An Online Fashion Boutique Integrates The Webcam Social Shopper in to Every Piece of Clothing’s Product Detail Page.
Beginning today visitors to online fashion boutique Banana Flame will see that the retailer has rolled out Zugara’s Augmented Reality E-Commerce software “The Webcam Social Shopper” (WSS) to every product detail page on the site. Two elements make this WSS launch different:
Banana Flame has integrated WSS as an advanced product-viewing tool for their shoppers, not as a marketing campaign. Every single piece of clothing on Banana Flame’s site will give shopper’s access to WSS via a seamlessly integrated “see how it looks” button. (screenshot below)
It’s the first time the recently released “Plug & Play” version of WSS has been licensed.
WSS utilizes several pieces of emerging technology to turn shopper’s webcams into interactive “mirrors”, providing online shoppers with that “at the rack moment” where they grab a hanger off the rack, hold the piece of clothing up to themselves and turn to a friend (and/or the mirror) to ask “what do you think, is this me?”
With WSS the Banana Flame experience now allows shoppers to:
Immediately see if a piece of clothing’s color/style is right for them
Snap photos and share looks with friends to get instant feedback (via Facebook, email, or Twitter)
Match their existing wardrobes with potential new purchases
Have a more fun and rewarding online shopping experience
“Our customers are young, savvy, followers of up to the minute trends and lovers of all things stylish. They grew up digitally”, said Emily Walker, Creative Director of Banana Flame. ‘‘Of course they love to shop in store, but with a heavy work load and an increasingly hectic way of life they’re choosing more and more of their favorite items online. As an online retailer, it’s critical to our business that we create the best and most enjoyable shopping experiences available to customers, so that when they do choose to shop online, they do it with us. And that’s what the Webcam Social Shopper gives us, a brand building and personal shopping experience tailored to each individual that they will not only love but also return to time and time again.”
A few years ago the number of retailers that were integrating product-viewing features like zooming, product videos, and 360 degree spins were few and far between. Now these “advanced viewing features” are becoming common place and are irreplaceable elements of a shopper’s purchase validation process. In fact, data from Limelight Networks Inc. shows that these types of features make shoppers more likely to purchase, and more brand loyal. WSS is simply the next iteration of these types of tools, providing shoppers with more information, and subsequently more confidence in, their purchase decisions.
Earlier this week, our CEO Matt Szymczyk spoke on a panel at the Augmented Reality Event in Santa Clara. The topic was “AR for E-Commerce”, and embedded below is his presentation. In it, he discusses our history of innovation; webcam usage stats; the fact that our product The Webcam Social Shopper is completely ready for market; and, findings from our Usability Testing.
Just wanted to share some more good news. A few weeks ago, we let you know that a banner ad we concepted and created for AT&T (with BBDO and Zoic Studios) was up for a Webby Award. Well, we just wanted to share the news that today the winners were announced, and we won!
If you get a moment, it’s definitely worth checking out all the winners, as there’s some great work being showcased.
Sorry about the recent influx of ”Zugara News” blog posts, but we keep having exciting stuff to share with you. Today’s news is that we were on the News! KTLA’s Rich Demuro profiled our Ecommerce Augmented Reality Software, “The Webcam Social Shopper” on the morning news today. As you’ll see in the piece, shop owners are definitely excited about the product. Admittedly, it feels great to have a testimonial like that on tape .
The video is below, and as always, we’d love to know your thoughts.
Long time readers of this blog may remember the Augmented Reality Soccer Banner we (Zugara) created for last year’s World Cup. Working as a team with BBDO and Zoic Studios we concepted and created a game for AT&T that used our proprietary motion capture technology (ZugMO) to allow people with a webcam to “head in” corner kicks (video below).
