Using AR And VR

To Serve A Very Real Business Purpose In Fashion

- Vineet Gautam, CEO, Bestseller India

Bestseller India is part of Bestseller, a family-owned fashion company founded in Denmark, Europe in 1975. The company currently has 195 exclusive brand outlets and is present in over 812 shop-in-shops in external multi-brand stores throughout India.

Life is, among other things, a culmination of experiences. The difference between enjoyable experiences and ho-hum ones is often the degree to which they depart from, or add a touch of imagination, to mundane reality. This is becoming increasingly pertinent in the context of business, with brands seeking to differentiate themselves and gain customer loyalty on the strength of the experiences they provide at every touchpoint. Augmented Reality (AR) is proving to be one of the most effective ways of getting the attention of consumers – who are becoming desensitised to traditional marketing methods – and drawing them into meaningful interactions with brands.

We have been using AR for many years now, without always realizing it. It is AR at work when we add filters or effects to our faces or pictures in Snapchat and Instagram, and it were AR that enabled us to chase Pokemon characters on the streets. It was, in fact, with the worldwide success of Pokemon Go in 2016 that the potential of AR as a path-breaking marketing phenomenon became evident. And while it was a lightweight, two-dimensional AR experience, it highlighted the potential of mixed-reality applications for building popular consumer brands.