13 Dec Christmas shopping in London & Virtual Reality
Christmas shopping in London & Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
In 2016, Augmented Reality’s growth in gamification and advertising has been indisputable and it moved from a niche interest to a widespread consumer adoption. The retail environment is set to be the next AR winner in a market estimated to be worth over $90 billion by 2020.
As an example, visitors to Covent Garden in London can currently experience the Christmas shopping spree of the future this festive season as the area transforms into the world’s first augmented reality retail district in partnership with pioneering AR and visual discovery app : Blippar. Over 140 stores and restaurants in Covent Garden participate to this Christmas campaign including The Watch Gallery, Dior, Hackett, Sandro, Kiehl’s, Charlotte Tilbury, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Ted Baker and Paul Smith.
Utilising image technologies, Blippar enables users to instantaneously pull interactive, informative digital content directly from the environment around them, their favorite publications, brands and objects via their iOS or Android devices. Since launching in the UK in 2011, Blippar has expanded rapidly, partnering with Nestlé, TIME Inc., Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Heinz, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and others. The company as also recently added facial recognition to its app…
John Lewis had also created an Augmented Reality in-store experience for Christmas as part of its “Buster the boxer” campaign. Indeed in its Oxford Circus flagship, consumers can jump into a trampoline and interact virtually with the characters seen in the campaign video. This video had been seen more than 17 millions times a week after its launch in November.
John Lewis VR experience video HERE
AR is now progressively used to increase footfall, heighten in-store experience and strengthen consumers engagement.