AR is going to be a much bigger focus in the next few years with the big tech companies investing big in AR tools, and new devices like AR wearables will soon enter the consumer market.

That is going to open up entirely new possibilities with respect to marketing, communications, discovery, etc.

And Snapchat is also poised to be a key player in this next shift - as Snap notes:

Now's the time for AR. Consumers are getting excited about it, and brands get a singular opportunity to boost engagement, heighten consumer experiences and add revenues. Today, more than 100 million consumers shop with AR online and in stores.

To understand more about the potential of AR, Snapchat recently partnered with Deloitte Digital to interview more than 15,000 consumers across 15 countries in order to measure the top consumer AR trends and what they might portend for the future of gaming, shopping, communication, media and entertainment, and more.

And there are some interesting takeaways - you can read Snapchat's full 'Consumer AR Global Report 2021' here, but in this post, we'll take a look at a few of the major takeaways.

Snapchat first observes that AR usage, based on current adoption trends, is poised to become hugely influential over the next few years.

According to Snapchat:

AR adoption is tracking with the mobile usage boom we saw in the mid 2000s: By 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users.

That underlines the significance of AR development. While it feels still way off, and will not perhaps turn out to be the technology which we use primarily today, to add digital masks and dog's ears to our faces in video clips, it does indeed end up being a huge influence on how we interact, in a huge range of ways, and the data shows that it is indeed moving in that direction.

AR will eventually play a key role in how we do almost everything, in a connectivity sense. And that will be the next major shift for marketing.
In more specific terms, Snapchat's research shows that AR is already influencing people's shopping process, with more than 100 million people currently shopping through the use of AR-enabled processes.

This will build on this expanded potential, now including virtual try-on and digital product placement, such as 3D visualizations of furniture in the home, among others, and will make AR an even bigger consideration for more businesses over time.
That becomes even more significant when you also consider the rise of eCommerce, which has seen a significant boost as a result of the pandemic. Indeed, Snap's research also shows that more consumers are now finding value in AR as an assurance and demonstration tool.
Which adds another wrinkle to the growing use of AR for digital product promotions and display, again pointing to broadening utility, for many, many brands.

In short, based on these trends, it is not that difficult to imagine that AR will end up being the go-to add-on component of online shopping which will then become instrumental in setting habitual behaviors that leads to increasing AR adoption in more applications and processes.

As Snap points out:

"Consumers are always expecting more personalized and engaging experiences that enable them to interact with the world. The companies that embrace change can become dominant players in industries; those who do not, fall behind the competitors …and sink."

And if you can't see the potential rising as yet, you soon will. Snapchat has also shared this timeline for the growth in AR adoption-from 'Tech' to 'Toy' and then 'Totality', in terms of its expanded usage.
There is a heap of potential here, and Snapchat's AR report outlines it in an easy-to-follow way, with added insight through consumer usage and interest rates to underline each point.

Again, it may not seem like AR will become all-encompassing, but the trend notes do point to this next stage, and when those fully-functional AR glasses become available to consumers, that next shift will happen fast.

Best to get ahead of the game now, and ensure you’re prepared.