How much time on average do you spend on your smartphone?
According to a 2021 survey carried out by Statista in the U.S., nearly half of respondents said that they spent five to six hours on their mobile phones daily, excluding work-related use. No wonder then that retailers are seeking their next fortune in the mobile market, placing stakes on mobile app development as a part of their multi-channel marketing strategy.
The luxury goods segment, including the jewelry business, is not immune to digital disruption. Adjusting to the new reality amid the Covid-19 pandemic, luxury goods companies are accelerating the adoption of digital solutions to engage with customers and deliver luxury shopping experiences leveraging such technology.
Jewelry brands partner with both experienced players in the digital field and with disruptive startups to improve customer services and create new products. Creating mobile apps for jewelry retail with a virtual try-on feature is one of the surest ways to woo online shoppers and eventually drive online sales.
In this post, you’ll find out why it’s important for a jewelry brand to have a mobile app with virtual try-on and learn about the benefits of integrating the technology into your marketing strategy.
Before COVID-19 hit, emerging luxury brands had tried to find traction online where renowned brands hesitated to venture. But after 2019 the dynamics changed.
A global luxury market study showed that power brands have gone digital over the past two years. The trend grew from a 12% share of the personal luxury market in 2019 to 22% in 2021, demonstrating a stunning 38% uptick since 2019.
The pandemic prompted luxury brands to focus on digital solutions, with some offering e-commerce for the first time, which turned into an integral part of the multi-channel distribution strategy for nearly all companies in this segment, according to Deloitte’s recent research into the current state of the luxury goods market.
It’s worth noting that amid an overall decrease in sales due to store closures, shifts in consumer demand, and supply chain disruption — the top hundred luxury goods companies had a $30bn drop in revenue collectively in 2020 compared to 2019 — three companies managed to boost sales by more than 10% in 2020. Each of them invested in their digital presence and pivoted to e-commerce.
Luxury e-commerce specialist Farfetch, for example, was able to capitalize on consumer opportunities thanks to its ability to respond to the pandemic-driven switch to online shopping, according to Deloitte’s findings.
In the jewelry segment, represented by 33 companies among 100, sales fell by 12.8%, according to the research. Twenty-one companies out of 33 reported double-digit declines.
This can partly be attributed to the jewelry business, including watch manufacturers, being more conservative about approaches to customer experience and needing more time to reckon with a growing demand for luxury e-commerce. However, jewelry retail can learn from brands in other luxury segments and take on a mobile strategy as well.
Brands like Gucci, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Prada are pioneers in technological disruption in luxury e-commerce — experimenting with mobile apps and virtual reality for higher conversions. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Gucci is one of a few luxury brands that is at the forefront of digital innovation when it comes to mobile. With a recent update to its mobile app, the company upgraded user experience with live streams, virtual try-ons and Gucci Arcade games.
The app has five sections. The first, Home, provides up-to-date information about the brand’s activities and access to a photo booth for customizing pictures. The second, the virtual try-on feature, uses augmented reality and offers app users the chance to virtually try on sneakers, eyewear, hats, and makeup. The Runway section offers live streams from catwalks, while the Arcade section opens access to vintage games. The Podcast section is the newest and offers audio content on fashion industry-related issues.
All these features keep app users entertained, helping them to bond with the brand.
This brand might not have a trendy virtual try-on feature yet, but it offers few interesting properties that will keep app users engaged.
The app is divided into five sections each offering different features. The most interesting ones are Scan and Connectivity. The first allows the customer to take a photo of any item with a smartphone camera and get a list of suggested similar LV products on sale. This is quite an unorthodox approach to shopping. The Connectivity feature allows LV product owners to connect their belongings to the app to track their location. This covers luggage, sneakers, earphones, watches, and speakers.
As mentioned above, luxury e-commerce specialist Farfetch capitalized on consumer opportunities thanks to its ability to respond to the pandemic-driven switch to online shopping. Although its mobile app has quite a simplistic interface and cannot boast complex technical features, it offers the convenience of a personalized feed of products for shopping and creates a tailored shopping experience for customers.
Here are some of the benefits that jewelry brands can reap by following the lead of luxury brands and offering their customers mobile applications to sell jewelry pieces:
By now, you must be wondering what the best app to sell jewelry looks like. At Postindustria, we believe that it’s better to virtually try on a diamond ring once then see a thousand pictures of it.
Virtual try-on allows customers to see 3D models of jewelry pieces in realistic rendering. App users can interact with virtual copies of jewelry pieces by scaling or rotating them to see every tiny detail of the gemstones. All this is enabled by the complex ray-tracing technology and hand-tracking algorithms that are at the core of virtual try-on. It’s an excellent way to make sure that your customers get exactly what they need from the comfort of their homes.
Another major benefit of virtual try-on for jewelry is that you can easily upgrade it with a sizing feature. Product returns related to resizing are a big issue for digital-first and general jewelry brands. This is why offering app users an opportunity to measure their ring finger size and pick the right fit virtually is a win-win for everyone. Firstly, it makes customers confident about their choice of ring and secondly, it allows brands to collect and store information about each customer using the virtual ring sizing.
Postindustria’s software engineers harness years of experience in developing complex hand-tracking algorithms for virtual try-on. If you are looking into elevating the online shopping experience for your customers, we are here to help.
Our experts can develop a full-featured mobile application for your jewelry brand with virtual try-on or simply integrate the feature into your existing app.
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