Warby Parker: Your phone screen is now your trial room
Scientific evidence proves that by the mere touch of a product for a few seconds, the chances of buying the product increase. It is the emotional connection built with the product that leads to the success of selling it.
It is crucial to put a self-demonstrating version of your product in your client’s hand. But that may not always be possible for the actual product. Augmented Reality makes this possible irrespective of the location of the demo and the size of the product. The basis of the technology is to immerse the audience in the subject.
Augmented Reality adds digital elements to the real world around a user. Users can experience AR through the screen of their smartphone or tablet. And now, with Web AR, users do not need any special hardware or even an app to access the experience. Anyone with a capable smartphone or tablet (the majority of Apple and Android devices) can access an AR experience. The user simply points their device’s camera at an Augmented Reality QR code or trigger, and the experience automatically launches.
Augmented reality marketing allows consumers to give a personal touch to online content with the help of customized apps and other provided materials. Further, AR marketing can help marketers drive value by creating tailored, personalized content that fits the unique needs of each consumer.
Warby Parker’s use of Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence
Since its launch in 2010, Warby Parker has always had lofty objectives. From offering designer eyewear at accessible prices to distributing a pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair of glasses sold, the company has been a disruptor and is now valued at more than a billion dollars. To stay ahead of the competition, it uses the latest artificial intelligence and augmented reality technology to provide customers with an extraordinary experience.
Home Try-On
Warby Parker introduced Virtual Try-On that allows you to try on virtual frames through augmented reality, a technology that overlays computer-generated images (frames) onto real-world images (your face). You can then order up to 5 pairs for free to be delivered home and try. You then send back the ones you don't like and get to order the pair you like including prescription lenses. The app uses Apple’s Face ID that uses 30,000 invisible dots and an infrared image to create a map of a customer’s face. With the specific details of your face tracked, the tool can recommend frames best suited for your face. This enhances the experience of the previous digital try-on system because it gives a 3-D preview of your faces and uses augmented reality to place the frames.
Using AI for Customer Journey
Another way Warby Parker utilizes artificial intelligence to exceed customer expectations is in the way they nurture client relationships and communicate with customers who visit their website. The company uses some of the latest marketing techniques to engage with customers who browsed their site and then left without purchasing. By using personalization to address communications that are specific to each customer’s interests and where they’re at in the customer journey, Warby Parker is making it easier for customers to find what they want. With language that conveys the company’s personality, every communication is a chance for Warby Parker to further engage the customer. In order to achieve the level of personalization and scale required for Warby Parker’s business communications, AI algorithms are relied upon.
AR and AI driving marketing edge
Using AR has reduced the friction in buying eyeglasses, and not only for the consumer, brands like Warby Parker can’t keep their show floors stocked with every single frame or offer all of them for home try-on. Virtual Try-ons increase the options for customers significantly.
Consumer-Centric Dialogue
Warby Parker created an incredibly powerful dialogue with its “Wearing Warby” series. This series, which features Warby Parker customers, consists of video interviews paired with blog posts. These interviews are hardly celebrity testimonials. Instead, the company chose to highlight individuals with unique and inspiring stories. As a result, consumers may feel that they, or their aspirations, are represented.
User-Generated Content
Warby Parker has cracked the code to user-generated content (UGC). Its Home Try-on packaging includes a clever call-to-action, which invites consumers to share pictures of their new glasses across social media. Warby Parker itself will also weigh in on social media to help consumers make a selection if they use the #warbyhometryon hashtag. This tactic led to the creation of more than 56,000 user-generated videos. What’s more, Warby Parker found that those who shared content were 50% more likely to actually make a purchase.
What’s next for Warby and AR?
They continue to innovate using technology. The Warby Parker prescription check app has simplified the renewal process, making it easier than ever to support customers with their visual needs.
For Warby Parker the brand to continue growing, they’re going to have to sell more than eyewear because the lifetime value of a Warby Parker customer isn’t very high. They could likely move into other products and experiences. Potentially tying up with other equipment manufacturers in this space like Hololens or starting work on Eyewear for the manufacturing floor where the lens displays how to operate a machine in front of you.
With advancements in technology and infrastructure, investment and activity from major players, and a world forever changed by a pandemic, augmented reality is moving at a fast pace with no signs of it slowing down. The pandemic has made virtual the new normal, accelerating the adoption of augmented reality. Enabled with 5G, powerful chips, and better displays and cameras, the smartphone has never been more ready for AR than now, delivering Mobile AR.
AR will become essential for brands and marketers as an at-home strategy drives marketing and advertising spend. The pandemic has created a need for an “at-home” strategy which AR is well-suited for. With AR’s value in the market climbing up to $25 billion by 2025, the future of augmented reality is bright, and we will continue to see more brands adopt it in their marketing and customer experience.
