Education, tourism, entertainment, and social media have all accepted AR. The technology has been successfully implemented by Facebook and Google, we saw it coming to life in Snapchat and starting the Pokemon Go obsession.
In 2019, AR is one of the main technology trends – it’s finally accessible to small businesses and almost any app developer can consider using the technology in his projects. Make no mistake, however, implementing augmented reality into an app is still expensive and workforce-demanding.
So why should you do it? Let’s take a look at 7 ways a business can benefit from an AR app.
Benefit #1. Increasing in-store sales
If you have an actual physical store to sell products in, it might seem that technology can’t help your business much. It’s not the case, however, when it comes to AR. You can create an app that will show the user all the information about the products while they are at the store.
Here are just a few results of using AR at a store:
- Improving navigation. Everyone knows that getting lost at a department store is a problem. AR is finally here to solve the puzzle. Thanks to the technology, you can give visitors virtual directions that will bring them to a needed part of the store.
- Increasing brand awareness. Thanks to having all the information about a product in their smartphone (it’s also presented in a fun and compelling way), a visitor will have more interactions with the product itself. This will result in improving brand awareness and increase the conversion rates by numbers.
- Enriches shopping experience. With an AR-assistant, a user can be faster and more efficient at shopping. It has been widely used for clothing stores that use AR to help users find the right size or clothing item in a matter of seconds.
Benefit #2. Adding the element of fun
Another obvious yet important benefit of using AR-technology is it makes everything seem like a game. It’s been used for the games themselves but it can be just as important for apps with a more serious purpose.
Imagine how the use of augmented reality can increase the number of downloads when it comes to an educational app. After all, it’s way more fun to learn about a historical event, a chemistry formula, or a biological organism if you have AR guiding you through the process.
The same principle can be implemented in healthcare tech. A lot of health-related apps have boring interfaces, they are not at all compelling or fun to look at. An element of AR solves the problem by adding an element of fun and surprise into the explanation of illness symptoms or your treatment plan.
Benefit #3. Creating stronger connections
Business is another field that is transformed by the use of AR. With remote work and international collaboration being a new trend, it’s important to create a connection between two parties. That’s why a lot of social media and messaging apps (Facebook, Snapchat, Skype) are either using or aiming at AR as a way to bring people closer.
AR can be your way to stand out in the crowd of minimalistic plain-text interfaces. It can create a better connection between people by giving them a way to share the experiences of visiting a particular place.
Benefit #4. Improve in-app analytics or data visualization quality
If you’re building an analytical tool, it’s a good idea to enhance the app with AR. Even without advanced technology, we try to make data visualization as comprehensive as possible – that’s where pie charts, tables, and infographics come into play.
AR can be even a better way to present data in your app. Let’s take a look at what the technology can do to improve data visualization.
- New ways to consume data. Stare at charts and tables on paper doesn’t provide us with a comfortable way to consume the data. Emerging it into the real-world environment, on the other hand, would do it perfectly. Imagine being able to move the charts, manipulate them with your hands – that’s a new better way to access data.
- Handle the data together. A possibility of bringing a few people in one room where everyone has the full control over the data is new and exciting. You’ll be finally able to explain what every piece of the chart means by not just showing it to others but letting them interact with the chart as well. It would improve the quality of meetings, brainstorming, and pitches tremendously.
Benefit #5. Get your app viral
For those who are into new technologies and spend a lot of time monitoring the trend, AR is no longer news. However, many of your app users might not yet be aware of what augmented reality is capable of. Thus, by adding it into your app, you stand a chance of generating a way more impressive exposure than your app would have otherwise had.
Let’s take a look at a few purposes AR serves in terms of virality:
- Increases the odds of getting an investment. It’s no secret that modern technologies are a carrot on a stick for modern-day VCs. By wrapping your app into AR, you’ll come across as an innovative entrepreneur with a strong tech team. That’s exactly an impression you need to make to get a Series A investment.
- Getting more press. AR is a word you want when you’re writing a press release or a script for a spot. Though it seems to have created enough buzz already, the technology is still a big deal for a ton of news editorials. It’s your chance to get free press – it’s wise to not let it go wasted.
Benefit #6. Add personalization
By create an AR app for business, you give a user a chance to interact with the environment and get a feel of a product or a service in his own surroundings. While it’s an exciting experience, it’s also a chance for people to express their uniqueness, individuality, and the sense of self.
For businesses, personalization is a big deal. You can be able to understand a user better and mine more data about him. AR is a perfect means to the personalization goal so be sure to harness its power.
Benefit #7. Changing business operations
AR is an amazing tool to revolutionize customer experience, add a touch of personalization, etc. However, it can be just as efficient when it comes to improving the business from within. You can use AR to navigate through your own inventory spaces, improve the work of your employees, and enhance communication.
There can be a dozen of use cases of AR apps in the workplace: Microsoft, for instance, has created an app for repairmen that allows them to view manuals and guides while they are in the process of fixing an elevator.
Summing Up
Augmented reality has been a big trend for the last 5 years and is still riding its wave. While the most common uses of AR are obvious – games, social media, retail, there are many more benefits for any business.
You can use AR to improve your customers’ navigation, improve analytics, enhance your app’s virality and press. The technology can even be implemented to change the workplace itself and improve the quality of work.
