Lazada shows off new AR tech at WECOMMERCE 2019, could be coming soon

Lazada Malaysia’s annual flagship seller summit, WECOMMERCE 2019, is happening today at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), with the summit attended by over 2,000 participants. The summit allows e-commerce players from the region to share their business practices, training tools, and to network with other participants.

But a big part of the summit is to discover “New Retail” concepts to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to e-commerce and consumer demand trends, with Lazada’s partnership with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) also seeing a rollout of new training programs to increase the adoption rate for e-commerce among local SMEs, as well as to promote the Government’s “Buy Malaysian” campaign.

We were given a glimpse of what the “next generation” of shopping may look like at the summit, and Lazada says that their Alibaba-backed tech will give e-commerce merchants on its platform fresh ways to engage with their audience/customers.

“We heart Tech”

Under the banner of “We heart Tech”, Lazada’s new Fashion Mirror uses Augmented Reality technology to allow consumers to experiment with new outfits, accessories, and general fashion items with minimal hassle. According to the company, this also reduces the retail costs, with sellers not having to worry about inventory space, among other things.

Similar AR-based tech is also used for a mirror where customers can test cosmetic products, with purchases also able to be made on the spot. When queried on when we can expect to see these mirrors in Malaysian stores, Lazada revealed that we can expect to see them arrive “soon”, although nothing is concrete yet in terms of timeline.

They also showed off a booth where you can purchase snacks and other perishables, and check out using the Lazada Wallet—all without having to line up at a conventional cashier.

Perhaps most interesting of all is Lazada’s Mixed Reality booth, which Lazada says is a combination of Augmented and Virtual Reality. This brings Lazada’s plan to marry offline and online stores to life, with a set of goggles needed to navigate through a physical store, and the wearer seeing products for sale in the Augmented Reality.

The idea here, according to a Lazada representative, is to bring the shopping experience to your living room. What better way to see if something looks good in your place than through AR?

We also got a chance to have a look at what Lazada’s last-mile delivery providers, LEL Express, are planning for the future—with future deliveries possibly being done with fully-electric vehicles. They’re targeting a rollout in 2020, with each vehicle able to travel 150km per day.

Overall, it seems that Lazada Malaysia certainly has their eye on their future, with some of the booths showing off tech that could certainly change the way e-commerce looks in the future—if the tech is implemented right, of course. But we don’t know when we will see the Mixed Reality tech become commercially available, unfortunately. Lazada says that that’s because the mass market needs a little time to adopt the new tech, and integration will take awhile.