Augmented Reality try-on adoption in the Online Clothing Industry : understanding key challenges and critical success Factors

The purpose of this paper is to identify key challenges and critical success factors that determine the effectiveness of AR try-on implementations by firms in the online garment industry. Three perspectives are considered, namely brands, online retailer and industry experts. Building on Grounded Theory methodology, qualitative interviews were conducted with experts in the field. The analysed insights were additionally wrapped in a survey and related by each participant in a second data collection round. Based on the data, a respective adoption framework was designed, describing the factors’ underlying connections and their contribution to effective adoption. Overall, six key challenges were obtained from the interviews, originating from market-related, technology-based and firm- specific issues. To cope with such, six critical success factors are outlined, namely vision & strategy, holistic underlying processes, user interface & communication, customised tech solutions, supply chain involvement, as well as change management. The study contributes knowledge on the comparatively new but quickly emerging field of Augmented Reality try-ons and extends adoption literature on industry 4.0 technologies by examining the understudied organisational view. For practitioners, first guidance is provided to develop suitable strategies and sustain an effective Augmented Reality adoption by better understanding potential challenges and respective critical success.