Shoes have always been a bit of a tricky item to buy online. It’s hard to know if they are going to fit right and whether you’re going to even like how they look when they arrive. Amazon looks to tackle this eternal issue with technology, introducing a solution where you simply use augmented reality to recreate the shows on your feet. Simply dubbed ‘Virtual Try-On for Shoes,’ the AR-based feature has already begun rolling out for Apple users and is likely to filter on through to other fashion essentials beyond accessories.
Amazon’s AR feature follows a long line of cosmetic brands offering customers the ability to virtually try on different shades of lipstick and other makeup products before purchasing. IKEA was also an early adopter of the function, allowing guests to virtually place furniture in their home before making the investment.
Although this is the first example of the largest retailer in the world implementing AR for shoes, providing the opportunity to visualise how those pair of kicks will look before buying, in addition to other items such as t-shirts and eyewear.
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With the launch of ‘Virtual Try-On’ for shoes, Amazon has stated that the company would continue to create innovative experiences to make shopping fun for its users. To use the feature, customers select a shoe on the Amazon iPhone app and then press the ‘Virtual Try-On’ button below the shoe image.
You can then simply point your phone at your feet and see how it looks from different angles. You will be able to look at different colourways and take photos from the app, none of which will be uploaded to Amazon’s servers.
The feature is already said to include “thousands of sneaker styles” from popular brands such as New Balance, Adidas, Reebok, Puma, Superga, Lacoste, Asics, and Saucony, with many more on the way. At launch, this feature is only accessible to iPhone users in the US and Canada.
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The company has stated that it will be launched on the Amazon app for Android “soon”, but there has been no word on when we can expect Amazon ‘Virtual Try-On For Shoes to be available in Australia or anywhere else in the world.
The time will likely come, though. And you can expect other fashion products and accessories (such as shirts, hats, and jewellery) to receive the ‘Virtual Try-On’ treatment in the near-future, seeing as it’s one of the more significant moves such a dominant online retailer has taken
