Augmented Reality in Retail and Its Impact on Sales
研究增强现实在零售中的应用，发现其能提升非热门品牌、窄受众产品和高价产品的销量，尤其对新顾客效果显著，通过降低不确定性促进销售。
The rise of augmented reality (AR) technology presents marketers with promising opportunities to engage customers and transform their brand experience. Although firms are keen to invest in AR, research documenting its tangible impact in real-world contexts is sparse. In this article, the authors outline four broad uses of the technology in retail settings. They then focus specifically on the use of AR to facilitate product evaluation prior to purchase and empirically investigate its impact on sales in online retail. Using data obtained from an international cosmetics retailer, they find that AR usage on the retailer’s mobile app is associated with higher sales for brands that are less popular, products with narrower appeal, and products that are more expensive. In addition, the effect of AR is stronger for customers who are new to the online channel or product category, suggesting that the sales increase is coming from online channel adoption and category expansion. These findings provide converging evidence that AR is most effective when product-related uncertainty is high, demonstrating the technology’s potential to increase sales by reducing uncertainty and instilling purchase confidence. To encourage more impactful research in this area, the authors conclude with a research agenda for AR in marketing.