20 Best Augmented Reality AR Apps for Shopping

Posted on August 11th, 2024 by Quertime Writer in Mobile

As always, retailers are doing their best to harness the newest technological innovations to provide the best shopping experience to buyers. From being able to touch products by hand to shoppable store windows, retailers are leaving no stone unturned, their latest being the use of augmented reality for shopping. With shopping becoming more about a blend of online, mobile and traditional brick-and-mortar stores, brands are looking into more innovative ways to capture customer attention. Augmented reality allows customers to engage with brands in a completely new way.

So, how different is augmented reality (AR) from virtual reality (VR)? Both are controlled by the computer environment and manipulated with instinctive motions. The main difference lies in the blending of the real and virtual, found majorly in AR in which users do not require any specialized hardware at all. Using smartphone apps, one can easily augment reality shopping with the usual traditional ways of selecting products at the store.

1. Wanna Fashion

Wanna Fashion is an innovative AR app that allows users to virtually try on clothing and accessories from top brands. Using cutting-edge augmented reality, the app superimposes realistic 3D models of apparel onto the user’s live camera feed, offering a seamless try-before-you-buy experience. The app enhances online shopping by providing an accurate sense of fit, style, and color, reducing the uncertainty of purchasing fashion items without physically trying them on. Whether you’re experimenting with different outfits or exploring the latest trends, Wanna Fashion makes online shopping more interactive and personalized.

2. Ethan Allen

The Ethan Allen AR app allows users to visualize high-quality furniture and home decor in their space before making a purchase. This app brings the brand’s timeless designs to life through augmented reality, enabling customers to see how different pieces will look in their homes. With a simple interface, users can select items from the Ethan Allen catalog and place them virtually in their rooms. The app enhances the shopping experience by providing a realistic sense of scale, color, and style, ensuring that every piece fits perfectly within the intended space.

3. Home Depot

Home Depot’s AR app is a powerful tool for home improvement enthusiasts and professionals alike. It allows users to visualize products, such as furniture, appliances, and decor, within their own space using augmented reality. The app provides an accurate sense of size, fit, and style, helping users make informed decisions about their purchases. With a vast catalog of items available for AR viewing, the Home Depot app simplifies the shopping process, making it easier to plan and execute home projects. It’s an essential tool for anyone looking to bring their home improvement visions to life.

4. IKEA Place

IKEA Place is an AR app that revolutionizes the way users shop for furniture. The app allows customers to virtually place true-to-scale 3D models of IKEA furniture in their homes. With accurate measurements and realistic visuals, users can see exactly how products will fit and look in their spaces. IKEA Place simplifies the decision-making process by offering a practical preview of potential purchases, ensuring that every item suits the user’s style and space. Whether redecorating or furnishing a new home, IKEA Place makes it easier to create the perfect living environment.

5. Wayfair

The Wayfair app uses augmented reality to help users visualize how furniture and decor will look in their homes. With a vast selection of items available for AR viewing, the app offers a seamless way to see how different styles, colors, and sizes will fit within a space. Users can browse Wayfair’s extensive catalog, select items of interest, and place them virtually in their rooms using their device’s camera. This interactive experience enhances online shopping by providing a realistic preview, making it easier to find the perfect items for any room.

6. Target

Target’s AR app, “See It in Your Space,” allows users to visualize how furniture and decor will look in their homes before making a purchase. The app provides an easy-to-use interface where users can select items from Target’s catalog and place them virtually in their rooms. The augmented reality feature offers a realistic preview of the size, color, and style, helping users make informed decisions. Whether redecorating a room or adding the final touches, Target’s AR app enhances the shopping experience by allowing customers to see their desired products in their actual spaces.

7. Amazon

Amazon’s AR app takes online shopping to the next level by allowing users to visualize products in their homes before purchasing. The app uses augmented reality to place true-to-scale 3D models of items, ranging from electronics to furniture, into the user’s environment. This feature helps shoppers better understand how products will fit and look in their space, reducing the guesswork and enhancing the overall shopping experience. With a vast catalog of items available for AR viewing, Amazon’s app makes it easier to find the perfect products for any need.

8. Nike

The Nike app incorporates augmented reality to provide users with a personalized and interactive shopping experience. Through AR, customers can try on different shoes virtually, allowing them to see how various styles and colors will look on their feet in real-time. The app also offers detailed product information, customization options, and exclusive releases, all within an easy-to-navigate interface. Nike’s AR feature enhances the shopping experience by making it easier for users to find the perfect fit and style, whether they’re purchasing for sport or fashion.

9. Anthropologie

Anthropologie’s AR app allows users to visualize how furniture and decor from their collection will look in their homes. The app uses augmented reality to overlay 3D models of selected items into the user’s space, providing a realistic preview of size, color, and style. This feature helps customers make more informed purchasing decisions by allowing them to see how different pieces will fit and complement their existing decor. Anthropologie’s AR app is an essential tool for anyone looking to create a stylish and personalized living space.

