In the past we’ve addressed some of the technical limitations that we see with the mobile augmented reality space in general. In this post, I want to get very specific and address why we don’t currently develop our ecommerce augmented reality software for the mobile market (as we get this question a fair amount). For those of you that are unfamiliar with our software, The Webcam Social Shopper, I’ve embedded an introductory video below.
Sorry, for some reason we’re having trouble embedding the video. If you don’t see it above, you can view it on YouTube here.
Okay, so back to the question at hand: Why don’t we develop for mobile? The short answer? It’s simply not strategic to do so. Let me explain our thinking:
The Addressable Market Is Just A Fraction Of The Computer Market
Our shopping application functions like a mirror, so that means people need to have their screen, and their camera facing the same direction (AKA a forward facing camera). For the computer market, that’s just the way it works… but in the mobile space, that essentially leaves us with two consumer devices: the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2.
Like all businesses, we need to be laser focused and strategic with both our financial and human resources. So let’s look at where we can have a greater impact now. Let’s look at the potential consumer reach for PCs, iPad 2s, and iPhone 4s:
Sources: In September, The Daily Beast stated that 30 Million iPads had been sold. Back in March at the iPad 2 launch event Steve Jobs noted that 15 Million iPads had already been sold.
iPhone 4: 50 to 75 Million sold (note: we don’t know how many of these are replacements for a previously purchased iPhone 4).
Sources: At the recent iPhone 4S event, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPhone 4 accounts for half of all iPhone’s sold. Back in March Steve Jobs noted that since 2007 Apple had sold 100 Million iPhones.
Okay, so let’s put the combined iPad 2 and iPhone 4 sales at the high end of that range: 90 million units. It’s an impressive number, but those sales totals are just 6% of the PCs that Intel states are “in use”… and it should be noted that Intel also states that PCs are selling at a rate of 1 million per day. And here’s another metric for you: 93% of digital traffic is consumed by PCs. That means that the entire Smartphone and tablet market (i.e. not just Apple’s two most recent product launches) accounts for only 7% of digital traffic consumption.
So, when looking at the addressable markets, it’s pretty clear that the computer has the upper hand.
It Would Be A Horrible Experience For The Shopper
For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the PC market didn’t dwarf the mobile market. Let’s assume everyone had a Smartphone and they all had forward forcing cameras. There’s still a rather large usability issue keeping us from developing for those devices. And that’s the arm length of the average person. If you noticed, in the video embedded above, the young woman is standing roughly 4 – 6 feet away from her computer. That’s because she’s visualizing if a dress’s style is right for her, so she needs to see her entire body. If you’re holding a Smartphone in your hand, you just can’t hold the phone far enough away to have that experience. And at the end of the day, if we aren’t providing an amazing experience for the shopper, than what the heck is the point?
Now I get it, mobile, especially the iPhone and the iPad get an overwhelming amount of media attention. Are they revolutionary products? Yes. I’m not debating that. Is the future bright for mobile? Of course. But that’s the future, and as a company we’re focused on how we can make the biggest impact in people’s lives today (and over the next 5 years).
Did you know that one day after download, only 20% of users come back and run an iPhone app? And after a month, that number drops to 5% (chart). For us, it’s not about producing an augmented reality app that people won’t use but will get us covered by the press. It’s about measureable impact. It’s about disrupting the way people shop online today, and providing them with a significantly better experience. On computers we can do that. On mobile devices, we can’t.
What do you think? Are we right? Wrong? As always, you can find me on twitter here.
The whole team here at Zugara is very excited to finally be able to tell you about an R&D project we partnered with Orange Silicon Valley on: “Project DocPAL”, an augmented reality telemedicine system that uses natural user interfaces, Interactive Voice Recording, and other innovative technologies to help improve the quality of doctor patient consultations (please see the video below).
One of the pieces of emerging technology that Project DocPAL utilizes is our proprietary ZugSTAR software. ZugSTAR allows people in different locations to have shared Augmented Reality experiences from within their video feeds. For this project, it’s a Doctor and a patient. For our ecommerce augmented reality software, it would be two (or more) shoppers. The use cases are somewhat endless.
For several years now, we’ve talked about how augmented reality will ultimately change people’s lives, and how it can be so much more than just a marketing gimmick, or an overlay on your smartphone’s video feed. Hopefully projects like this help people see the potential that we see in the technology. It truly is so much more than a video playing on a marker. It’s the beginning of a whole new way of interacting with data… The Natural User Interface (NUI).
We’re truly honored that the amazing team over at Orange Silicon Valley chose us as their partner, and we’d love to hear your thoughts on the project below.
Video Credit: Adam Odessky, Product Manager and Software Developer, Orange Silicon Valley
Typically, we don’t use this blog as a vehicle to promote media coverage of our company or our software. This post will be an exception to the rule though because there’s a rather solid piece of qualitative data nestled in the article below. And, as you hopefully know, it’s our goal to share as much data (from our augmented reality work) as we can with you.
