Augmented Reality in Retail: Merging the Physical & Digital Worlds

| Retail

taking picture of clothes

Thanks to innovations in augmented reality (AR), retailers are revolutionizing their mobile data capture and barcode scanning operations. By taking advantage of this exciting technology, your retail enterprise can create superior shopping experiences for your customers and gain a competitive edge. But before you can use augmented reality to get real-time product information, you need to understand how it works in the context of the retail industry. And that’s where the Scandit team can help.

Scandit is a leading provider of mobile computer vision solutions that endeavors to bring the Internet of Things to everyday objects. We empower modern enterprises and consumers alike with intuitive smart device-based retail solutions that help create more efficient shopping experiences. Our mission is to connect your enterprise with the support it needs to integrate mobile data capture technology into your in-store and back-of-the-house processes and improve operations overall. That’s why we’ll be taking a few minutes today to talk you through how augmented reality feedback can add value across the retail ecosystem.

A Recap on Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is a technology that merges the physical and digital worlds together into a single streamlined experience. Modern camera-equipped devices can use AR to introduce computer-generated visual assets into real-world environments, using them to inform, guide or entertain users. AR solutions in retail can provide store staff with real-time updates on inventory data, product pricing, contents and availability via AR overlays right on their smart device screen —enabling them to optimize the customer experience and improve day-to-day retail workflows.

The Scandit Barcode Scanner SDK’s MatrixScan feature, when integrated in a mobile app, enables users to locate, track and decode multiple barcodes in a single scan. AR feedback in the user interface shows specific information about the scanned items, helping employees and customers make better decisions. When you integrate our SDK software with a mobile retail app, you turn any smart device into a high-performance data capture tool.

Augmented Reality Applications for Retail

Smart devices equipped with augmented reality functionality can improve a number of retail processes. Here’s a brief rundown on a few specific use cases where augmented reality technology is a true game changer for your retail enterprise:

Clienteling

By providing your workforce with smart devices equipped with computer vision software, your employees gain real-time access to essential product information and customer data through AR overlays. For example, if a customer needs help determining which products in their cart are gluten-free, store associates can simply scan them with their device to find the answer in seconds. This advantage enables associates to make more personalized purchase recommendations and provide individually targeted discounts, fostering more accurate and effective clienteling efforts.

Mobile Shopping

AR retail solutions can be leveraged by customers as well. AR overlays offer shoppers the chance to get critical information about products right in the store. Customers may scan items and access detailed information on product pricing, promotions and more through AR overlays. These computer-generated assets can even be designed to display unique product characteristics (such as sugar-free or low-fat items), empowering shoppers to make more informed purchasing decisions.

Price Verification

Retail employees can use smart devices with augmented reality to efficiently correct price errors and rearrange incorrectly placed products. Computer vision software facilitates barcode scanning and optical character recognition, enabling store staff to quickly compare product data with actual price labels. These digital retail solutions will overlay the correct pricing information on the screen with an AR display, ensuring accuracy.

In-Store Order Picking

AR solutions in retail enable your operations team to use cost-effective smart devices for order picking, improving your bottom line and customer satisfaction in the process. Scandit-powered devices can quickly and accurately identify, track, and superimpose relevant digital information on every item without requiring them to have a computer chip embedded or be connected online—fully optimizing your in-store order picking workflows.

Implementing Augmented Reality Into Your Mobile Retail App

Only the most powerful mobile data capture solutions can provide augmented reality functionality while matching the performance of dedicated barcode scanners. And that’s where Scandit can help. Our Barcode Scanner SDK is an award-winning technology that brings enterprise-grade data capture performance to your mobile retail app. SDK-powered smart devices can process blurry, damaged and poorly lit barcodes or objects with ease, bolstering the speed and dependability of your mobile data capture efforts. The SDK can transform almost any smart device into a robust and intuitive data capture tool—providing premium AR capabilities thanks to its MatrixScan feature.

MatrixScan is an innovative technology that enables any camera-equipped smart device to locate, track and decode multiple barcodes at once. This feature of our SDK also offers visual AR feedback on equipped devices, making it the perfect way to incorporate augmented reality into your mobile application. Devices with MatrixScan also perform three times faster than traditional scanners, increasing efficiency and productivity across your enterprise.

If you’re ready to see the business impact of our augmented reality retail solutions first-hand, then be sure to look into our free 30-day SDK trial. This hands-on demo is a great way to see whether our computer vision technology is the right choice for your team.

Harness the Power of AR With Scandit

Call or message us if you’d like to learn more about augmented reality and how it can position your enterprise for success. You can also connect with us for more insights into our mobile data capture technology and digital retail solutions featuring AR functionality. We’d be happy to offer any resources you need to understand and leverage AR to support your business and its customers.