10. Houzz

The Houzz app uses augmented reality to help users visualize how home decor and remodeling products will look in their spaces. With the app’s “View in My Room 3D” feature, users can place true-to-scale 3D models of products, such as furniture and tiles, into their environment. This tool provides a realistic preview of how items will fit and match the existing decor, making it easier to plan and execute home improvement projects. Houzz’s AR feature is a valuable resource for anyone looking to renovate or redecorate their home with confidence.

11. Shopify

Shopify’s AR app offers merchants the ability to showcase their products in augmented reality, allowing customers to visualize items in their own space before purchasing. This feature is particularly useful for online stores, as it helps bridge the gap between digital and physical shopping experiences. Shopify’s AR capabilities enhance product listings by providing a realistic sense of scale, color, and detail, making it easier for customers to make informed decisions. This innovative tool is a game-changer for e-commerce, offering a more engaging and personalized shopping experience.

12. Edmunds

The Edmunds app introduces an innovative AR feature called “Can it Fit?” which allows users to visualize whether a vehicle will fit in their garage or parking space before making a purchase. Using augmented reality, the app overlays a 3D model of the car into the user’s real-world environment, providing an accurate sense of size and fit. This tool is especially helpful for car buyers who need to ensure that their new vehicle will be a practical fit for their home. Edmunds’ AR feature simplifies the car-buying process, making it easier to choose the right vehicle with confidence.

13. Warby Parker

The company has a pioneering contribution in bringing augmented reality into the retail space. There are several spectacle manufacturers and eyeglass companies that offer virtual try on glasses using online software. But, with AR technology integrated into their app, Warby Parker allows users to upload a photo. The photo includes the user holding a credit card up to their face. Why a credit card? Because credit cards are usually of a standard size. This helps in calculating the distance between the two pupils (eyes) of the shopper.

14. Sephora

Sephora’s Virtual Artist app allows beauty consumers to discover how certain products would look on their face by using the Modiface Technology that scans the lips and the eyes of the user. The app then overlays colors on the lips, place eyeshadows, false lashes, and more, which can then be shared on various social media platforms.

15. Dulux Visualizer

While apps allow you to place furnishings in space through AR, Dulux Visualizer lets you visualize your wall appearance when certain colors are applied to them. Another of the remarkable feature of the app is its ability to match color from furniture or fabric.

16. Lowe’s

The virtual tape takes real life measurements of walls and other household furnishings through their app. The app can also be extensively used outside your home, for instance measuring a field etc.

17. Starbucks

One of the most popular fast food chains in the U.S launched the AI assistant app that allows users to place orders and pay remotely. The My Starbucks Barista enables customers to speak into the app to place their orders or use the messaging interface, thus having uplifted sales greatly through the AR platform.

18. Converse Shoes

Converse shoes went a step further and personalized the entire concept of online shoe purchasing through their AR app. From the comfort of their home, buyers can easily have a view of the brand’s inventory and also try it out. Shoppers simply point the smartphone down at their foot. The Shoe Sampler superimposes the selected footwear through the screen at the foot of the user. This shows how the shoe would look after the wearer tries it on. In fact, in addition to this app offering, buyers can also save images of their virtual try-on and share them through the integrated social share feature. People are naturally inclined to seek fashion advice, hence this serves for a great brand promotional technique as well.

19. Topshop

The Kinect fitting room for Topshop has effectively involved AR to attract and retain customers. The Russian clothing store’s Moscow location displays the innovative AR fitting room where visitors to the store can simply stand just as they would in front of a mirror. With subtle hand gestures and using virtual buttons, customers can superimpose their selected clothing onto their image. The AR fitting room attracts a lot of customers to find their best look without removing any of their clothes that they are wearing, thus providing a seamless experience.

20. Walgreens

The drugstore in the U.S is currently looking into AR and testing out their advanced application to make shopping easier for the customer. Available at their store, a tablet mounted on their shopping cart is able to lead customers to the direction of the products that they are searching for without much hassle. Also, the app offers a map of the store where promotional information is displayed as shoppers pass by. This provides a better understanding of the buyer behavior such that they can utilize it to send updates about deals tailored to their interests.

21. American Apparel

Yet another example of AR used in retail is the color-changing app of American Apparel. The brand is known for their colorful product collections. With their AR integrated app finding the product in the right color becomes easier than ever before.

22. De Beers

The high end jewelry maker – De Beers, bought its AR in the market for the Forevermark diamond brand with a unique take on the technology. The brand made a memorable impression by bringing its augmented reality experience for users. De Beers integrated the physical object to make it seem more real for users by enchanting transparency property of AR technology.

Other AR app stores worth mentioning are Lego, and Yihaodian that have been benefiting customers with their real-like shopping experience over their app. In future, AR will more ably serve consumers to interact in a more digital way.