Relatable experiences for the consumer are crucial if brands are to succeed. More so for eCommerce companies, where we have seen a growing trend to enhance the customer journey with product visualization, specifically via augmented reality, to drive engagement and sales.
With so many people within easy reach of a smartphone, consumers are more open than ever to trying new digital tools. In March 2021 a report from Shopify data showed that interacting with products with “try before you buy” AR experiences had a 94% higher conversion rate than products with no AR.
A challenging time for most in the retail landscape, 2020/21 delivered an opportunity to Chewy, the largest online pet store in the US. Covid-19 not only advanced all things virtual - AR has digitally transformed the retail industry at large - it also turned more humans toward furry four legged friends for companionship & social interaction.
Another compelling insight was that AR for pets is a nascent category, and in a competitive market, an AR campaign can be that differentiator that helps a brand to stand out.
To capitalize on these insights Chewy decided it was time for pet parents to have the same experience and in 2021 Chewy gave Coffee these specific goals:
Elevate the shopping experience so pet parents can preview costumes on their pets before they purchase them
Celebrate the special connection between pet parents and their pets, during Halloween
Create an experience that is mobile first.
Drive engagement and sales
At the core of Chewy’s new “Fur-tual Boutique” virtual try-on WebAR mobile experience is the first of its kind full-body-try-on where pet parents can “visualize” their dogs and cats of ALL SIZES in seven of Chewy’s top Frisco Halloween costume styles.
The Fur-tual Boutique Campaign was hosted on the Chewy.com website where exclusive digital content helped drive Chewy fans to the mobile WebAR experience.
With QR Codes on Chewy’s website and social media digital content driving users to the experience, we had created a unique frictionless mobile first WebAR experience that could be accessed in the following ways:
1. The Chewy website (mobile & desktop optimized w/QR Codes)
2. Earned media coverage and social media posts.
To encourage customers to engage with WebAR, we enabled pet parents to enter the experience via a simple QR code and select any one of seven “Frisco Halloween” 3D costumes, including Cowboy, Killer Doll, Granny, Superhero, Country Singer, Werewolf and Teddy Bear to visualize what it would look like on pets of all sizes.
At the end of the experience, users receive a custom image of their furry friend wearing the costume to share on social media, plus they can visit Chewy’s Halloween Shop directly from the experience and instantly purchase the costumes they tried on as well as shop Chewy’s full assortment.
Additionally, to incentivize further engagement, customers who shared images of their pet’s photos on social media and tagged Chewy with the hashtag #HairyNotSoScary also had the chance to win prizes.
WebAR technology offered Coffee the perfect platform to enable pet parents to find the best costumes for their pet and to share some priceless, adorable Halloween pictures with family and friends.
We selected seven costumes from Chewy’s Frisco Halloween styles for pet parents to view virtually on their pet.
Through this fully immersive shoppable WebAR experience, pet parents were able to:
Browse Frisco Halloween costumes
Take snaps with their dogs and cats wearing the adorable outfits on Halloween style backgrounds
Share their furry friends wearing outfits on social media
Visit Chewy.com to purchase costumes in time for Halloween.
Chewy’s Fur-tual Boutique Campaign became one of the largest AR campaigns ever launched in the pets category. We were able to offer pet parents the ultimate home experience and the results were truly incredible.
Augmented Reality
67% Engagement Rate
24.5% Completion Rate
1.33 Average Time Spent
