Major Advantages of Augmented Reality Apps for B2C Businesses

Augmented Reality (AR) is surely making its way into the next-generation digital tech revolution. And why not? This emerging technology allows the superimposition of virtual objects in the real world via a smartphone or tablet. In such reality, users will see a combination of the image of the real world with a computer-generated image.

Looking at the scope and potential of AR technology, different industry verticals like travel, finance, retail, healthcare, education, and many more domains are integrating augmented reality in their applications. This is one of the top reasons why the popularity of augmented reality apps is skyrocketing. In addition to this, the demand for augmented reality technology companies is also on the rise

In this article, we will divulge the various benefits of AR applications for business-to-consumer type of businesses. Below are some of our top picks:

1. Better Visualization

With the help of Augmented Reality, it is now possible to visualize an object in a personalized context. That means the end-users have the power to modify various characteristics like size and color and view the changes as per their preferences.

2. Unique Experience

Offering unique user experiences to your target audience is one of the vital goals that businesses want to achieve. With AR apps, end-users can make well-informed buying decisions even in an unconventional place and time. This also acts as a major plus point from a business perspective as it will strengthen the consumers’ trust as well.

3. Increases Brand Awareness

Today, the brand of a business plays a crucial role in the success of that particular business, it also describes the relationship between the business and its user base. With the help of augmented reality apps, businesses can make their target audience aware of their brand and what services are being provided by them. This tactic will not only help them in attracting new users but also in retaining the already existing users.

4. Competitive Analysis

Last but not least, using augmented reality applications is still a new approach and at the moment, not a lot of businesses are using it. That’s the reason why you can use it for competitive differentiation in your respective industry domain and promote your business to drive growth. For example, there are a few international retail brands that are currently making use of AR apps to increase their online sales.

In addition to this, augmented reality applications also offer additional information to the end-user related to the product in real-time. Here, the end-user is also able to retrieve the latest data related to the products’ characteristics such as their availability, usage and much more.

Key Statistics about Augmented Reality Technology

Now that you have gone through the major benefits offered by the AR technology, it’s time to take a look at some of the key statistics related to augmented reality to provide you with a better idea about the scope of this emerging technology:

• According to research conducted by Vibrant Media, about 67 percent of media planners and buyers want AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) ads in digital marketing campaigns. The main aim of such a marketing tactic is to boost the overall user engagement.
• By the end of 2022, it is estimated that the reach of Augmented reality glasses being sold will cross 22.8 million units.
• As per the forecast report by Digi-Capital, next year i.e. in 2020 the overall revenue of Augmented Reality will be more than three times the total revenue of Virtual Reality.
• So far, Facebook has acquired 11 AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality) companies which include names like Oculus VR, Surreal Vision, Pebbles and many more.
• After witnessing the success of Pokemon Go, app developers and businesses are focusing on integrating the AR technology into their mobile applications. For instance, the Apple App Store currently has more than 2,000 augmented reality apps, while the Google Play Store has around 100 active AR apps.
• We already know that Pokemon Go has played a crucial role in spreading awareness about augmented reality applications. So far, the Pokemon Go game has more than 800 million app downloads in the Apple app store and Google Play Store combined. In addition to this, the AR gaming applications have generated a total revenue of more than $2 billion, which speaks for itself.
• As reported by AngelList, there are more than 1600 companies registered under the category of Augmented Reality (AR) startups. Apart from this, there are other details in the augmented reality section, for instance, the total number of investors in the field of AR is 2113 and the total number of job positions available is more than 400.
• Even though, brands and online businesses have started to integrate emerging technologies into their applications. There are still many obstacles when it comes to adapting augmented reality and one of them is user experience.

Final Thoughts

These were just some of the key advantages of augmented reality applications, and there are many more ways in which businesses can connect with their audience in a creative manner through AR technology. The experts from the mobile app industry state that the possibilities for integrating Augmented Reality into an online business are limitless.

As an emerging technology, Augmented reality is highly entertaining, especially if we compare it to the traditional approach for video or audio media. As per many experts, the conventional video and audio are nowhere near the highly innovative and advanced attire of the AR technology.

In the coming years, we will be seeing a lot of augmented reality as this technology can effortlessly augment virtual world objects with respect to our real-world, thus giving us an experience that is more enhanced and more authentic.