How Augmented Reality is Changing E- commerce

Augmented reality (AR) and 3D product configuration are changing the way consumers view and experience products in the e-commerce world. For the better! This modern perspective in the digital marketplace will soon become the industry standard, and we’re heading there full steam ahead.

Companies such as Facebook are investing nearly 20% of their resources in augmented and virtual reality. This equates to around $10 billion in investments to continue their efforts with the metaverse.

No wonder! 70% of consumers believe AR can bring them benefits, including when it comes to their buying experience. A consumer AR survey run by Google found that 66% of people are interested in using augmented reality technology for help when shopping.

Expivi believes that the future is now, which is why our technology is moving side by side with one of the biggest revolutions in tech. The beauty of Expivi’s 3D configuration and augmented reality technology is that it’s accessible to everyone, from noobos to pros, we design to enhance the user experience.

Now more than ever, e-commerce stores and manufacturers are able to create, view, and place products into AR. The paradigm is changing!

Increasing Buyer’s Trust

 

E-commerce Trends in 2022 - Personalization brings happiness

Picture the billions of products available to purchase on the web today. Did you do it? Is it even possible to imagine it? Buyers’ fatigue is a real problem when trying to increase conversions. It has become difficult to differentiate products from each other. It’s difficult to come up with an original concept and, sometimes, once we do that, the way we present it is boring and ordinary.

Expivi solved this problem for consumers and sellers by implementing augmented reality with 3D rendering of products. This way, users can get a full sensorial experience, as they are able to personalize and adapt the product to their tastes and needs. The buyer is empowered with the full view of what they intend to purchase.

Decreasing Buyer’s Remorse

We’ve been living in a reality where online shopping is the new normal. Returns are a difficult part of the new e-commerce equation. Consumers expect to be able to return items free of charge.  This is not only costly but also frustrating for both retailers and buyers. Augmented reality and 3D are decreasing buyer’s remorse by allowing them to have a better understanding of how the product looks alone and in a specific context.

Fewer returns mean happier customers.  This leads to a better business reputation and an increase in recurring customers. (Not to mention the extra dollar saved along the way.)

Increasing Product Page Engagement

This one is for the Digital Marketeers out there!

Time on page and session duration are key factors in the Google algorithm.  Having an e-commerce website, SEO, and user metrics are to be taken into account. At the end of the day, this will determine if your potential customers enter your online shop or someone else’s.

With the fast-paced, short-form content that is being created on platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and even YouTube Shorts, digital consumers need something which instantly grabs their attention. 3D configuration and its application in augmented reality does just that.

This technology provides the Wow factor that will increase product engagement and, therefore, improve website metrics. Talk about low bounce rates!

Customization for Customers

 

Augmented Reality - Furniture

Individuality and personalization have never been more needed (and asked for). In the past, customizations were an eccentric thing and simply too expensive to be worth the trouble. The tides have shifted though, customers expect personalization.

80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand that provides personalized experiences and 36% of consumers say that retailers need to offer more customizable options. The customer has spoken. And with 3D and AR technology, the options for a unique buying process are limitless.

No more purchasing something without knowing how it fits a room, no more getting a product that doesn’t really look like the advertised image. This is the perfect opportunity for buyers and retailers to build more solid and trusted relations.

Buyers Know About Augmented Reality

If a few decades ago you were to say that augmented reality would be a thing, people would have thought it was science fiction. Even though the first reports on augmenting reality happened in the 1950s, we have transcended what were the initial thoughts on AR.

From the AR Pokémon Go craze to AR product visualization, augmented reality hasn’t slowed down. Industries from all sorts of spectrums are finding it incredibly useful for design, promotion, and sales. AR is not just video game software anymore. The effects it will have on future markets are vast and most importantly, consumers understand its appeal.

In the near e-commerce future, AR will be what’s expected, not just an embellishment.