In a NY Times article covering some of the ways the fashion industry has embraced augmented reality, the journalist interviewed a young woman (Elizabeth Cardy, 22) who had used The Webcam Social Shopper on Banana Flame’s site. Here’s the relevant excerpt directly from the article:
“’It was fun,’ Ms. Cardy said. ‘I’d never used my Webcam like that before.’
She was able to ‘try on’ the dress, using her computer screen as a sort of electronic mirror. By gesturing, she operated the virtual controls, adjusting the garment’s position, color and size, and then photographed herself to show friends. In the end, she bought the dress: ‘Seeing it on helped me decide.’“
That last sentence is a doozy isn’t it? Here’s a young woman, a “digital native”, letting us know that Augmented Reality (i.e. The Webcam Social Shopper) directly influenced her purchase decision. The technology was “fun” for her to use and she made a purchase she otherwise wouldn’t have, because of AR. Don’t look now, but I think that might be called “ROI”…
As always, if you want to discuss, please comment below or you can find me on twitter here.
As we noted last week, we’re going to work to share as much data as we can from retailers that license our ecommerce augmented reality software, the Webcam Social Shopper (WSS).
Today we’re only sharing one stat, but it’s pretty compelling one (we think): Banana Flame has seen conversions on the “add to cart” button skyrocket from 1.16% to 5.38% since our Webcam Social Shopper was integrated. That means roughly five times as many people are now adding items to their cart thanks to WSS.
What do you think? Are stats like the one above proving that there’s real ROI in augmented reality?
I’d love to hear your thoughts below, or you can find me on twitter here.
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.
As other companies finally enter the augmented reality ecommerce space to try and compete with us, we’ve noticed a trend: they all refer to their execution as a “virtual fitting room”, and promise brands that they will allow shoppers to “try on clothes” from the comforts of their own homes. And while I completely understand how that metaphor would be an easy connection for potential clients to make, I’d like to take a moment to explain why we’ve always actively avoided using that type of messaging/language when discussing our Webcam Social Shopper (WSS).
Simply put: With the current technology shoppers are using at home (i.e. a normal computer and webcam) we can’t deliver on the promise of fit. No one can. And we feel it’s critical that we help brands to manage their shopper’s expectations from the get-go.
Let’s for the sake of this post completely ignore how important an apparel item’s tactile feel is when you try something on, and focus solely on what a shopper would expect when they’re in a dressing room trying something on. They’d expect to see where that item bunches, grabs, sags, and hangs. “Does the blouse hang too low?” “Are these jeans gonna give me a muffin top?” They’d want to see how that particular item would fit their very unique body, and rightfully so. Companies are proactively telling them they can “try something on”, and a shoppers only frame of reference is what happens in the real world. So all developers are doing by setting those expectations is setting shoppers (and online retailers) up to be disappointed by the experience rather than excited.
But “so what” if you can’t see how it fits? The value proposition doesn’t have to be about fit to greatly advance the current online shopping experience (especially for young women, who have grown up digital but are still shopping with their grandmother’s internet). WSS is about validating color and style, and seeing if an item is “right for you”, just like you would at the rack in a store. It’s about asking a friend “what do you think?” and getting that all important feedback before a purchase is made. Or maybe a shopper just wants to find a top to match a particular skirt they already own at home, that we can help with. But fit? Nope. Sorry, I truly wish it could be done. At the end of the day WSS (and its imitators) is just another tool to help shoppers validate their purchase (and hopefully have some fun doing it), just like “zooming” in on an item.
Now, I’d love to get your thoughts. Are we being too literal? Getting caught in the weeds, or do you agree with us that messaging makes a difference?
With the surge in online Augmented Reality, we often get asked, “How many people actually have webcams?” Given webcams are becoming a standard accessory to new laptops (and desktops) we’ve spent some time compiling numbers that we’d like to share:
79% of laptops now have webcams. (source: PC world)
72% of 18-20 year olds own a laptop. (source: Pew Internet & American Life Project)
83% of college students own a laptop. (source: Student Monitor)
More than 50% of Gen Y owns a webcam. (source: Cisco)
As of March 2011, more than 40% of Skype minutes involve video to video calls (source: Skype)
Furthermore, on recent web-based Augmented Reality projects we’ve launched both on our own (Cannonballz) and for clients, we’ve seen on average approximately 78% of users with webcams enabled.
