American social media company Snap Inc, which owns Snapchat, is showcasing augmented reality technology at Saudi Arabia’s Leap 23 technology conference.
Snap Inc has indicated that this technology is expected to hit Saudi Arabia‘s retail market soon.
“We believe that Augmented Reality is the next big technological advancement that’s going to impact almost every industry, including retail, significantly,” said Abdulla Alhammadi, Regional Business Lead for KSA Market at Snap Inc.
“Companies and brands that adopt a winning augmented reality strategy now will have a competitive advantage in the future. And we’re building loads of this innovation from the region, given the digitally-active audience, while those who are late to adopt or consider AR as part of their strategy will face a daunting challenge to catch up; this is evidenced through the 250 million people using augmented reality through Snapchat every day,” Mr Alhammadi added.
Visitors to the Snap Inc. booth at Leap 23 can experience AR demos in various sectors, including retail and other innovative and interactive technologies.
The Leap 23 event is organised by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in partnership with the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones, and Tahaluf. It is currently underway in Riyadh, taking place between February 6 and 9.
Hussein Freijeh, General Manager in MENA, Snap Inc, noted that “augmented reality helps improve our lives, widens our perspective, and allows us to see the world in a unique way. Snap Inc. has been working for years on developing AR further as it has become an effective tool and a representation of the future in a short time.”
Snapchat found that interacting with products through AR leads to a 94 per cent higher conversion rate. 66 per cent of buyers are less likely to return an item they bought via AR, and 80 per cent feel more confident in their purchases after using the technology.
It is expected that by 2025, more than 75 per cent of smartphone users will be using AR – which will significantly impact online shopping. The Gen Z and Millennial population in Saudi Arabia and users of social and communication apps are anticipated to be frequent AR users.