The Market is Trending into Augmented Reality

Current market reports are expecting AR value to be $50 billion by 2024. No wonder, user experience, customization, and design are improved with AR. People can really experience the products without having to leave the comfort of their homes.

AR is a market trend in 2022 for e-commerce and it will be so in the following years. The 2020 pandemic changed the way the consumer shops. Online is the future. AR not only makes online shopping more enjoyable but also more accurate.

Augmented Reality in Smart Phones

 

Augmented Reality - Product Placing

Today, around 50% of the world’s 7.9 billion people have a smartphone in their pocket. Giving AR access to an astounding amount of consumers. That’s right, AR can be mobile-friendly. If you have any questions about it, ping us! By utilizing AR in e-commerce, businesses can expect a potential growth in sales, engagement, and customer satisfaction.

AR Increases Conversion Rates

We’ve been touching on this topic throughout the article. When a consumer has a seemingly endless amount of options for almost any product, converting can be difficult. Any edge an e-commerce website can get over its competition is crucial. By implementing 3D configuration and AR, e-commerce stores are seeing increases in conversions up to 40% in some cases.

These numbers are astounding, no doubt but let’s not forget about one of the great features of AR, it’s incredibly entertaining! Changing product colors, fabrics, and sizes, and being able to place it into a specific environment via smartphone, is truly enjoyable.

Simply put, augmented reality is both fun and fascinating.

Reach Out

Cheeky, and well-intended, self-promotion ahead, beware! If your company hasn’t harnessed the power of augmented reality yet, be the first in your industry or location to do so. It can make your business stand out from the babel of other e-commerce stores.

Our pricing options are flexible for any size company and the team at Expivi will work with you to ensure that you’re getting the best out of the product.

Contact us at Expivi to get a demo and let us know how we can help you design, sell, and integrate AR and 3D configuration into your business. Be part of the new chapter of e-commerce!

DIY 3D Product Configurator – The Ultimate Guide

Before Expivi was founded, we were a software company that specialized in building custom 3D configurators for other companies. As we saw that more companies needed a 3D configurator solution, we decided to build a standardized 3D eCommerce platform to cater to our growing customer base.

With a 3D product configurator, you can create virtual 3D models of your products, enabling you to create visually rich interactive 3D models of your products to be added to your online store. Combining the 3D product configurator with Augmented Reality (AR) allows customers to personalize your products to more easily visualize how a product will look in their home.

The best part of providing a SaaS platform is that everyone can create their own 3D and AR configurator all by themselves. These are the steps you need to take to build your very own DIY 3D product configurator. Stay tuned.

What you need for building your DIY 3D product configurator

Creating your 3D product configurator is less complicated than you might think. There are only 3 things you would need: 3D models of your products, an Expivi account, and a website/webshop to sell your products. After uploading the 3D models to the Expivi platform, you can then integrate the configurator into your website or webshop, allowing customers to see your products from every angle and with the smallest details.

How to get 3D models for your product configurator

To build your 3D configurator, you need 3D models of your product that can be uploaded to the Expivi platform. Some big companies have a special team to create these 3D models, but for most companies, there are other ways to obtain 3D models.

Build your own 3D models

If you have 3D modeling skills, you could create your own 3D models in a 3D graphics program like Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, or Blender (free). This will require knowledge of the program. Before beginning to use the Expivi platform, it’s recommended that you at least have a basic comprehension of 3D modeling. However, this isn’t a requirement for using the software.

Buy your own 3D models

If you’re not selling your own manufactured products, then it’s very likely that 3D models of the products already exist. Ask your distributor or the manufacturer if they could provide this. If not, there are 3D model marketplaces where you can buy a 3D model of the product. TurboSquid and CGTrader are marketplaces where talented 3D artists sell 3D models in any category you can think of.

The advantage of buying models is that this will save you a lot of time in 3D modeling, and you can count on it that the quality of the models is top-notch. Always remember to verify the license model of these models when ordering. Different vendors have different license models.

