(image: Zara Retail Korea Co.)
SEOUL, Apr. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Global fashion brand Zara unveiled its augmented reality (AR) technology-based mobile application on Thursday to provide a better shopping experience for consumers amid a growing popularity of online malls.
The app, Zara AR, shows models wearing selected clothing items when users hold their mobile phones towards a censor inside stores or at shop windows from outside, according to Zara Retail Korea Co.
The app, available on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store, is on a two-week test run at 130 Zara stores in 36 countries, including six stores in South Korea, the company said.
Zara’s latest move comes as traditional retailers are beefing up efforts to lure more consumers out to brick-and-mortar shops in the face of a tougher competition with online malls.
Purchases made using the Internet and mobile devices continue to show solid growth in South Korea, with the February tally reaching 7.91 trillion won (US$7.49 billion), up 11.6 percent from the previous year, according to government data.
In September last year, global furniture giant IKEA launched a mobile app, IKEA Place, where consumers can virtually place furniture in their homes or offices using AR technology.
(Yonhap)
