YETI tapping AR, 3D for immersive online customer experiences

The need to visit a brick-and-mortar retailer in order to touch, visually examine and physically hold an item, as part of the product discovery journey, is fast becoming unnecessary thanks to innovative technologies that are creating that in-store experience in the online shopping realm.

Take, for example, the quest to purchase a Yeti cooler or the brand's latest premium bag collection. There's no compelling reason to visit one of the outdoor brand's locations as they now provide online customers with an immersive 3D visual of the products — complete with a visual sense of its dimensions (for example, customers can place the virtual item in their virtual car trunk) and an eagle's-eye view of material durability and construction.

Yeti's immersive AR/3D experience was developed in partnership with Vertebrae, a technology provider whose Axis platform enables web-based 3D and AR product visualization and try-on experiences. The brand chose Vertebrae as its tech partner given its industry expertise and end-to-end platform for asset creation, management and deployment.

"YETI takes pride in developing durable, high-quality and top-performing products, but these product attributes can be difficult to communicate in the online setting," Matt King, Yeti CIO, told Retail Customer Experience in an email interview.

"3D and AR had the potential to bring our product technology and features to life in a revolutionary way and showcase the qualities that set our brand apart through immersive digital experiences. As we began exploring our options, Vertebrae stood out as 3D and AR assets can be loaded directly within the e-commerce environment without needing a standalone app, making it easy to integrate immersive experiences within the path to purchase," he said.

The 3D/AR customer experience

The technology allows Yeti.com customers to place more than 50 virtual products in their own physical environments and view 3D products from every angle to get a visual sense of dimensions, as well as examine the construction, material durability and a bag's organizational features.

For example, a shopper considering a Crossroads bag can place the piece on a table or in a vehicle trunk to gauge dimensions and specs, as well as examine the abrasion-resistant and water-repellent fabric and evaluate features like access points and stash-pockets based on their need for everyday use or that once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

Yeti chose the Crossroads Collection for AR/3D technology as the brand was debuting the product line in one big swoop.

"We wanted to convey from the outset the durability of the materials, the utility of the compartments and closures and clearly highlight the product differentiators. And they can do it all within the e-commerce environment on yeti.com, where the bags are exclusively available," said King.

Choosing the appropriate outdoor gear requires paying attention to product size, including answering questions like whether the gear will fit in the vehicle with other equipment, how much can be stashed in a bag and whether it will survive the terrain and climate of an outdoor experience, explained King.

"AR functionality gives them the ability to view life-size virtual products in their home or anywhere inside or out — which accurately conveys size and scale," he said. "The ability to picture items in proportion was a key factor in our decision to include 3D and AR experiences on hard coolers as well. Shoppers have a whole new way to visualize how much they can fit into each cooler, ensuring they're choosing the right size for their needs."

Why 3D/AR is gaining traction

The technology, according to Vertebrae CEO Vince Cacace, is being embraced by both retailers and consumers. He cited statistics that say that half of all consumers are willing to use AR for shopping and 76% of those who have tried AR said the tech has increased their confidence to purchase online.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has driven e-commerce shopping to new heights, is also playing a role in consumer and retailer adoption.

"2020 certainly was the year when retailers realized 3D and AR could help bring try-on experiences to shoppers stuck at home, and we've seen our client base grow 150% in the past 12 months. But that growth is about more than the pandemic," Cacace told Retail Customer Experience in an email interview.

"Retailers are realizing that 3D and AR are now table stakes, because consumer demand has reached critical mass. We have a growing body of proof (that) points that 3D and AR are effective sales tools. Our customers have used 3D and AR to improve revenue and engagement metrics, especially on mobile, where consumers now do the majority of their shopping, but have traditionally hesitated to buy because of the inferior experience," he said.

Vertebrae is seeing brands like David's Bridal using immersive experiences online to set the stage for subsequent in-person experiences, with shoppers narrowing their options using life-size 3D and AR renderings before heading to the store to finalize purchases.

"And because shoppers are more accurately able to evaluate products prior to purchase, there's potential to reduce returns as well," said Cacace.

For Yeti, providing such immersive experiences is also another way to meet consumer expectations as shoppers have become increasingly more reliant on comprehensive product content to make informed purchase decisions, said King.

"3D and AR provides increased accuracy related to sizing, style, and materials. We take pride in developing durable and innovative products and 3D and AR offers a truly immersive customer experience that highlights those attributes. Thanks to Vertebrae's platform we can also syndicate 3D and AR assets across .com and other channels, including to our retail partners, to help drive sales wherever consumers choose to shop," he said.

Going forward

As King explained, a top reason Yeti chose Vertebrae was the platform's ability to deploy and manage assets without needing help from the company's IT department. That capability, said King, means that the brand's marketing and merchandising team can be involved in managing assets.

"Outside of adding a single-use feature to the e-commerce site, we considered the potential for growth of 3D and AR experiences as a core offering. We wanted our marketing and merchandising teams to be able to deploy and manage assets and we wanted the assets to be portable so we could integrate them throughout the e-commerce experience," he said, adding the retailer also wanted the ability to track and leverage analytics relating to how shoppers interact with assets," he said.

"We want to know what features they zoom in on, which color SKUs they chose to view in AR, and so on and get a better understanding of which product features matter to customers."

Future deployment of the Vertebrae technology on other Yeti products will be determined on the basis of several elements, said King.

"So far, we are pleased with the impact 3D and AR has on customer engagement and experience and will continue to evaluate that in order to determine next steps and our expansion strategy.

Technology evolution in progress

In regard to retailers adopting 3D and AR, Cacace expects the technologies to become the "default way" shoppers interact with online product and not just on e-commerce sites and apps.

"Social media giants Facebook and Snapchat are already experimenting with AR for commerce and Google is exploring the integration of AR widely into its initiatives. That means the ability to syndicate assets beyond the eCommerce site will help retailers make the most of their investments and leverage new opportunities for brand visibility," he said.

In order for that to happen there are some challenges, as with any emerging technology.

One is the tendency for retailers to underestimate 3D and AR, as well as some retailers' assumption that immersive AR is "nice-looking" but not "hard-working," said the CEO.

"Back when 3D and AR tools were mostly buried in apps and only reached maybe 5% of a brand's audience, that might have been true, but now with broad web-based access, we're able to use 3D and AR as freely as standard visualizations, which means they can be workhorses, and not just for show," he said.

The technology, he explained, needs to be built right for maximum capability, and some retailers trying to build such platforms in-house typically find it doesn't go well.

"We have never seen this strategy work. Once you get below the tip of the iceberg, the number of features and functionality required to implement a proper scalable workflow for creating, QA'ing, managing, deploying, syndicating, and reporting on 3D & AR content is incredibly complex — and brings with it many challenges that aren't noticeable until they cause issues," said Cacace.