How AI and AR can help Retailers stay in business in Moments of Crisis
When Forbes published an article in late 2019 highlighting the merits of artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) in retail, it could not have predicted just how important these technologies would end up being a few short months later.
Store closures and social distancing have caused a rise in demand for virtual tools and technologies that bring the shopping experience into consumers’ homes. Beauty brands, which were among the first to try out AI and AR to enhance the consumer experience, are increasingly using the technology to suggest products based on people’s preferences and unique characteristics, including skin tone and face shape, as well as to help customers virtually try on products before committing to a purchase. Even before the Covid-19 crisis, the technology had already proved its worth. Figures from Perfect Corp, which develops virtual makeup technology, show that virtual try-on technology generated 2.5 times higher e-commerce conversions for brands and decreased return rates by more than 8%.
As technology develops and becomes more sophisticated, consumers are progressively trusting in AI to h