How Augmented Reality Can Help Small and Medium Businesses?
We live in the age of the so-called “Digital Revolution” (Industry 4.0), its essence is that the material world is connected with the digital one. This leads to upheavals in a wide variety of business areas. In transport - Uber, in retail - Amazon, Alibaba, etc.
Andrey Timoshenko, Founder at Live Animations & AugmentEcom
Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the components of this revolution. Remember the acclaimed Pokemon GO game? It uses this technology, Pokémon appear right at your home, on the street, in your office.
Speaking in technical language, Augmented Reality is the technology of adding digital elements to the physical world in real-time, using smartphones and other computer devices, in order to supplement information about it and improve the perception of information.
With quality content, a person blurs the line between “hard” reality and artificially created, digital elements. It is important not to confuse AR with virtual reality. VR is a complete immersion in the virtual world.
Now is the time when the real world will be increasingly connected with the digital. See how important is the high-speed Internet, smartphones, social networks and other components of Industry 4.0 in our time.
How AR is used in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and what problems it solves
There is no business where Augmented Reality could not be applied to increase sales, brand popularity, work efficiency, training, the speed of any operations, their accuracy, etc. For instance:
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Internet business
Today, a huge amount of goods are sold through the Internet. It is especially easy for the younger generation to buy and trust online shopping, which is growing rapidly and creating new demand. This is a great business destination. The Statista portal has published data on growth in retail revenue in the E-commerce segment. From 2021, they will increase to 4.88 trillion. US dollars.
The share of electronic commerce in total retail sales in the world from 2015 to 2023
But at the same time, in the field of online sales, there is one big problem. When purchasing goods through the Internet, it’s hard for us to sufficiently feel and appreciate the product. We cannot try it on, see how it will look in our house, decide which color is best for us, etc. This problem negatively affects the conversion and return rate, which is quite high and averages 30%. And this is a big expense for business owners. AR technologies can eliminate these problems by 60-80%. Now, with their help, the buyer can try on almost any product without leaving home. Furniture, household appliances, glasses, watches, sneakers, and many others. another. To do this, you do not even need to download a mobile application, everything can be done directly from the site.
As a result, the conversion increases many times, and the number of returns of purchased goods due to the fact that they did not fit falls sharply. Using the AugmentEcom platform, the visualization function of any product in 3D and AR can be added to your website in just 10 minutes. This makes online shopping more convenient, enjoyable and informative, gives customers more opportunities to make the right decision, increases sales of online stores and reduces the number of returns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmWySPL-aHY
Where is it better to look for AR contractors?
There are several resources that provide comprehensive information about AR companies and allow you to save time on searching:
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Crunchbase. Originally created as a startup directory, now it is the largest database of companies.
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Clutch. An international rating aggregator and review focused on the B2B market and the search for contractors. There is a portfolio, information on prices and specialization of companies. For convenience, you can use the TOP ratings of contractors of different directions and even a graphical matrix of leaders. He is very careful about checking the authenticity of reviews (reviews for projects from $ 10,000 are accepted only in the form of telephone interviews).
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DesignRush. Another B2B marketplace, but with a focus on web design, mobile apps, and branding. There is also a rating system for points, hourly cost of work and a minimum budget. You will even have the opportunity to get to know the company and the biographies of its key employees. This resource is perfect to see a visual display of the work of your potential contractors. But remember that DesignRush is not as strict in checking reviews as the same Clutch.
I hope this information was useful to you and you can use it in your business. Do not be afraid to try, experiment and be the first. I wish you success and prosperity!
Exclusively for the site https://www.penatis.com/
Andrey Timoshenko, Founder at Live Animations & AugmentEcom,
(one of the TOP 10 best AR developers in the world)
(3D and AR Visualization for E-Commerce)