Skip to main content
Industry Trends

Bridging the Gap Between In-store and Online Shopping Experiences

Tangiblee
Kenzie DeLong
  |  
June 17, 2022
Bridging the Gap Between In-store and Online Shopping Experiences

Online retailers are aware of the new trends within the industry including virtual try-on (VTO), 3D, and more. However, do they understand why it is so important to embrace an omnichannel approach and provide consumers with a seamless shopping experience.

Consumers are demanding a more flexible online buying experience; one that allows them to truly interact with products. This is how online retailers who have implemented Tangiblee are addressing consumers’ demands.

Consumer: Why would I buy a $10,000 watch based on only 2 photos?

Consumers are hesitant to complete luxury shopping online. Many websites do not have adequate product imagery to give their customers the confidence to complete large purchases. Sometimes online retailers don’t even show the product on a model. This leaves the customer without any sort of realistic understanding of what the product will look like.

Retailer: You don’t have to. We offer an immersive shopping experience that allows you to interact with products online.

Retailers have responded to this dilemma by implementing immersive shopping experiences that allow customers to interact with online products. These experiences include Virtual Try-On, Compare To, On-Model Imagery, and more. These features elevate the shopper’s buying experience and give them a realistic image of how the product will look as they would be able to in a physical store.

Consumer: The color online and the color of the item when I received it weren’t the same.

Many consumers are let down upon opening their package because the color they expected isn’t the same as the actual color. The model product images are taken in studio lighting and don't allow consumers to visualize how the product will look in natural light or otherwise.

Retailer: This can happen depending on what device you're on, but we provide an experience to combat this issue.

Offering VTO gives consumers a better picture of how the product will look. However, in order to address the color difference, more must be done. Dynamic Lighting and Shadowing Optimization takes into account the lighting of the room that the consumer is taking the photo in and realistically adjusts the lighting and coloring of the item. This limits the indiscretion due to colors and reduces returns.

Consumer: The interactivity of my online shopping experience lacks consistency.

When shopping in-store, the shopping experience is the same throughout. Customers can touch the product and even try it on. However, online is a different story. Each product online usually has different product imagery. Additionally, if the e-commerce website offers an immersive experience, sometimes it is only available on certain products. This makes it difficult for consumers to compare items and creates an inconsistent experience.

Retailer: We can offer you interactivity at scale.

Retailers are investing in scalable solutions that can be implemented across multiple SKUs. On top of providing an immersive shopping experience, retailers have to ensure that they can implement the solution at scale to keep up with new arrivals. This allows customers to engage with all products on their site in the same way and have a fully immersive experience across all SKUs.

The current shopping trends have shifted to online shopping. Retailers are being forced to address consumers’ demands for immersive online shopping experiences. Tangiblee’s solution addresses all of these challenges and more. Explore the revolutionary features available for e-commerce retailers here.

Frequently Asked Qustions

No. Virtual try-on adds a visualization layer on top of a product; it doesn't replace accurate product data or existing imagery. In a quality-checked pipeline, the brand's existing product photo is actually the foundation the result is built from.

It places the brand's real 2D catalog photo of the item onto a hand, wrist, or ear from a reference photo, rather than generating a new image of the product from scratch. The item's proportions and details come from the actual product photo; the AI handles scale, angle, and blending onto the shopper's photo. This is different from older try-on technology, which mapped a manually built 3D or 2D asset onto the shopper using fixed geometric rules, and different from generic AI image generators, which typically synthesize the product rather than place a real photo of it.

We recommend supporting the launch with a dedicated email announcing the new feature, ideally featuring an animated GIF that demonstrates the experience in action and links to a category page with VTO-enabled products.

To build broader awareness, homepage visibility is also important. Banners or other prominent placements can help introduce the feature to more visitors and encourage trial.

We also suggest adding a short explanation of how the feature works. Even when the experience is simple, some shoppers may benefit from a little extra guidance before they feel comfortable using it.

Finally, we recommend promoting the new capability across social media and user-generated-style content so that more of your audience is exposed to it and encouraged to engage.

Bring Your Catalog to Life

Experience the power of interactive product content.