SINGAPORE. – While it may take a while, the future of retail is meta verse and electronic commerce platform Lazada is taking baby steps towards this new way of shopping.
Howard Wang, chief technology officer of Lazada Group, in a press briefing ahead of the LazMall Brands Future Forum at the Resorts World Sentosa last week, said the platform early this year introduced the virtual try-on (VTO) feature for makeup.
Wang said this has seen a significant conversion of users from trying virtually to actual purchase.
“We’ve been continuously working on innovation to enhance the shopping experience. Where before we were using just the image and text as shopping format, we then introduced short videos and live-streaming that achieved quite significant improvement in conversion and now this virtual try on,” Wang said.
Lazada’s VTO features rich functions that allow consumers to select and try on products such as eye shadow, eyeliner, foundation and blush from wherever they are.
According to Wang, VTO has seen significant success with LazMall brand partners in the beauty space, contributing to significant conversion uplift of up to 3.1 times and up to an 11 percent increase in average order value.
He added: “We are also thinking what the next-generation shopping technology will be, maybe AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality) and then meta verse. But it will take time. It requires a lot of technology and there still are technical barriers. We are working with the industry and the Alibaba computer scientists to push the boundary. It will come when it is ready.”
At the forum on September 1, Wang stressed how data intelligence helps brands and sellers target audiences more accurately, and boost conversion.
James Dong, chief executive officer in his keynote, noted LazMall brand partners – from international brands to local small and medium enterprises – have been leveraging campaigns and tapping into tools such as virtual-try on and gamification to elevate the online shopping experience for many consumers.
Now on its fourth year, BFF this year adopted the theme “Empowering Connections through eCommerce,” reflecting how online and offline spaces have become integrated that sellers and buyers now connect across channels.
Dong cited a study conducted by Lazada which showed more than half of Southeast Asian consumers now use eCommerce marketplaces as search engines to find what they want.
“Today’s online shopping journeys are dynamic, since buyers have so many ways to discover and shop for products. eCommerce marketplaces like Lazada have surpassed social media and search engines to become the discovery channel of choice,” Dong said.
