Snap, rivals power AR advertising boom to woo homebound shoppers

Though Facebook Inc, Pinterest Inc and ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok are rolling out new ways to market using AR on their platforms, Snapchat is well positioned to work out the kinks of the augmented reality advertising boom. — AFP

When American Eagle Outfitters Inc’s in-person sales took a hit from the Covid-19 pandemic last year, the retailer decided to make a bigger bet on an emerging tool for reaching customers: augmented reality.

Suffering from declining sales and mulling store closings, the retailer turned to Snap Inc’s popular Snapchat video-sharing app to connect with teenagers who could no longer frequent the malls that make up American Eagle’s main business.