Augmented Reality
Ulta Beauty has become the latest retailer to launch a venture capital arm after announcing a new digital innovation fund Wednesday. The fund, called Prisma Ventures, earmarks $20 million for digital innovation in beauty, according to a company press release. The fund will invest in emerging technology startups that "seek to shape future online and in-storeโฆ
The past few years have been challenging for retail brands, which are adapting to external market forces like the pandemic and evolving in response to shifting customer expectations. Itโs also an exciting time, and many brand marketers are experimenting with new ways to meet people where they are โ increasingly in the metaverse and otherโฆ
According to recent research from Snap, 92 percent of Gen Z consumers want to use augmented reality (AR) tools for e-commerce. But with new options vying for consumer mindshare and adoption (e.g., virtual storefronts, NFTs, and wearables to name a few), retailers are challenged when it comes to prioritizing where and how much to invest.โฆ
In episode 353 of Total Retail Talks, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Keenan Davis, senior director of marketing at SVS, a leading manufacturer of high-performance speakers, subwoofers, wireless audio, and accessories. Davis provides an overview of the SVS business (0:56), his professional background (1:54), and why the company decided to invest in 3D and augmented reality (AR)โฆ
Within a decade, we will see tremendous shifts to the way in which consumers perceive and interact with the world around us. The imminent upsurge in the extended reality (XR) market is upon us, and what our day-to-day realities will look like by 2030 is up to the collective ability of our imaginations. Yet theโฆ
A little over a year ago, McKinsey announced that COVID-19 crammed 10 years worth of expected growth in e-commerce into just 90 days (a claim I think is open for debate). While the world focused on e-commerce, spectacular growth was actually occurring in another part of the market: Web 3.0. Itโs fair to say thatโฆ
Have you ever bought a piece of furniture online only to return it not long after it arrives? What you had imagined the item to look like in your living room turned out to not meet your expectations โ the colors werenโt right, it didnโt mesh well with the rest of the room, or despiteโฆ
Merchants and brands say theyโre entering the metaverse by releasing non-fungible token (NFT) projects or buying land in virtual worlds like The Sandbox and Decentraland. The reality is neither brands nor NFT owners are in the metaverse because it hasnโt been built. They're exploring digital worlds, sure, but we can't have multiple "metaverses." And asโฆ
Retail has dramatically changed since the pandemic began. The numbers of consumers visiting real-life shops dropped significantly because of the COVID-19 outbreak. To compensate for the decline in revenue, many companies made the move online. According to experts, by 2023, e-commerce will account for more than $6.5 trillion in sales, representing 22 percent of all globalโฆ
A lot has changed when it comes to shopping over the last 18 months. Shopping in-store is still an option, but we know more consumers are turning to online shopping (70 percent of U.S. adults have purchased something online in the last month). Retailers are adapting to the ever-growing e-commerce boom and are investing inโฆ