Chipotle is experimenting with extended reality (XR) innovation as eateries attempt to discern meaningful technology from their more showy counterparts.
The fast-casual business’s most recent augmented reality (AR) campaign, a branded Snapchat lens introduced recently, relies on prior experience with XR to boost sales, according to Stephanie Perdue, vice president of brand marketing at the company.
The word “XR” encompasses mixed reality (MR), which is more engaging than augmented reality (AR), but not entirely virtual, as well as virtual reality (VR), which denotes completely immersive digital interactions.
According to Perdue, extended reality may increase conversion with the appropriate strategy and collaborators. She revealed that the Chipotle team witnessed a fantastic reaction to its engaging, data-driven, and culturally inclined installations last year.
In order to create the illusion that a massive burrito bowl had been integrated into the court, the business collaborated with the NHL club Colorado Avalanche for successful AR marketing last year, which Perdue used as an example. Although the company’s comeback to XR shows that the brand has found considerable traction, she could not provide exact sales data.
Undoubtedly, compared to alternatives, using an AR lens on a well-established social media site is a reasonably secure option when trying out XR efforts to attract younger customers. Other companies, including QSR juggernaut Wendy’s, have been developing full metaverse products, which is a comparably expensive undertaking owing to the presence of a smaller user base.
However, consumer interest in the metaverse seems to be waning. According to CNBC, which used NPD statistics, sales of VR headsets in the United States decreased by 2% in 2022 compared to the previous year. Additionally, according to the analytics company CCS Insight, the amount of AR and VR headgear devices supplied globally fell by 12% compared to last year.
Chipotle is using augmented reality to connect with youngsters, focusing on both the social networking sites they use and the fashion trends that appeal to them.
Perdue stated that with the Lifestyle Bowl campaign, the company’s team has adopted an insight-fuelled strategy that capitalises on current health trends of youngsters, to reach out to visitors where they are with pertinent menu selection.
With younger customers, Snapchat actually has a huge following. Perdue underlined the platform’s 363 million daily active users, whilst still Snap, the parent organisation of the social networking application, said this year that most youngsters in the United States viewed new programming on the application the year before.
Research from PYMNTS’ study “Super Apps for the Super Connected,” produced in cooperation with PayPal, shows that Gen Z significantly falls behind most other generations when it comes to online ordering. The analysis, which was based on a questionnaire of nearly 10 thousand US, Australian, UK, and German customers, disclosed that more than 60 percent of Gen Z consumers in these four nations had bought meals and drinks digitally for delivery or pickup in recent times.
Chipotle continues to promote the benefits of having flamboyant technology embellishments that bring awareness in conjunction with realistic solutions, and the extended reality offering is a shining example of that.