With the continued growth of video chat and Augmented Reality, it’s an inevitability that webcam’s will be a standard of any PC experience in the near future. Though most web-based Augmented Reality is a solo experience, with the growing popularity of video chat, we can expect to see Augmented Reality evolve to a one-to-one and even one-to-many proposition. The following press announcements from Google, Facebook and Skype help to show how video chat is integrating itself into the social experience:
Social Media is all the rage now, but interactive video chats will help evolve conversations and collaboration to an even more real-time experience. If you haven’t seen our ZugSTAR prototype, take a minute to check it out below to see how the interactive video chat experience can work from anything to Virtual Dressing Rooms to Telemedicine.
As some of you may know, when it comes to consumer facing Augmented Reality experiences here at Zugara we’re opposed to executions that require people to download a plug-in. Our deep experience in the interactive space has taught us that downloads are a gigantic barrier for people, that’s why our products are built in Flash (which has a penetration rate of over 99%). Of course, the question is: how big of a barrier are plug-ins?
Now the technology companies that require plug-ins for their Augmented Reality executions aren’t quick to release stats regarding bounce rates (which isn’t exactly the most shocking piece of news), but I just found some stats in a Unity Technologies blog post that I find incredibly telling. Unity Technologies are the makers of Unity 3 “a game development tool that has been designed to let you (developers) focus on creating amazing games.” Like Shockwave, Unity 3 requires that the gamer has a specific plug-in to play the games that are developed using the proprietary platform.
In their blog post, Unity divulges that for users that don’t already have the plug-in only 60% successfully install it. They go on to note that “for Shockwave we believe it is around 40%.” Obviously, in relation to Shockwave, a 60% success rate is pretty good… but that still means 40% of the people you’ve worked to get to your site, are opting out of the experience because of the download. And judging by the fact that they blogged about it, it appears that a 40% bounce rate is a good number for the industry…
Okay, I don’t want to argue, so let’s just split the difference between the Unity and Shockwave numbers noted above and say that the average successful download rate is 50%. If you’re creating an Augmented Reality experience for people, a 50% success rate on a download is unacceptable, and terrible for your business. Would you stand outside a brick and mortar store and only let in 50% of the potential customers people who wanted to enter? Of course not… So why aren’t we as an industry applying the same principles to our online branding? Why do you think marketers are still forcing downloads on their consumers? What are the “pros” that outweigh (what I see as) a very big “con”? I’d love to hear your thoughts below (especially if you have more data on download rates)…
This morning I read three articles on InternetRetailer.com that contained some pretty interesting info, so I thought I would share. All the articles pointed to the success online retailers are having with advanced product viewing features (e.g. zooming, 360-degree spins, etc.).
This probably won’t shock many of you, but we see Augmented Reality Ecommerce Applications (like our Webcam Social Shopper) as the next step in advanced online product visualization, so third party data like what’s noted below is fantastic to see.
Article 1: Rotating images generate higher conversion for DueMaternity.com
“360-degree spin images convert 27% higher than standard photos.”
“Our shoppers want to see every detail and look at a particular item from every angle before making a purchase,” says DiPadova. “A rotating image provides that detail and this feature really improved the conversion rate on many of our merchandising pages.”
Article 2: Against Nudity hopes shoppers linger longer with 360-degree images
“However, buying clothing is much more personal, which means it requires more product information, Moreau says.”
“Investing in the technology to produce 360-degree images might cost between $15,000 and $20,000, Moreau estimates. Ongoing costs are not prohibitive, he says, adding it costs Against Nudity about $40 to create each 360-degree image and get it online.”
Article 3: Businesses say rich media helps lure shoppers
“When web marketers were asked in a new survey what marketing techniques were most effective at luring consumers more noted multimedia product viewing.”
“The Adobe Systems Inc. report, “Adobe Scene7 2011 Survey: Digital Marketing in the Next Decade,” found that 39% of marketers said multimedia product viewing was “very effective.” That result marked the third year in a row that a rich media-related method topped the list.”
Recently, we partnered with Georgetown University to conduct usability testing on our Augmented Reality Ecommerce Software, The Webcam Social Shopper (WSS). I know data pertaining to Augmented Reality is hard to come by, and many of you are interested in it, so I wanted to share some of the results:
USER PROFILE:
Females that shop online, age 17 – 24.
KEY FINDING:
Nearly 2/3rds of participants said that WSS would help them in making a purchase decision.
SOME ADDITIONAL FINDINGS:
Users were asked the question: “if an online store had this product, how interested would you be in using it?” Over 83% of users answered between “Interested” and “Very Interested”.
Users were asked the question: “How interested do you think your friends would be in using it?” 88% of users answered between “Interested” and “Very Interested”.
When the users first viewed WSS “the typical initial reaction was a surprised exclamation.”
It took first time users about two minutes to understand, and become comfortable with the motion capture interface.
UI LEARNINGS:
We also were able to learn where our product needed improvement. Much of our learnings have already been integrated into our brand new online demo: www.webcamsocialshopper.com – we’d love to know your thoughts on it!
If you’d like more details on the usability testing, or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
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.