Well that banner ad is up for a Webby Award in the “Rich Media: B to C” category, and if you’re so inclined, we’d truly appreciate your support. The submission can be found here: http://webby.aol.com/entries/57212
Zugara is proud to announce the launch of “Plug & Play”, the newest version of our Augmented Reality Ecommerce Software, “The Webcam Social Shopper” (WSS). WSS Plug & Play is a product that integrates right into retailer’s ecommerce product pages (seamlessly, just like a “zooming” feature does) and provides shoppers with a more engaging, personal and emotionally satisfying way to determine whether an apparel item’s style and color are truly right for them.
Today’s launch of WSS Plug & Play ushers in several key advances to our existing product, including:
ONE DAY CONFIGURATION – Configuration can be done in as little as a few hours and without any backend integration.
MARKERLESS TECHNOLOGY – The first truly markerless product of its kind, the apparel item actually tracks to the shopper (a video demonstrating our award winning markerless technology is embedded below).
A NEW SHOPPER EXPERIENCE – Four screenshots detailing the experience are included below.
As “augmented reality” continues to be the hot new buzzword, we’ve seen several companies attempt to compete with our patent pending ecommerce product. The fact is we have several key differentiators that retailers and potential partners should be aware of when doing their due diligence:
Differentiators For Shoppers:
It just works with a regular computer and webcam. No need for fancy 3-D cameras or souped up systems that shoppers don’t have.
No annoying downloads.
No paper markers to print and hassle with.
Simply put, for shoppers, WSS Plug & Play is a barrier-free experience.
Differentiators For Retailers:
As noted above, configuration can now be done in under one day, and without any backend integration.
Because we eliminated all shopper barriers, retailers who integrate WSS can reach a higher percentage of their shoppers.
Technology moves fast, and our constant development cycles ensure retailers will always have access to the most thoroughly tested, and innovative solution on the market.
For more information, please feel free to contact us at info (at) Zugara (dot) com.
UPDATE 1: Zugara is proud to announce that we were awarded The DEMOgod Award at DEMO Spring 2011.
UPDATE 2: We were interviewed by InLab Ventures directly after our presentation, video of that interview has been added below.
For those of you that missed the live stream of our launch at DEMO (on 2/28/11), below is the video of our presentation. Don’t worry, we had to keep it under six minutes, so it’s short.
As you’ll see, we’re working to revolutionize the online shopping experience, by creating the most “shopper friendly” online product of it’s kind. Our focus is on making online shopping an actual “experience” (rather than the process that it is today), by replicating experiences that we know have meaning for the offline shopper. Like the “at the rack moment” where a shopper takes the time to better visualize and validate if a product is right for them.
Oh, and all the shopper needs to interact with our product is a webcam and a regular old computer… something virtually every millennial has. No downloads, no markers, no supped up computer processors, and no crazy cameras that online shoppers don’t have (e.g. like the Kinect’s). Because why build something if most people can’t, or won’t use it?
As always we’d love your thoughts on the presentation below:
And if you’re curious, here’s our interview with InLab Ventures:
Hey folks, today is a gigantic day for us at Zugara, and we just wanted to share the news with you. We’re currently privileged to be presenting the latest advancement to our Augmented Reality E-Commerce Software, “The Webcam Social Shopper”, at the DEMO conference in Palm Springs. The latest advancement? The technology is now markerless. Truly markerless. We’ve developed a way to get rid of the paper marker and allow an apparel item to track to the shopper’s body. So as the shopper moves around within the webcam’s video feed the apparel item automatically moves with them, creating a “hands free” experience that’s more natural than anything else on the market.
This is a huge advancement in online apparel visualization and validation. As always, our product is built in Flash, so for over 99% of the population there’s no download required. By creating a markerless experience we’ve eliminated the last major consumer barrier: the need to print and hold a marker. So now, a shopper surfing on a retailer’s site (that has integrated our product) only needs to stand in front of their webcam to visualize and validate whether or not that piece of apparel’s style and color are truly right for them.
