How AR Shaped The Way We Do Business

From virtual try-on technology to lower product return rates, it is obvious that augmented reality is already changing how we do business online. In this blog post, find out what a day in the life of a store owner will look like with AR in the near future.

He was sitting on the bench to catch his breath after his morning run, watching the other runners passing by. When he saw the shopping bags in the couple's hands, he couldn't help but smile. Of course, as a store owner, he loved this new face of commerce, but sometimes he couldn't help but yearn for the past. He was not one of those who got into the business late, he chose to take over from his father's profession and became the head of a centrally located store at a young age. Then the whole technological transformation happened very quickly, but since he was a child, he could only remember the past slightly.

Whenever the sun was shining outside, the shop was full of customers, his father would take care of each one individually, trying to help them find the best product according to their needs. He knew better than anyone which shirt would go with which jacket and which shoes are perfect for which season. While he was reminiscing about the past, his phone suddenly vibrated. After glancing at his store's notification on the screen, everything he experienced flashed before his eyes like a film strip.

Online Shopping: Where It All Started

He was the head of the store and he loved his job. He would wake up early every morning and arrange all the shelves and hangers meticulously. But one day, the number of customers arriving on sunny Sundays began to decrease. Of course, as he got used to the success of the shop in this central location, his motivation fell, but he couldn't give up right away. He researched what he could do and met with eCommerce just then.

Selling online seemed like a brilliant idea at first. He was now taking customers' orders online, paying the same attention to packaging instead of meticulously lining up the shelves every morning. Little gifts and cute notes were always ready for his clients whose faces he missed.

At the same time, he was thinking about how to increase offline sales as well. Just then, the pandemic broke out. With curfews and store closings, he devoted all his time at home to reviewing reports and planning how to boost his online sales. Even though the world was getting worse, his sales were starting to improve, he was getting tons of online orders. 

A New Customer Journey Is Here

Meanwhile, he also noticed something new, the habits of the customers and their expectations from the store had also changed at this point. In the past, customers who had the opportunity to receive one-on-one attention and deep experience in the physical stores also expected the same attention in their online shopping experiences.

They still wanted to feel unique. Yes, his sales were going well, but he was also dealing with lots of product return requests. These refund requests were both time-consuming and costly. He was working with a very good photographer, specifying the details of the products, such as the size chart, as clearly as possible. So why couldn't he regain his former stability? There was still a lot to do.

Augmented Reality Will Boost Your eCommerce Metrics

A light rain brought him out of his thoughts. He got up and rushed home. As he sat in the living room drying his hair, his eyes caught the dusty trophy on the shelf. Business With Lowest Returns award. He owed everything he had today, including this prize, to the benefits of technology.

He had nothing important to do that day, so he took a box from under the seat for some nostalgia. It all started with eCommerce and online shopping, as he had just realized. Following the baby steps, technological advancements advanced inexorably and became the architect of where we are today.

An e-mail that accidentally caught his eye in his e-mail box changed his life at a time when he was overwhelmed with returns and thinking about how to reach his customers more effectively.

He remembered the title and the sender like it was yesterday: “5 Benefits of Augmented Reality Implementation for Your Online Store” by Artlabs. He didn't want to leave his comfort zone, but he was willing to try anything to bring the store back to its former glory. He immediately filled out the form at the end of the content, and he received a prompt response. The entire process was so smooth, the product scanning part was fast, and everything was now in the hands of a reliable team.

When everything was ready, his heart was pounding, he opened the store's app, pointed the camera at his feet, and what he saw was so successful that he lost his sense of reality. One of his top-selling models appeared on the phone's screen as realistically as if they were on his feet. He immediately took a screenshot and shared it with his friends, one of whom wrote, “I think you need to say goodbye to your shop now”. 

Create Organic Buzz Around Your Brand With AR

He couldn't believe what he saw when he checked the reports 1 month later. At the same time, he was extremely proud of having made a good decision. Not only did the returns decrease more than he could imagine, but the feedback he received from his customers became almost entirely positive.


A few of them even praised the business by tagging the brand on social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. Two birds with one stone, he thought, freeing himself from the burden of returns and finding a way to gain the attention of his customers. He reviewed the comments, some customers talked about how exciting a new and different experience it was, while others said it was an innovation that gave more confidence in the quality of the product. Trying the product with a virtual try-on experience before purchasing it made it easier for customers to stay true to their first choices.

“It's great that the business is focused on giving the best guidance to its customers about their product choice, rather than dazzling them with bright and flashy photos!”

As a result of the positive feedback and the decline in returns, he could no longer remain indifferent and decided to expand his AR services. Now, customers could try any product in 3D, not just shoes, and even had the chance to combine two products at the same time. AR commerce has become an indispensable experience for both his business and his customers. So was this the end of the story?

Community Building, Digital Twins, NFTs, and More!

Of course not. He was now diligently following the developments in the eCommerce field, subscribing to relevant newsletters, and chasing innovations in the communities. This is how he met digital twins and NFTs. The digital fashion article shared on a Discord channel, which he was a member of, was initially not more than a pleasant reading to accompany the dinner.

However, the strategies adopted by big brands, virtual trying booths, the concept of digital twins, digital fashion shows, and metaverse were both foreign and exciting innovations to read about. Maybe his brand was not as big as Burberry, but why should this stop him from having digital twins of his products and opening a 3D virtual store?

After realizing the possible consequences of missing the Metaverse train, he started to prepare new campaign ideas for his customers like purchasing the NFT version of the products first to get access to physical products. Or maybe if a consumer wants to buy matching shirts with their avatars, they can do so by buying the 3D NFT version of that shirt. Since the designs that appeal to Gen-Z are predominant, it was clear that the industry was going to follow this trend. “This is where we are headed.” he thought.

Say Goodbye To The Old Way of Doing Business

People in his community asked him to share his experiences and he even created his own community. Today, he had both a community that explored the connection between eCommerce and technology, and a business that has become the darling of its customers with low return rates. 

Since he had been a part of the process for a long time, he had not had the opportunity to look at his experiences from afar. When he thought about everything like that, he realized once again how much he had developed and how well he adapted to the changing world.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to close the traditional commerce page to open a better and newer one. He got up abruptly, pushed the box back under the seat, and made his way to his open computer on the table. He folded the paper he had printed out, put it in his pocket, and ran out of the house with his umbrella. He was smiling proudly as he taped the “For Sale” ad on the window of the physical store that had witnessed his whole life.

The Future of Commerce Is Here With Artlabs

From showcasing your products in AR to making your customers try them on with virtual try-on technology, the future of eCommerce is here. If you want to be an early adopter of this digital store trend, you can contact our team and learn more about how you can integrate 3D & AR technology into your business model.