Virtual key to a shopping evolution

Change is coming for the supermarket shopping experience, as augmented reality finds a global fan base. In China, e-commerce company Yihaodian has been filling sites in Beijing and Shanghai with AR ‘virtual stores’, and without a hint of desecration.

How does that work? Shoppers scan the walls of the Forbidden City with a smartphone loaded with an AR app, and up pops a digital grocery store that allows customers to walk through virtual aisles and browse virtual shelves, buy items and have them delivered to their home.

Why anyone would have the urge to do the weekly grocery shop while sightseeing at the Forbidden City quite escapes me, but you can see the merit in attempting to replicate the in-store experience for online shoppers who want to ‘see’ produce.

Here in the UK, augmented reality has been adopted with growing enthusiasm by Tesco, Asda and Marks & Spencer and the two biggest AR apps, Layar and Blippar, have exceeded 46 million downloads on iOS and Android.

Put simply, AR bridges the gap between print and digital content via a smartphone app, which brings surfaces, static text or images ‘to life’.

It wouldn’t be outside the realms of sanity to predict that 2016 could be the year that AR takes its rightful place at the top table of food and drink marketing. But it should be used with caution. To get long-lasting consumer buy in, AR campaigns need to be useful, not gimmicky.

That might include product packaging which has a hidden video message from the farmer who produced it, or price and ingredient comparisons with different brands. Or how about shelf talkers that, when scanned, reveal personalised offers, or recommended recipes and ‘how-to-prepare’ videos. A competitive element could prove effective.

Research from IBM shows that 58% of consumers want access to on-the-spot product information before they buy, and a further 19% will research items on their mobiles while shopping. The evidence is compelling - AR could hold the key to a grocery shopping evolution if used intelligently and thoughtfully.

Kaan Aydogmus is founder of Magnetic London