Amazon Offers More AR as Prime Day Kicks Off

As Amazon starts sending out all those Prime Day shipments, the e-commerce operator also is launching a new service that could make delivery boxes a bit more fun for consumers.

Amazon has launched an augmented reality app designed to scan QR codes on those boxes and provide what it calls “interactive, sharable augmented reality experiences— delivered wherever you are.” As the company put it, “augmented reality is a fun way to reuse your Amazon boxes until you’re ready to drop them in the recycling bin.”

For instance, a consumer could scan the QR code and come up with a Snapchat-like image of her riding in a tiny animated car. The technology also enables consumers to, say, draw a pumpkin that is then rendered, via augmented reality, into a jack-o-lantern.

Earlier this year, Amazon rolled out an augmented reality (AR) tool called Room Decorator that enables consumers to see how furniture and other products might look in their personal spaces. And other retailers are also embracing AR technology as consumers turn more to mobile and visual commerce tools, especially during the pandemic — and as the deeper consumer experience becomes ever more important in retail.

A recent example comes from Siduri, a California producer of Pinot noir, is using web-based augmented reality to better connect with consumers. The Siduri Holographic Experience, built with Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Capture Studios technology, offers photorealistic images of Siduri founder Adam Lee, who is shown catapulting out of a wine bottle in a variety of immersive, three-dimensional segments — content that the wine company called compelling and entertaining for shoppers.

As for Amazon, it is hoping that its pandemic-delayed Prime Day — taking place Oct. 13-14 — can provide a retail kick and a fast on-ramp into the holiday shopping season. Deals, of course, cover all types of products and services, including food retail. For instance, Amazon Fresh is offering 15% off of first orders of $50 or more. And Whole Foods is offering $10 worth of Prime Day credit for every $10 worth of Whole Foods in-store or online spending.

No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, Seattle-based Amazon is also planning grocery stores in the Los Angeles and Philadelphia markets, according to media reports. Amazon-owned Whole Foods, based in Austin, Texas, is No. 24 on the list.