Halloween returns: How Augmented Reality Can Cut Down on Product Returns

tech.hindustantimes.com:

With Halloween just around the corner, here's something scary: Americans are expected to spend close to $3 billion this year on costumes, according to the National Retail Federation, many of which only get worn once. Factor in the growing number of returns spawned by the rise of e-commerce, and the environmental impact of Oct. 31 can be frightening all on its own.

A bit of technology could help. For the first time this year, costume company Disguise Inc. is partnering with Snapchat owner Snap Inc. on an augmented-reality lens that lets users try on costumes virtually and then order them directly from their phone. Snapchat users take a full-body photo and then browse Disguise's Snapchat store for costumes, which they can “try on” using an AR filter that shows how the costume would look on their person before they buy it.Snapchat's AR lenses have a history of going viral — the company only started baking in e-commerce this year — but the technology is also increasingly considered a way to reduce purchase returns and the greenhouse-gas emissions that come with them. As e-commerce becomes more common, especially for clothing, “returning is a huge problem,” says Andrew Lipsman, an analyst specializing in retail at consultancy Insider Intelligence.Last year, American shoppers returned $761 billion worth of goods, or nearly 17% of all retail sales, according to NRF. In e-commerce, where consumers don't generally have the option of trying before they buy, return rates can exceed 20%.

The transportation and logistics industry is already the biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions in the US, accounting for 27% of total emissions in 2020. Fashion, too, has a big footprint, accounting for up to 10% of global carbon