Snapchat launches augmented reality tool Shopping Lenses

Today, Snapchat announced it is launching a catalog-powered tool, Shopping Lenses, adding to the augmented reality experience that is already used by social commerce shoppers more than 6 billion times per day on the social platform.

Augmented reality is changing the way we shop, play, and learn, and transforming how businesses tell their stories and sell their products,” said Jeremi Gorman, Chief Business Officer for Snap Inc. “Starting today, our revamped AR Shopping Lenses will mean a more engaging experience for our Snapchat community, and enable a faster, easier way to build Lenses for businesses

Upgraded AR experience. Shopping Lenses provides product information and SKU-specific purchase capabilities. Prices and color details are dynamically updated in real-time, allowing users to make purchases on items and styles that are in-stock and ready to ship.

Cutting down on the clicks that it takes for a user to track down and buy a product that they like when they see it on social, Shopping Lenses allows a shopper to purchase an item with one tap on the Lens Product Card triggered by the experience.

Read more: 2022 Predictions: E-commerce everywhere

Results for brands. Real-time updates for the customer experience also mean real-time analytics for marketers. Brands gain insights and intent data when a product is being tried on virtually in Shopping Lenses.

These signals can help businesses optimize their Snapchat presence and increase sales by reaching the right customers. It can also help product development by showing brands what products and features are taking off on Snap.

Beta partners for Shopping Lenses include Ulta Beauty and MAC Cosmetics. Ulta Beauty saw $6 million in incremental purchases on Snapchat using the catalog-powered Shopping Lenses, with over 30 million product try-ons in a two-week period. MAC Cosmetics saw 2.4-times higher lift in brand awareness, and 9 times higher lift in purchase intent.

Why we care. Social media platforms are adding features to remove friction and enable interested users to purchase products in a seamless way, which improves experience for customers with high intent.

Stepping back a bit, we can also see how AR and other 3D imaging technologies are becoming must-haves for marketers in specific industries, including beauty, fashion and retail more generally. 

About The Author

Chris Wood

Chris Wood draws on over 15 years of reporting experience as a B2B editor and journalist. At DMN, he served as associate editor, offering original analysis on the evolving marketing tech landscape. He has interviewed leaders in tech and policy, from Canva CEO Melanie Perkins, to former Cisco CEO John Chambers, and Vivek Kundra, appointed by Barack Obama as the country's first federal CIO. He is especially interested in how new technologies, including voice and blockchain, are disrupting the marketing world as we know it. In 2019, he moderated a panel on "innovation theater" at Fintech Inn, in Vilnius. In addition to his marketing-focused reporting in industry trades like Robotics Trends, Modern Brewery Age and AdNation News, Wood has also written for KIRKUS, and contributes fiction, criticism and poetry to several leading book blogs. He studied English at Fairfield University, and was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He lives in New York.