EC site in AR performed by WebAR!

EC site in AR performed by WebAR!

For EC sites with AR, there is WebAR that displays AR by putting a line of code in the existing website. Extensibility is limited, but it's a good tool if you just want to view the product. Do you use webAR depending on how you use it? You should consider whether to do it with a native AR app.

Three changes that WebAR brings to EC and three things that EC site operators should think about
This uses a feature called AR Quick Look Viewer that can be used from Safari on iOS 12, and allows you to preview products in AR.

This AR is expected to bring about major changes in future user behavior from various perspectives.

And above all, EC sites are the most susceptible to this change, and I think that if you prepare properly, you can give a big advantage to other EC sites.

First of all, I would like to mention three major changes that WebAR provided by Apple from iOS 12 will bring to EC.

Big change 1: Realization of easy AR that anyone can implement
Many AR applications have been created by developers since Apple announced ARKit last year.

However, there was one big problem with AR apps using ARKit (or Google's ARCore).

That is the problem of "you have to download the app".

In order to realize AR using ARKit or ARCore, it is basically necessary to release it as an application to the world and have it used.

However, the WebAR that appeared this time is basically embedded in the website we are looking at, so you can experience the functions of AR as long as you visit the site.

And this WebAR function can be easily incorporated into the site without specialized knowledge by using AR Quick Look Viewer provided by Apple.

Also, some of you who have read this far may think, "But this is only visible to those who have an iPhone?"

However, in fact, Google, which provides Android, has also announced that it will provide WebAR function to Chrome browser as standard.

Of course, Apple and Google's WebAR mechanism is currently different, so there is still the problem that they have to support each, but there are also startups that develop tools that can easily implement WebAR that supports both in the future. It's easy to imagine coming out.

In this way, anyone will be able to create easy AR that was difficult with AR in the app in the future.

Major change 2: Realization of EC that can minimize the gap with the real thing
EC, which has made our purchasing convenient, also has one major drawback.

The point is, "I have no choice but to imagine and buy the product until it actually arrives."

If you are shopping at a physical store, you can pick up the product in front of you and purchase it.

However, in the case of EC, since the product information is the text, photos or videos posted on the site, it is often difficult to imagine the actual size and color, or the appearance of furniture and accessories in the room. There is.

Therefore, problems such as "I bought it on an EC site and saw it, but the real thing was different from the image and I was disappointed" are still inherent in the EC site.

But with this WebAR, users will be able to get as much detail as possible about the actual image before making a purchase.

I think this will definitely allow many of the people who have refused to buy on EC to flow into the EC site.

If the problem of not being able to image the actual product before purchasing, which was the only drawback of the EC site, is solved, the number of users who will scrutinize the product while fitting it in their room will surely increase.

Major change 3: Increasing number of users who are not satisfied with photos and videos
If the two major changes mentioned above make it possible to acquire product information in a three-dimensional and AR manner like shopify, we believe that users will not be satisfied with the amount of information on sites that are currently considered standard.

Going back in the context of the Web so far, most of what you can see on the Web at first was only text.

For example, the following is the 1994 Amazon site.

However, with the evolution of networks and information terminals, it has become possible to display images and videos.

And we human beings are creatures that cannot go back once they come into contact with content with a large amount of information.

We live in an era when the site is flooded with images and videos. A text-only site is a site with little information, and its appeal is diminishing.

I think the same thing is about to happen with the advent of this WebAR.

Sites that allow you to look over the product three-dimensionally and install it in your room before actually purchasing it have come out, and when it becomes commonplace, users are steadily becoming more and more "non-rich sites" with only photos and videos. It may be considered as "" and you may not be able to view it.

It will be an important factor to provide users with 3D information so that they will recognize it as an attractive site and use the site.

How should e-commerce publishers prepare for this change?
These are the three major changes that WebAR I think will bring to the EC industry.

From now on, based on the above, I would like to give my own opinion on how EC site operators should prepare for these changes.

Accumulation of 3D digitization know-how of products

The implementation of the WebAR function introduced this time can be easily realized by riding on the mechanism provided by Apple and Google as described above.

However, on the other hand, in order to realize these, 3D content to be projected on AR is required.

This 3D content is the 3D data of the product you are trying to sell on the EC site.

There are two ways to create 3D data: "How to scan the product itself" and "How to have 3D data created based on the product".

Both are already possible as technologies, but I think it is a very difficult problem how to obtain 3D data of a large number of products that change every month.

On the contrary, if we are looking for such a method from now on and can prepare 3D model information earlier than anywhere else, it will be possible to take advantage over other EC sites.

Site UI / UX research using AR

AR is a wonderful technology that realizes various things that could not be done before.

However, even the wonderful technology can only get in the way of users if it is used incorrectly.

Looking back on past web services and apps, services that have been properly designed for UI / UX and provided to users in an appropriate manner have survived, rather than services that have adopted new technologies early.

Sites like shopify are just an example, and the optimal solution will vary depending on the type of business, and more and more things will be possible with WebAR in the future.

I think it is important to think about "what can be achieved because you can use AR" instead of "aiming at AR" and prepare to provide users with an appropriate UI / UX experience. I am.

Searching for a purchasing experience that breaks the barrier between online and offline

Some people say that the implementation of WebAR on EC sites eliminates the need for purchases at physical stores.

However, I personally think that by utilizing AR technology such as this WebAR, the purchasing experience can be further promoted by eliminating the barrier between EC and physical stores.

AR is expressed by the word "augmented reality" in Japanese, and is basically good at adding digital information to reality.

In other words, as in the case of shopify this time, it is possible to bring the information on the EC site to the real world, and at the same time, it is possible to map the information on the EC site in the actual store.

As an easy-to-image example, the other day, a boy named Yuma Soerianto has released a demo that displays information such as the PV of a game on a game package in the game department.

One of the attractions of AR is that you can map digital information to products that you encounter in a physical store in this way, and learn about meta information that you cannot understand by just looking at it or picking it up by hand.

And what you should be aware of is that by utilizing AR, users can instantly access information on the product both online and offline, and design a purchasing experience that minimizes the gap between the user's image and the real thing. I'll give it to you.

In the past purchasing experience, you can get the real thing offline, but there is a limit to the amount of meta information, while online you can get a lot of meta information, but there is a limit to grasping appearance information such as size feeling. there was.

By making good use of AR, we believe that we will be able to realize a purchasing experience that will satisfy both online and offline customers, which was difficult until now.