Ares: Snap unveils ARES to offer Augmented Reality features for businesses – Times of India

Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. has unveiled AR Enterprise Services (ARES). This new enterprise solution will enable businesses to integrate Snap’s Augmented Reality (AR) into their owned and operated channels. The company claims that through this offering, consumers will be able to enjoy immersive and personalised experiences with their favourite brands. This new tool also comes with a suite of advanced tools designed to increase confidence in their purchases. ARES’ inaugural offering is for retail, and among the first group of customers are Goodr, Princess Polly, and Gobi Cashmere. Each of these companies has been using various products from Fit Finder to AR Try-On, which are features that make up the company’s new Shopping Suite.
Jill Popelka, Head of AR Enterprise Services of Snap Inc. said, “Over the last decade, we’ve been hard at work bringing fun and personal AR experiences to Snapchatters. In the next decade, we’re excited to take our world-class AR technology to businesses’ websites, apps, and even into their physical locations,” said “We look forward to making the shopping experience more delightful for consumers and transforming businesses around the world with AR Enterprise Services.”
How ARES works
ARES unifies Snap’s AR features with technologies from Snap’s acquisitions of Vertebrae, Fit Analytics, and Forma over the last two years. These takeovers built the groundwork for Snap’s AR enterprise offering.
Importance and key features of ARES
The Shopping Suite is ARES’ first solution. This is a suite of products and services which provides 3D Viewer, AR Try-On, and Fit Finder, embedded directly inside retailers’ own apps and websites. ARES’ Shopping Suite will be widely available to customers in Q2 and includes AR shopping for apparel, footwear, and accessories. Shopping Suite also includes:
Dedicated services and support: Businesses can leverage dedicated services for AR asset creation and technical implementation support. The Shopping Suite’s AR asset creation services help businesses create digital versions of their apparel, footwear, and eyewear products using proprietary photogrammetry hardware and machine learning creation pipelines to deliver high-fidelity assets optimised for end-user performance.
Enterprise tools to manage assets and integrations: Businesses can manage and optimise their AR assets and integrations. They can also measure performance analytics, and receive dedicated Shopping Suite support.
Experience delivery: Businesses can integrate Snap’s AR Try-On, Fit Finder, and interactive 3D Viewer technology into their own apps and websites. This will offer shoppers the ability to receive accurate fit and sizing recommendations, try on or view products in augmented reality, and interact with products in 3D.

What ARES’ first customers have to say about it
ARES is already seeing results from its early customers using Shopping Suite features. This technology claims to make the shopping experience frictionless and personal:
Goodr leveraged AR Try-On and interactive 3D Viewer technology to replicate the experience of in-store shopping on customers’ mobile devices and saw an 81% uplift in add-to-cart and a 67% uplift in conversion for mobile device users, leading to a 59% increase in revenue per visitor
Princess Polly incorporated Fit Finder and AR Try-On features to deliver recommendations to over 7.5 million shoppers who had a 24% reduced return rate than shoppers not using the technology.
Gobi Cashmere’s conversion rate was 4X higher for shoppers using Fit Finder recommendations and AR Try-On features, helping provide personalized experiences to 1 in 4 shoppers.