“This is really not about buzzwords like Augmented Reality, or Social Media,” said Matt Szymczyk, CEO and Co-Founder of Zugara. “This is about using technology to create a better online shopping experience for people, and an easy to integrate solution for our clients and partners. Plain and simple. And there’s real ROI here. Results from a recent survey by Limelight Networks show us that for people who shop online more than once a month, 76% of them say advanced product viewing features make them more likely to purchase, and more brand loyal. With there being more Millennials than Baby Boomers, we think it’s time to create meaningful and engaging online shopping experiences for this digital generation.”
We hope to have a live demo of the technology on our corporate site soon. And when the video of our presentation at DEMO becomes available tomorrow, we’ll certainly post it, as we’d love your feedback. Until then though, we’ll be tweeting from the event (hashtag: #democon) so feel free to give @KobraKai (Matt Szymczyk) and @Jack_Benoff a follow.
We recently launched our second and third Augmented Reality projects for Nestle and thought you might be interested in some of the details. This time we were tasked with concepting and developing two unique advergames for Juicy Juice. Like our first project (for Nesquik), Juicy Juice was interested in creating unique advergames that people can play within their webcams by utilizing their motion to play the game rather than traditional controllers (i.e. the mouse and/or keyboard).
Below are some details on the project, but to give some context around motion-based casual gaming we think it’s helpful to keep the following data points in mind:
1.3 billion people are on the Internet, and 510 million of them play casual games online. (link)
The Wii was the fastest selling console ever. (link)
Microsoft is selling Kinects faster than Apple sold iPads. (link)
PROJECT DETAILS
GOAL/OBJECTIVE: To create two fun and non competitive advergames that will engage fans of Juicy Juice with the brand while educating them on the health benefits.
KEY PROJECT DIFFERENTIATOR: No barriers to entry for the gamer:
Markerless – The gamer does not need to print or find a marker to engage with the Augmented Reality experience.
No Downloads – It’s built in Flash, so the gamer is not forced to download anything prior to playing, they can start interacting immediately.
SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION: Both games allow players to share their experiences (and photos) seamlessly on Facebook.
GAME SYNOPSIS #1: “Fruit Ensemble” is a rhythm based game where the player must use their hands to tap fruit (that appears randomly around them) in time with the music. Think “Whack-A-Mole”, only the “moles” appear in random places all around the player.
GAME SYNOPSIS #2: “Fruit Mixer Studio” let’s people tap fruit to mix and record unique beats that can be saved to the desktop or downloaded as a mobile ringtone.
We’d love to get your thoughts on these games in the comment section below. But if you’d like to discuss how we can help your brand or agency to create strategic Augmented Reality executions, please don’t hesitate to email us at info (at) Zugara (dot) com.
If you’ve been in the tech industry for a while, then I’m sure you know the rich history of DEMO, “the launchpad for emerging technology”. Well, the whole Zugara team is proud to have been chosen to present, and launch, our newest e-commerce technology at this year’s Spring conference. It’s a huge opportunity for us, and we’d love to see you there: The JW Marriott, Palm Desert, CA (2/27 – 3/1).
Here’s a bit of information on DEMO for those of you who might be unfamiliar: The DEMO experience has helped introduce new products and services that have become well-known brands in both the business and consumer markets including:
• Adobe Acrobat
• Sun’s Java
• Netscape Navigator
• Palm Computing
• WebEx
• TiVo
• E-Trade
• Google’s first venture into mobile search
• GarageBand.com
• Leapfrog
• Shopping.com
• Skype’s first implementation for mobile handsets
• salesforce.com
• Shazam Entertainment
• And many more…
We Are Organized Chaos (WAOC) is Zugara’s (www.zugara.com) interactive marketing and advertising blog where we’ll be featuring some great projects and discussing upcoming trends in the digital world. Work — good and bad — will be critiqued. Hope you’ll enjoy reading our insights and thoughts on interactive.
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