”17% of our visitors are using this and they are converting two to three times more.”

Now, that’s a great stat, but when you couple it with data we’ve previously noted in this blog…

• Online retailer Banana Flame saw a 50% improvement in conversions on the “add to cart” button after integrating WSS (more Banana Flame data here).
• WSS is proven to help young women make more informed purchase decisions – “Seeing it on helped me decide” (Link)

… it becomes a trend.  It shows that augmented reality can provide real value for people, which subsequently provides real value (i.e. ROI) for businesses.

In a recent Forbes op-ed Raj Rao (global director, eCommerce and Digital Marketing, 3M Corporate Marketing) cites a ComScore report that states that 2/3rds of shoppers begin their shopping process online, usually on the retail site itself. The report also notes that nearly half of shoppers who begin their search on retail sites make a purchase in the physical store, while 40% transact online. Think about that. More of a retailer’s site visitors will end up purchasing in store, than on the actual site itself.  Obviously, measuring ROI is no longer as straight forward as it once seemed.

The data above, and his own experiences point Rao towards the following conclusion: “Marketers must rise to the challenge. The solution isn’t banner ads or page take-overs that consumers despise. Instead we need to do the hard work of true marketing and ask: What is the consumer experience at retail sites, and how can I positively impact this?”

It probably comes as no shock to you, but we here at Zugara agree with Mr. Rao. Today, online retailers are content providers. Publishers. And just like in any other content driven business, the retailers that produce the best content, the best experience, will win.  So what do you think?  What stores are “doing it right”?

(Warning: Shameless Self Promotion) Oh, and speaking of online shopping experiences… have you heard of our product: The Webcam Social Shopper?

From Hidden’s Blog:

The Methodology

100 people were shown a display advert for a child’s toy, while another 100 people were shown the child’s toy as an interactive augmented reality experience. Each person was then asked two questions:

• Would you consider buying this toy for a child?
• How much would you consider paying for the toy?

The duration of engagement the audience had with each format was also monitored.  Let’s look at the headline figures:

Likelihood to buy

After viewing the 2D printed display advert, out of 100 parents, 45% would consider buying the toy for a child. Out of those who viewed the augmented reality experience, 74% of the parents would consider buying the toy for a child.  What we found even more intriguing was the price point at which the parents were prepared to make the purchase.

So, we thought we’d do our part and share some early data from our Banana Flame execution.

Banana Flame’s Site With The Webcam Social Shopper (WSS)…

• Unique visitors are up 841%.
• Unique visitors that add an item to their cart are up 182%.

Some Engagement Metrics For WSS (On Banana Flame):

• The average shopper spends 5 min 08 secs with WSS.
• 39% of shoppers click on the WSS “See How It Looks” button (on the product detail page).
• 45% of shoppers that use WSS take a photo.
• 17% of shoppers that take a photo download it to share via email.
• does not include Facebook or Twitter sharing.
• The average shopper takes 3 photos.
• 79% of shoppers allow flash to access their webcam.
• 2% of shoppers deny flash’s access to their webcam.
• 75% of shoppers actively use WSS’s Motion Capture Interface.

Please feel free to share this data with anyone that might be interested, and do keep an eye on this blog too. Since the launch of Banana Flame we’ve signed several new clients and we plan on using this platform to share as much data as we can.

As always, if you want to discuss, please comment below or you can find me on twitter here.

The video is below, and as always, we’d love to know your thoughts.

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.

To try a live demo of the technology, please click here.

WSS PLUG & PLAY SCREENSHOTS

STEP 1 – An Example Of WSS Integrated Into A Product Page Via A Button (Below The Main Image)

STEP 2 – After Clicking The Button, WSS Is Launched

STEP 3 - The Shopper Has The Ability To Alter How The Image Of The Dress Is Positioned

STEP 4 – The Shopper Can Easily Share Photos With Friends For Validation

Video of our DEMOgod winning presentation at DEMO Spring 2011. It showcases our new markerless technology

As usual, eMarketer provided a ton of great data, here are a few more points that I found interesting (I’ve embedded their entire presentation below though, should you wish to spend some time with it):

• Women account for 71% of the total dollar amount spent on online Apparel, Jewelry and Accessories.
• 87.5% of internet users shop online.
• 83% of online shoppers, are buyers.  The #1 item holding people back from buying is the desire to see and touch.

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:

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.

AUGMENTED REALITY SOFTWARE USED: Augmented Reality Motion Capture Software, “ZugMO”

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.

Both Augmented Reality games can be played here: http://bit.ly/fXvDCG

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.