Augmented Reality, Online Retail & The iPad 2
Since last month's launch of the iPad 2, the inevitable excitement about the device's augmented reality capabilities sent the minds of marketing professional racing. Simultaneously, a selection of major retailers, particularly in luxury sectors, have hurriedly set about developing apps to cater to their new generation of online consumer. Luxury Daily recently identified augmented reality as a key opportunity for brands to engage via the iPad, due to the addition of front-and-rear-facing cameras.
A new report by EMarketer has also highlighted further commercial benefits of the iPad and identified the demand for online retail experiences on the device:
'The features of Apple’s iPad and competing tablets have made them an ideal entertainment and media consumption device, but many tablet owners also have a strong interest in online shopping, and retailers are taking note.
“The iPad’s portability, tactile screen and vivid graphics foster a casual and exploratory shopping experience that leads to product discovery, impulse buying and shared purchasing,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report, “How the iPad Is Transforming Retail.”
Some 41% of consumers likely to purchase an iPad cited shopping as a reason for their interest, reported Vision Critical, a Vancouver-based research and technology firm, in a November 2010 survey.'
“Savvy retailers are creating iPad shopping experiences that deepen their connections with customers,” said Grau. “The iPad is like a companion. There is also a certain sense of intimacy in curling up on a couch with the device. It inspires a serendipitous shopping experience, somewhat akin to browsing a catalog.”
EMarketer estimates Apple will sell 34 million iPads worldwide in 2011, up from more than 15 million in 2010. Given the recent success of Total Immersion's iPhone app for Atol integrating augmented reality and m-commerce, we expect to see similar apps being brought to market for iPad very soon.
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