Snapchat’s looking to broaden its eCommerce push by providing a range of new clothing options for users’ Bitmoji characters, which would essentially enable you to dress up your Bitmoji avatar in your choice of the latest fashion items from a range of retailers.
The new information comes from a patent filed by Snap, which goes into specific detail on how the new process would work. The process would essentially see Snap partner with fashion retailers to provide Bitmoji versions of their items. That would then provide a range of new clothing options for your avatar in the app, while also giving the brands opportunity to showcase their latest products in an engaging, interactive way.
The update would expand on Snap’s initial steps into Bitmoji fashion, which has already seen it partner with Jordan and Ralph Lauren on digital outfits. Snapchat also announced a new partnership with Levi’s early last month, which enables users to dress up their Bitmoji avatars in classic Levi’s outfits.
As such, a broader expansion of your Bitmoji clothing options makes a lot of sense, while it would also turn Snapchat users into virtual advertising space for these brands, showcasing their products to their friends and connections within the app.
Like all social platforms, Snapchat has been eyeing a shift into eCommerce as it looks to maximize its revenue potential, and tap into the rising trend of buying online. Snap introduced its first ‘shoppable’ Snap Original shows back in June, and has been working with several brands on new eCommerce integrations, like scannable barcodes and logos and AR ‘try on’ options.
With Facebook and Instagram now pushing their own eCommerce integrations, it makes sense for Snap to also follow suit, as these new activations will change consumer habits over time. Essentially, that means that consumers will eventually come to expect that they’ll be able to buy whatever they see in the images and videos shared to all of their social feeds, and if Snap can align with that behavioral shift, it stands to see significant benefit, in terms of maximizing its promotional options and providing engaging, entertaining eCommerce tools for its users.
Snap’s Bitmoji provides it with a perfect vehicle for this. Around 70% of the app’s users regularly engage via their Bitmoji character in some way, and that engagement could open up significant promotional potential for retailers, if Snapchat can successfully expand its catalog of brands contributing to its Bitmoji wardrobe.
It may not seem like a direct promotional option for real-world items, but with so many people using their Bitmoji characters to express a vision they’d like to project about themselves, there is significant potential in Bitmoji fashion as a vehicle for promotion and brand affiliation.
This could be a huge opportunity, and as AR becomes a bigger focus throughout the year, it could also provide more and more opportunities to showcase fashion items.