Snapchat has published a new report on the potential for branded AR tools to influence shopping behavior, and how augmented reality tools could change the eCommerce process in a range of ways.

Based in collaboration with Publicis Media, the report culls responses from more than 1,000 people, aged 13-49, across four markets-that is, the US, the UK, France, and Saudi Arabia-and cross-matched this against industry insights and feedback from users who have used AR tools in the shopping process.

And there are some interesting, and likely indicative, data notes here. Here's a summary of the key points:.

First, Snapchat itself reports that the usage of AR is growing, and tends to grow ever more influential in the future.

Across the four markets measured, over half of those aged 13 - 49 say they have used AR in the past, and nearly one in three say they have used branded AR. [And] this behavior is here to stay - more than 3 in 4 of all consumers believe AR technology will play a role in how people shop in the next five years.
Furthermore, it was revealed that while nearly half of all respondents do use AR, over half of those who use AR actively seek out AR experiences, the majority of such search activity coming through camera tools on digital platforms like Snapchat.

These branded AR experiences are also encouraging higher purchase intent-for example, 2 in 3 consumers who have used branded AR for shopping also agree that they are more likely to buy after a branded AR experience.

"These numbers spike when discussing specific branded experiences, such as virtual try-on at 72%.
That's a particularly relevant stat, because as more platforms add AR try-on tools, for more types of products, your opportunity to utilize such is rising, providing more businesses with more ways to adapt to these rising trends, and increase product awareness and responses in-app.

Of course, the key to these tools lies in ensuring that your branded AR experience also reflects the real-world experience. If someone virtually tries on your make-up, buys it afterwards, and the shade they get doesn't actually match what they tried on, that could lead to a negative experience - which is why brands still need to utilize a level of AR expertise to maximize such efforts. Which could put AR try-on tools out of reach for many-but then again, other, newer AR tools, such as shoe try-on Lenses and clothing overlays, could still provide indicative insight to help with the purchase process.

In fact, Snap's research indicates that AR tools can have impact at various stages of the purchase journey.
It's with these that some important insights can be gathered, maybe allowing you to question your own usage of AR tools for promotional purposes.
And Snapchat is poised to stay at the top of the next AR wave. The app, that has gained most of its users based on its AR tools, did, at one point however, seem destined to cede ground to the larger players who have more muscle to quicken the development of wearables enabled full-AR capabilities that would leave Snap further and further behind in the not-so-distant future.

But Snapchat is also developing its own AR-enabled Spectacles, which it unveiled last week, and coupled with Snap's established production process for hardware, and lessons learned from the first iteration of its Spectacles device, Snap may actually now be leading the pack on wearable AR development, and the next big step for the tech.

Which is why these insights are so important - because while, right now, AR is mostly a novelty, and these stats may not mean a heap for your strategic mapping, in the very near future they could be hugely indicative, and could help provide guidance in your future planning.