Facebook wants to prepare you for the upcoming holiday shopping by introducing AR advertisements into your news feed.
Facebook is rolling out a brand-new feature that will let you to try on new clothes, check out a new accessories, or place furniture in your home, all through the power of AR.
The social media giant recently announced that they are turning their News Feed into a place where companies can run AR powerful ads as a way for you to shop and buy gifts as you prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping season kicking off in October.
That’s only a few months from now, folks!
As you scroll your Facebook News Feed, you’ll see a new option labeled “Tap to try it on.” One tap and AR technology will let you see exactly how you look in that funky shade of lipstick or that cool new shirt before you make a purchase – and because it’s social media, you’ll then be able to share your augmented outfit with friends and family for a final yay or nay decision.
Michael Kors will be the first company to test out AR News Feed ads with an ad that will allow you try on different sunglasses from the company’s catalogue. Other companies, such as Sephora, Pottery Barn, and Bobbi Brown, also see the advantage of Facebook’s latest feature, and are all eagerly waiting in the wings to launch their own custom Facebook AR shopping experience later in the summer.
For Facebook, it boils down to business. They want their advertisers to have a platform that would allow them to directly engage with consumers through a mobile device in order to encourage product discovery and drive sales both online and in stores for the upcoming holiday shopping season and beyond.
While a normal shop experience involves you walking into a store, picking out items on a rack and then physically trying on the clothes you like, Facebook imagines a world where AR technology brings the shopping experience directly to you so you can shop at home, at work or while you’re waiting for the train.
It’s not just a way to discover or preview products, however. Advertisers and merchants want to capture that sale, and they see AR as way to spark that impulse purchase. This means that while you’re using AR to check things out, you’ll of course have the ability to purchase items directly through the AR News Feed ad.
AR technology is marketing gold for advertisers. As consumers around the world share videos and photos of themselves utilizing AR ads in the New Feed, they help expose the budding advertising technology to even more potential users. Just look at success Snap Inc. has seen using their sponsored AR filters and lenses.
If AR ads prove to be very successful, Facebook may very well jump on the opportunity to sell more AR ad space to marketers in order to increase their ad revenue.
Currently, AR News Feed ads is in the testing phase and only available to users in the U.S. Others around the globe can expect the AR feature on their devices soon. Instagram Stories is also being enhanced with brand stickers that will link directly to products for easy purchases.
Image Credit: Facebook
