Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are technologies that are easy to dismiss. Applications can be gimmicky and they are yet to become part of mainstream retail.   

However, these technologies are enabling and supporting burgeoning channels. Despite likely not considering themselves ‘AR users’, over 250 million people globally engage with AR on the social media app Snapchat every day. Both Meta and Apple are hedging their bets on consumer buy-in to the tech, launching VR headsets in October 2023 and spring 2024 respectively.  

Retailers are seeing success through experimenting with the technologies in ways that add to their service proposition – most often with a focus on inspiration and immersion in brand stories. This is how customers want to engage, with a study carried out between March and April 2022 of over 20,000 participants by Snap and Ipsos finding 60% of consumers identify shopping as their main reason for using AR.  

In the same study, 79% of shoppers said they’d be interested in using AR to interact with a product before buying it.  

Ikea has been an early adopter of this concept in the retail space. In June 2022, the furniture and homewares giant launched Ikea Kreativ, an immersive app to "inspire customers, unlock their creativity and help them visualise how furnishings will look, fit, and function in their homes, throughout life-like interactive design".  

Featured in the app is the Scene Scanner, which uses a series of photographs taken by the customer combined with AI and mixed-reality technologies to create life-like 3D replicas of spaces on the consumer’s computer or smartphone.  As well as visualising new Ikea products within their homes, AI algorithms allow Ikea Kreativ users to erase existing furniture from the scene, to let customers completely reimagine their spaces.  

Expanding beyond its app, in April 2023, Ikea’s full catalogue became viewable for consumers in AR, directly through Google search results. Searching for a specific Ikea item on mobile enables customers to toggle between viewing the item in 2D, 3D or "in their space", as on the Kreativ app.  

Whether shoppers are weighing up product affordability versus quality or considering the environmental impact of their purchases, values continue to have a significant impact on basket size and future spending.  

On balance, more UK consumers have adopted a sustainable lifestyle in 2023 compared with a year ago, and now consider the durability and repairability of their purchases, according to research conducted by Deloitte in July 2023.

Tapping into this trend, fashion retailer Primark surveyed its consumers in July 2023 and found over three quarters (77%) of its Gen Z audience had recently mended their clothes, with sustainability considerations and the cost of living acting as incentives to do so. Reflecting this value, the retailer launched a range of durability and repair initiatives in March 2023, offering classes online and in-store across the UK, teaching consumers how to complete basic repairs and customise garments. Its sustainability investments are resonating with its customer base, having launched in-store concessions with partner WornWell across its UK flagship stores, to offer "the best in branded and non-branded vintage clothing" alongside its Primark range.  

The increasing demand for repairable purchases with longer lifespans is seen across retail. Nike trialled its Bot Initiated Longevity Lab (BILL) in September 2022, which aims to extend the life of trainers through better maintenance. Used shoes could be loaded into the machine, which creates a 3D scan pinpointing areas that are dirty or show signs of wear. Consumers picked the areas they wanted to be restored, which the machine completed, and new liners and laces were provided by store assistants. The sportswear giant continues to emphasise its value-driven ethos through its Nike refurbished scheme – giving ‘gently worn’ and imperfect products a ‘glow up’ to resell in selected stores. Its Nike Re-Creation programme, launched in May 2022, takes vintage and deadstock pieces, using them to create new products, all on a local basis, and aims to advance its "circular vision".  

As consumer expectations evolve, retailers’ digital strategies must move with them to keep ahead of the curve. Investing in the channels, tech and prioritising values that mean most to consumers will help retailers maximise loyalty and see real returns.