New Year with AR from Walmart and Target

Augmented reality has become the main marketing tool during the New Year shopping season. Walmart and Target supermarket chains offered their customers an exciting experience with AR.

Walmart

Walmart equipped the trading rooms of its stores with games in AR launching the Christmas Sleigh Ride promotion. This project was jointly fulfilled with the help of the augmented reality developer Zappar and marketing partner Advantage Solutions,

− Augmented reality technology is transforming the retail market to be closer to the customer. Together with Advantage Solutions, we are glad to launch one of the largest AR solutions in the retail sector, which at the same time involves the largest number of brands. We also support Walmart's ongoing strategy to increase traffic, improve the quality of in-store service, and encourage customers to make helpful decisions, says Keith Curtin, vice president of business development at Zappar.

During December buyers could download the Walmart AR app via the App Store or Google Play. With Zapcodes, you can activate the AR experience with the Clorox, Kellogg's, Pepsi, Nickelodeon, M & M’s, Blue Bunny Ice Cream and 3M brands. Users can meet with talismans such as Tony Tigre or Chester Cheetah, play mini-games, observe 3D animation and use face filters. Buyers can also share their experience in social networks.

Target

To keep up the Target supermarket chain has introduced a new “see in your space” feature for its iOS app. The application presents more than 2,000 products, as well as artificial Christmas trees, decoration goods, furniture and household items that customers can view in augmented reality, and then buy via the application.

This experience is similar to IKEA Place, Amazon AR View, a subsidiary of Walmart Jet.com or any other applications that display products in the physical user space applying AR. Using the Target application, the user can select a product with an AR cube icon, scan a floor or other flat surface, and then tap the target marker to pin the 3D model.