We Are Organized Chaos

Apparel Sales To Lead Ecommerce Growth Through 2016 – Data

eMarketer released a report today that I thought you’d find interesting.  Their main finding states that the apparel and accessories category (in the U.S.) is now “climbing faster than any other other ecommerce product segment.”  In fact, while ecommerce in general is expected to remain very strong this year, up 15% from 2011 (reaching $224.2 billion), apparel will outpace the market in 2012 by gaining 20% (reaching $41 billion).

And it’s not just 2012.  ”The apparel and accessories category will lead ecommerce sales growth throughout the forecast period”, which runs through 2016.

The reasons for these gains?  Well, eMarketer principal analyst Jeffrey Grau notes that “Retailers continue to increase the scale of their ecommerce operations, particularly by investing in online sales platforms that display products and convert shoppers more effectively; apparel sales have benefited more than any other category. Apparel has become an online success due largely to easy and free returns, innovative visualization tools and the presence of customer reviews.”

More data proving that innovative visualization tools help drive online apparel sales?  I must say, it’s great to see 3rd party data supporting our findings.

 

 

Shoppers That Use The Webcam Social Shopper Convert 2x – 3x More (AR Data)

In our continuing effort to share as much data with you (about augmented reality) as we can, we wanted to get a quick post up about this:  One of our clients, Denmark based online retailer LazyLazy, was recently interviewed by Internet Retailer.  In the interview CEO  Søren Filbert had this to say about our augmented reality merchandising software, the Webcam Social Shopper (WSS):

 ”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.

Branded Augmented Reality Campaigns Provide High Engagement Metrics

The end of last year we partnered with SocialVibe and Deutsch to launch the “Anthem Blue Cross Webcam Exam” for Zynga’s network.   It was a branded engagement that used augmented reality to allow people to interact with three Doctor’s tools – if you’re interested you can read more about it here.   Today, I just wanted to share some of the data being released:

The average time spent with the Anthem Blue Cross ad is 76.1 seconds, Seventy-seven percent of consumers run through all three tools, and 71.6% of consumers click through to the landing page for more information after completing the interaction with the advertisement. (source)

Not bad numbers for an ad huh?

Below is a little visual walk-through of the experience…

Augmented Reality & The Sales Process (Data)

In the past we’ve shared the data we’ve collected on our augmented reality work.  But we truly love it when others in the industry share their findings as well.  Below, you’ll find data from a study that the folks over at Hidden Creative conducted on Augmented Reality and the Sales Process.  I’ll let their information below speak for itself, but I’d love to get your thoughts in the comments…

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.

A 22 Year Old Tries Ecommerce Augmented Reality: “Seeing it on helped me decide.” (NY Times)

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.

 

Online Retailer’s Conversion Rates Up Nearly 5x Thanks To Augmented Reality

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.