delivery estimates, and product details on select Amazon product ads in Snapchat as part of the new experience”
Furthermore, users can link their Snapchat and Amazon accounts to purchase items on the latter eCommerce website, Amazon added.
At the time it had debuted the AR advert experience, Ben Schwerin, Senior Vice President for Partnerships, Snap, said,
“With the combined innovation and technology between Snap and Amazon, we are unlocking exciting and fun new try-on experiences for hundreds of millions of Snapchatters. AR eyewear is just the first step in our partnership”
Snap Lens Fest Unveils Enterprise-Focused Tools
The news comes as Snap hosted augmented reality developers worldwide for its sixth annual Snap Lens Fest. The event commemorates innovation and creativity from its developer base, where people can share AR tools for creating innovative immersive experiences.
According to Snap, roughly 330,000 developers have been using its AR platform, leading to over 3.5 million Lenses and over 3 trillion views.
The company aims to step up its efforts to produce AR user-generated content (UGC) with enhancements for its Camera Kit SDK and upcoming Spectacles AR smart glasses.
Snap added it had completely rebuilt a version of its Lens Studio to back greater functionality for collaborative AR dev teams.
The latest release, Lens Studio 5.0 Beta, will feature the following updates:
- Greater functionality and performance for more advanced AR projects, loading 18 times faster than previous experiences.
- Collaboration with OpenAI to launch a new ChatGPT Remote application programme interface (API). Lens developers can integrate ChatGPT in their Lenses to increase human-machine interactivity. This will lead to improved levels of conversational, learning, and creative functionality for people using Snapchat.
- 3D face mask generators for incorporating Lenses with generative AI and cutting-edge mesh technologies.
- Support for collaborative tools like Git to boost project management capabilities, allowing multiple developers to work on their projects concurrently.
The news comes after Snap introduced Lenses with Digital Goods, where companies and developers could integrate business models on their Lenses to offer exclusive AR tools. For additional fees, Snapchat users can unlock tiered functionality. Furthermore, it will provide new sections for Lens Explorer for specific Lenses with Digital Goods for faster accessibility for users.
Snap CEO on AI, AR, and XR
The news comes amid a difficult period for the augmented reality firm as it struggled to push its mixed reality (MR) smart glasses and other devices. Despite this, the company has begun leveraging its user base to push for AR marketing and advertising to explore new revenue channels.
With Amazon as an end user, Snap aims to create a mutual relationship where both companies can leverage their respective massive user base around the world.
Evan Spiegel, Chief Executive, Snap, communicated this at a recent event in India and after the company reported its third quarter (Q3) reports.
For the senior executive, he stated that emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) were “reducing the barriers to creativity.”
The CEO noted that 3D asset generation for videos, images, and other content would benefit from AI with rapid, creative production capabilities.
He said in his speech at the time:
“That’s something we’ve been investing a lot in recently to make it easier for creators to build more immersive AR experiences by just reducing that barrier to creation of 3D images and making more exciting and immersive lenses with LLMs”
Additionally, with research and development (R&D) focusing on producing lighter, more capable headsts, AI and XR could combine to deliver better results for AR content.
He continued,
“I believe we all have a vision in our minds of what we want to create. However, often, the tools are not sophisticated enough to allow us to bring to life the images, videos, or AR experiences we imagine. I think AI will help bridge the gap between our imagination and what we can actually create on our phones or with AR glasses”
Advancements in Snap’s Enterprise Solutions
Following the profitability noted in its Q3 reports, Snap noted some of the progress it had made in diversifying its enterprise-facing services for clients.
This comes after it debuted its Augmented Reality Enterprise Services (ARES) platform to accommodate rising demand for its AR marketing services.
With its family of solutions, Snap has welcomed clients from across the world to curate their advertisements using immersive technologies, leading to massive levels of engagement eclipsing those from traditional advertising mediums.
According to a ThreeKit report, over 1.4 billion people will use AR-powered devices by the end of 2023. Additionally, 70 percent of technology leaders expect the AR market will overtake the virtual reality (VR) market for revenues, due to its wider accessibility and access to current and future networks.
Snapchat, Genius Sports, Verizon Debut NFL AR Experience
British sports data firm Genius Sports partnered with Snapchat and Verizon to debut an show-shopping AR experience for National Football League (NFL) sports fans.
With Snapchat Lens, Genius Sports provided fans with access to real-time AR sports stats from football players. This also leveraged Verizon’s next-generational 5G network technologies to deliver the bandwidth-intensive experience to tens of thousands of spectators.
Currently, Verizon is the official 5G network for the NFL’s stadium-wide AR user experiences. Their advanced networking technologies will also support Snap’s VTOs for sports fan merchandise.
Genius Sports also streamed the NFL’s Official League Data directly to fans phones, creating synergy between game activity and real-time augmented reality content.
The companies will also provide AR maps to navigate stadiums and stream real-time 3D (RT3D) content.
Snap Lens and Ray Tracing
In February, Snap revealed several major updates to its Snap Lens augmented reality platform. At the time, the company had developed a novel ray-tracing addition to its software developer kit (SDK). The tools have significantly enhanced light-rendering capabilities for producing content.
Retailers selling jewellery, machines, furniture, clothing, and other items benefitting from ray tracing could dramatically improve the level of detail and realism in their AR try-on experiences.
For example, Tiffany & Co became the first enterprise to incorporate Snap’s ray tracing technologies, leading to the Snapchat-based Tiffany Lock Lens. Shoppers could use the augmented reality filter to try on virtual bracelets and purchas items online without leaving the app.
This led to a further AR advertising campaign to create its House of Tiffany and Vision & Virtuosity exhibitions. User lauded the experience after it transformed the Saatchi Gallery in London into a huge Tiffany jewel, using Snap’s augmented reality technologies.
Additionally, Snap’s Camera Kit feature led to a bespoke AR try-on experience for the Tiffany app in August last year.
Snap-MTV Video Music Awards
Furthermore, Snap powered a major AR experience at the MTV Video Music Awards. Leveraging its Snap Lens platform, the world-first deal saw the two companies collaborate to engage audiences with AR tools.
Snap’s Camera Kit SDK allowed fans to vote on their favourite nominees for Best New Artist category. For those on social media, they could also snap selfies with AR-powered MTV Moonpeople to share the images with their online friends.
The campaign continued the drive to incorporate XR and metaverse technologies into the VMAs, namely after launching the Best Metaverse Performance category for artists.
MTV’s previous performance saw a 3 percent spike in viewership, or 3.9 million people, up from 3.7 million the year before. Korean K-Pop girl band BLACKPINK took home the award, with nominees including esteemed artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and many more joining the ceremony.
Snoop Dogg and Eminem also joined up with metaverse firm Otherside and Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, to debut an inaugural extended reality performance for the VMA ceremony. It featured both artists as BAYC avatars at the premier event, showcasing RT3D art for the Awards.