Outsource your 3D modeling work

If there are no 3D models of your products readily available, a good alternative is to outsource this work to freelance 3D artists. To find highly skilled freelancers, you can visit websites like Upwork and Fiverr. There are also 3D agencies (like Pixready) that are specialized in 3D visualization.

Here at Expivi, we have a dedicated team of 3D artists that helps our customers with creating 3D models of their products. The advantage of this extra service is that you can count on highly optimized 3D products that not only look great on the Expivi platform but work smoothly as well. This way we provide our customers with a complete solution for their 3D configuration.

Getting an Expivi account

In order to use Expivi, you need to sign-up for an account or you can contact our sales team that will help you to get started as soon as possible. Once you have your Expivi account, you can upload your 3D models and start building your 3D product configurator.

How to set up your 3D models for your product configurator

After you have obtained the 3D models of your products, it’s time to upload them to the Expivi platform and set up business rules, pricing, and the available options for each product.

We have created a lot of tutorial videos to teach you how to do this yourself. On our YouTube channel, you’ll find all tutorial videos for setting up your 3D models on the Expivi platform and how to optimize your models so that they look as photo-realistic as possible.

In short, the steps that need to be taken to set up your own 3D product configurator are:

  1. Set up the hierarchy structure for your product in your 3D modeling software
  2. Uploading your 3D model to your Expivi account
  3. Setup materials in the material groups (if applicable)
  4. Setup pricing (of the product and its available options) and business rules
  5. Configure the 3D scene so that your products look as photo-realistic as possible to the viewer

How to add a 3D product configurator to your webshop

Once you’ve finished setting up your 3D configurator on the Expivi platform, you can start selling your products right from the platform. If you prefer to use your own website or eCommerce platform, then there are several ways to integrate the 3D and AR configurator.

Using integration plugins

To make it as easy as possible to integrate your Expivi 3D and AR product configurator on your website or webshop, we’ve developed native plugins for Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Lightspeed (There is an API available, and plugins for other platforms will be released soon!).

For information about our plugins, you can read more in our extensive knowledge base.

In short, these are the steps that need to be taken to integrate the 3D configurator on your favorite eCommerce platform:

  1. Installing the special app or plugin on your eCommerce platform you’re using
  2. Create a product on your webshop
  3. Linking the 3D product you’ve set up on Expivi, with the new product you’ve created (or use an existing one). Once linked, the standard image gallery and the “Add to cart” section will be replaced automatically with the 3D configurator.
  4. Add additional custom code to theme files (where applicable)
  5. Optional custom styling to match the configurator with the brand identity of your business

Using the API embed

If you’re not using the 3D and AR product configurator to sell your products, but only for showcasing your products, then it’s not necessary to use an integration plugin. By using the API embed code method described in detail on our knowledge base, you can place the 3D configurator on any page you want. The only thing you need to do is generate an API key and fill in the specific ID of the product.

Custom integration

If you are not using an eCommerce platform for which an Expivi plugin is readily available, it’s still possible to integrate the Expivi 3D product configurator with your eCommerce platform by custom programming. We refer to our knowledge base where you’ll find articles on how to use our API to integrate the configurator on your product pages and hook it up to the eCommerce system you’re using.

diy 3D product configurator with a laptop and a 3D shoe coming out of it

Conclusion

Building your DIY 3D product configurator is not as complicated as you might think. In this Do-It-Yourself Guide, we’ve given you a brief overview of the steps that need to be taken in order to build your own 3D and Augmented Reality configurator and have it integrated with your eCommerce platform.

If you need assistance in any stage of your project, just drop us a line on this page or signup for our live Q&A webinar which takes place every Tuesday and Thursday to answer your questions.

Was this article on how to build your DIY 3D product configurator useful? Then read all about the benefits of product customization.

7 Augmented Reality Applications That Will Change Our Lives

Augmented Reality (AR) is slowly but surely becoming a commonplace to visit, play, and interact with. AR is the technology behind games like Pokémon Go and Snapchat Lenses. Unlike virtual reality, where you are transported to a virtual world, AR technology overlays digital content in the real world. It’s a popular concept and the technology behind it is advancing rapidly. In this article, we’ll explore augmented reality applications in the real world. Stay tuned.

