Leading augmented reality company NexTech AR Solutions Inc. today announced a partnership with Poplar, a 3D AR advertising campaign platform provider for major global brands.

This partnership will give Poplar access to NexTech AR’s WebAR technology, which allows desktop and mobile apps to display AR content in a web browser without the need for specialized software.

“There is no question that AR is the future of retail, with 75% of people saying they expect retailers to offer an AR experience,” said David Ripert, chief executive and co-founder of Poplar, who once headed YouTube Spaces at Google LLC.

Augmented reality advertisements provide an immersive 3D representation of products for customers using mobile devices and head-mounted displays that overlay virtual objects into visible space. This means that the shoes that someone wants to buy could be seen sitting on the floor in front of them, or even on their feet.

In fact, AR try-on experiences using 3D models provide an 11 times higher likelihood for customers to make a purchase, said Ripert. NexTech AR has an e-commerce solution that allows users to see how glasses frames would look on their own faces after the purchase with a feature called “Try it On.”

Poplar launched in September 2018 as a creative AR platform that provides campaigns on-demand to major worldwide retail brands. The company has delivered marketing and advertising campaigns for music labels, game publishers, entertainment studios and luxury brands, including Universal Music Group, Wargaming Group Ltd., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and L’Oréal S.A.

“David has built Poplar into a leading AR company that has successfully launched a self-serve AR platform, created a community of developers and major brand activations,” said Evan Gappelberg, CEO of NexTech AR Solutions.

He added that this partnership would give NexTech the opportunity to reach out to major brands that use Poplar’s platform right now. Using NexTech’s technology, Poplar will be able to deploy AR advertising experiences for clients that can run on customer’s mobile web browsers without any need for them to download cumbersome apps.

According to a 2018 report from BRP Consulting, 48% of consumers would be more likely to shop at a retailer that uses augmented reality and 32% of retailers were expected to adopt AR technology within three years. The AR market was estimated at $10.7 billion in 2019, according to a report from Markets And Markets, and is projected to reach $72.7 billion worldwide by 2024.

NexTech believes that this will help those brands sell more of their products by better promoting their products using 3D/AR, thus boosting customer interaction and add-to-cart rates.

Image: NexTech AR