Wednesday, April 03, 2019

Want to shop for shoes AND try them on at home before ordering?

Purchasing sneakers is one of those items that you need to purchase in person, right? At the very least, you would want to see how your potential new pair of kicks look on your feet and as a part of your outfit. Wanna Kicks, the first shoe augmented reality and artificial intelligence camera app, lets you virtually "try on" new shoes right through the app. Simply select the pair of shoes you would like to try on and point the camera at your feet (example illustrations below).

The app is built by Wannaby, a startup focused on washing away the difference between online and offline shopping experiences. "We see two major problems in the shoe market. Online conversions are quite low, and returns are quite high, in comparison to traditional ‘brick-and-mortar’ shopping. The ability to try sneakers with your phone before buying online should shift conversions, engagement and returns.” Wannaby CEO Sergey Arkhangelskiy said in an online interview.

The emergence of this technology presents an interesting paradigm shift for traditional brick-and-mortar shopping. I an envision, for example, some consumers who are limited on time (e.g., traveling) may be willing to virtually try on a pair of sneakers and purchase then. After they return home they can try on the sneakers and, if not to their satisfaction, return or exchange them until they find a pair they like. Others who may already be loyal to a particular sneaker brand or model could simply replace their existing pairs or accessorize with different style & color variations of that model. It will be interesting to see this technology expanded to virtually any other consumer good product and its impact on conversion performance.


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