What is Augmented Reality?

AR is a way of adding to your reality by inserting virtual objects or information into your physical environment, hence augmenting it. It is done by superimposing the digital content onto people’s digital view of the real world which you can access through your smartphone or tablet.

How does Augmented Reality work?

The key to this technology is computer vision, which is the ability of machines not just to process images but to understand them. It’s possible with today’s smartphone cameras. Once you have a picture of the natural world, the software recognizes different objects like faces, floors, and walls in your digital app or game. You can then superimpose virtual objects that respond in real-time as the user moves around.

What are the main Augmented Reality applications?

You can use AR to add a layer of information to the environment. It is done in several ways, all using your smartphone.

Augmented Reality Games

It is the most common and best-known use for AR. It can be related to games or educational applications. One of the most popular and famous AR games is Pokémon GO.

Augmented Reality Education

This technology is used to teach us anything from geography to aeronautics. People can use AR in the classroom by having virtual models at our school show how space travel works or how to operate a machine and build something with it quickly.

Augmented Reality Tourism

Using your own camera’s image, you can record your visit to a site or an event, then bring it back to the real world and bring elements of the experience. It is often done by taking a selfie of yourself at the site and posting it on social media.

Augmented Reality Health

Augmented reality is even being used in the healthcare industry to help doctors and surgeons better diagnose and treat their patients. Some augmented reality technologies have been created to measure the effectiveness of treatments that are given to patients. Others have been created to help doctors and surgeons better visualize and understand their patient’s anatomy which can lead to more accurate diagnoses and treatments.

Augmented Reality Marketing

Businesses use it to increase awareness of products, services, and brands. It’s a way to engage with people through their phones and monitors. It can be done in several ways, including augmented product designs, company logos, or even increased TV ads. An example is augmented billboards during sports matches.

Augmented Reality in Social Media

AR in social media apps like Snapchat is how AR has been introduced to a wider public. With the AR functionality, it enhances selfies with a wide range of funny filters like bunny ears.

Augmented Reality Shopping

Another field in which AR is getting more common is retail and e-commerce. In the fashion industry, it allows customers to try on clothing virtually to see how it would fit them, without the need for physical products. In the furniture industry, AR makes it possible to allow customers to see furniture virtually at home, so they can make better buying decisions.

augmented reality applications and a hand holding a phone with a AR couch

How to leverage Augmented Reality applications with Expivi

With the help of Expivi, adding Augmented Reality to your e-commerce business has never been easier. The 3D models of your products are hosted on the platform and by using special plugins and extensions for WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento (and more), it is very easy to integrate a 3D version of your products with its selectable options on your webshop.

If your visitors are on their tablet or smartphone, they will see a button that takes them to the Augmented Reality version of the 3D product, so they can see your products in their own environment.

If they’re browsing your e-commerce store on their desktop computer, they will see an AR button that will display a QR code they can scan using their mobile device and be automatically taken to the Augmented Reality version.

Using platforms like Expivi, it is possible to offer AR in your e-commerce business, without breaking the bank for custom development and integrations.

Conclusion

Augmented reality applications in our daily lives are undeniable.  It is a very new and evolving technology but holds a lot of potential in the future as on one hand people are getting familiar with it and using it more in their daily lives. On the other hand, more industries are using AR technologies as part of their innovation process. In e-commerce, more companies employ these means to promote products, services, and brands, and it is very likely that AR will become an essential tool for e-commerce.

If you want to start with Augmented Reality in your e-commerce business too, just book a demo with us and we’ll show you all the possibilities. Or download our Customer Experience whitepaper or Furniture and AR whitepaper in which we explain how you can leverage AR to give your business a boost.

Did you like this article about Augmented Reality applications? Then read this article on how to create a sustainable business with AR.