Zara’s New App is a High-Tech Dream
On April 9th, Zara announced their new clothing-to-life augmented reality experience, and its grand opening in 120 Zara stores across the globe. As if dropping all of our money on the newest trends at this Spanish store wasn’t tempting enough as it is, now Zara has made it even easier– and way more Instagram-worthy.
Now, when shopping at one of the 120 Zara stores, all customers have to do is download the AR app for Apple or Android products, point their phones at a Zara window or in-store podium, and instantly, 4-D models Leá Julian and Fran Summers appear as if in the flesh to present the Zara Spring Summer 18 studio collection. Julian and Summers pose in outfits from the collection, and even talk to you about the pieces, ranging from $40 to $200. Shoppers can also share pictures of the holograms on social media through the app. Then, if they like what they see, customers can easily order online or locally buy all or select pieces from the modeled outfits.The new shopping experience was officially launched in stores on April 18th, but as it is only available in 120 select Zara stores as of now, the brand is also printing the same sensor on their online order packages. This allows customers who live far from the featured stores to still download and participate in the fun and innovative application. Zara received an outpouring of excitement from customers about this cross between technology and retail, as many fans left comments such as “looking forward to it!” and “it happened! Fashion and style in virtual reality! Very cool!” on their official Instagram.
However, this isn’t the first time Zara has introduced technology into their customers’ shopping experience. In January, Zara opened an online-only shopping pop-up in London for customers to pick up their packages – including same-day orders. This pop-up also featured self-checkouts and high-tech dressing rooms that offered suggestions on creating outfits featuring a piece after it was scanned.
With this newest augmented reality feature, Zara hopes to further establish themselves as a competitive brand among other online retailers with strong and innovative technological interests such as ASOS, Burberry, and Gap.
ASOS is a British online store known for the groundbreaking technological features on their website and app, such as the virtual runway feature. The brand recently announced their newest feature as well, reverse image search technology, on March 9th. Through the ASOS app, customers can now add an image, and ASOS will shop for it on the website. Even if they do not carry the exact product, the technology will find you a similar alternative.
Last September, British fashion house Burberry released an augmented reality feature on their app allowing customers to decorate their surroundings with Burberry drawings. In 2017, Gap released an augmented reality dressing room app that allows shoppers to try clothing on a virtual mannequin before making any purchases. With quickly developing high-tech features and applications like these, surely there is soon to be an infinite number of fascinating and easy ways to shop for our favorite fashion trends.
Although there are only seven stores in which this feature is available around the United States, one of them is the Zara at 700 N Michigan Avenue. So, grab your friends for a trip to downtown Chicago and experience this new era of shopping.
