Snapchat Introduces New AR Shopping Showcase for its Holiday Season Drive

Snapchat is aiming to bolster its eCommerce credentials with a significant presentation of its growing AR technologies timed to coincide with Black Friday, the start of the year's final buying season.

Snapchat has teamed with a number of well-known brands on a number of AR-focused retail projects, the most notable of which is the 'Snap Holiday Market,' which features immersive AR shopping experiences from Amazon, Coca-Cola, Hollister, Under Armour, Verizon, and Walmart.

According to Snap:

“Each brand will have a dedicated virtual store environment within the Holiday Market, where Snapchatters will be able to browse products and holiday deals in an AR space that’s been custom-built and unique to each brand.”

The integrations will give unique product presentations, including interactive and Try-On aspects, as well as up front branding for each partner business, and will be accessible via the Lens Carousel in the app.

As previously stated, the effort intends to provide a glimpse into Snap's expanding eCommerce solutions, which could be particularly appealing to businesses trying to reach out to younger customers and stay on top of the current digital purchasing trends. Additionally, Snapchat has worked with a number of fashion and beauty firms to expand the number of AR try-on and eCommerce Lenses available.

Several big-name companies are participating in this broader shopping display, including Dior, American Eagle, and Tory Burch, all of which will add to Snap's larger aim to facilitate interaction with young consumers through more immersive, engaging eCommerce capabilities.

The expansion of online shopping in recent years has opened up new opportunities, and all the main social platforms are now attempting to link in and provide a more direct connection to their users. Snapchat, in particular, is trying to take the next steps towards more immersive, suggestive AR tools and alternatives, which would likely appeal more to Snapchat's younger demographic, while also putting Snap ahead of other social media platforms in terms of in-app shopping experiences.

Snapchat has been rapidly expanding its on-platform buying choices, which now include both physical and digital items — and even some initiatives that combine the two, such as allowing users to design digital products in the app that can then be commissioned as personalized, real pieces.

Snap is undoubtedly still the leader in the space, with advanced AR try-on tools and Lenses that strive to provide more ways to facilitate in-app shopping, so you can see what fashion items look like on you, particularly, direct from your device, despite not having the same technological resources as Facebook and Apple when it comes to developing for the next stage of AR.

Snap is well-positioned to capitalize on the next wave of commerce as a result of these advancements, and this new Holiday presentation will provide additional insight into how Snap plans to provide an advanced platform for businesses to connect with customers in this next phase, which also ties in with the overall metaverse transition.

In fact, since Facebook legitimized the next platform with its 'Meta' name change, everyone is talking about it. It's unknown what the metaverse will be, but integrations and projects like Snap's new tools give us a better idea of how our real and digital worlds will progressively intersect, and how young customers, in particular, will drive this transformation.

Snapchat is also introducing a new marketing campaign for the holiday season, inviting Snapchatters to "Scan to Shop" using various Snapcodes that activate these new AR Lens experiences.

Snap's efforts are still focused on augmented reality, and it will be a big component of the next stage. Snap claims that it now facilitates over 6 billion AR Lens plays every day, demonstrating the app's potential, and this new demonstration will undoubtedly pique interest in the app's next-level connecting tools as a way to capitalize on the emerging eCommerce shift.

Then there's Snap's own AR glasses, which could be here sooner than many would expect.