Key takeaways
Across pre-sale, point of purchase, and post-sale support, AR has moved from novelty to practical infrastructure for brands that manage complex customer relationships.
Augmented reality transforms the customer experience by replacing technical uncertainty with real-time visual confirmation, closing the gap between what a customer can see and what they need to know. Whether that’s checking how a sofa fits before ordering, getting a live annotation on a malfunctioning appliance, or receiving hands-free guidance during an industrial repair, the technology works when it replaces guesswork with visual clarity.
For teams thinking about where AR fits in their customer experience, the post-sale stage is often the most immediate opportunity. Customers are most likely to need help there, most likely to feel let down by a slow or disconnected response, and most likely to remember the interaction when they decide whether or not to come back.
What does augmented reality do?
AR overlays digital content onto the real world. Through a smartphone, tablet, or smartglasses, users see virtual objects positioned in their actual environment, get step-by-step instructions overlaid on a physical product, or receive real-time guidance from an expert who can see exactly what they see.
What makes it genuinely useful for customer experience is that it replaces guesswork with visual clarity, whether someone is shopping, making a decision, setting up a product, or asking for help.
When businesses use AR, they can eliminate ambiguity, reduce service costs, and provide a "see what I see" experience for their customers.
The examples below follow the customer journey from first consideration through to post-purchase support, showing how AR shows up at each stage and where it makes the most difference.
How presales AR helps customers decide with confidence
The pre-sale stage is where uncertainty is highest. Customers are trying to imagine and picture how the product will look in their home, how a shade of makeup will appear on their skin, or whether a piece of equipment will fit a specific space. AR gives them a way to stop imagining and start seeing.
1. "Try before you buy" virtual visualizations
Online retailers use AR to let customers visualize products in their own space or on their own person before committing to a purchase.
Example 1: IKEA's Place app lets users scan a room with their smartphone and place furniture into the frame at real-world scale. You can walk around the sofa, check whether it overwhelms the room, and compare color options without loading anything into a delivery van.
Example 2: Beauty brands use the same idea for cosmetics. AR apps let shoppers point their camera at their own face and try on different products in real time, browsing hundreds of shades and seeing exactly how each one looks on their own features before placing an order.
How AR adds value to these businesses: Both apps address a specific problem. Return rates are a major cost center for ecommerce. Whether a customer is choosing a sofa or a cosmetic product, uncertainty about how it will look in their actual life drives returns.
AR removes that layer of uncertainty before the sale happens. It directly reduces return rates and increases buyer confidence.
2. Interactive packaging and marketing
AR can turn static packaging into a digital channel for engagement.
Example 1: Food brands use AR triggers on their product labels to serve recipe suggestions or display games to shoppers, extending the moment of brand engagement past the shelf and into the home.
Example 2: For pharmaceutical products, the same technology lets customers scan a box and get accurate dosage and interaction information before opening it.
Example 3: An automotive brand shows the "inner workings" of an engine at a trade show using AR triggers on their prototype.
How AR adds value to these businesses: It increases brand dwell time and provides immediate and contextual utility at the point of consumption. The customer doesn't have to search a website or flip through a leaflet. The answer is already on the product they're holding.
How AR reduces hesitation at the point of purchase
The moment of purchase is where objections typically surface. Customers want one last reassurance. AR at this stage works as a confidence tool, closing the remaining gap between "I think this is right" and "I know it is."
1. In-store AR experiences
Example 1:Starbucks turned its Shanghai Roastery into an AR experience by letting visitors use the store's app to unlock product visuals, information about origins, and a behind-the-scenes view of the roasting process.
Example 2: Malls and shopping plazas use AR triggers to help shoppers navigate to different stores, and get contextual information about current offers and sales.
How AR adds value: Customer engagement and interaction improves. The store becomes an environment where customers can learn at their own pace, interact with what they're seeing, and build a stronger connection to the product they're about to buy.
2. Real-time language translation
Example: For international brands and the hospitality sector, AR can bridge communication gaps in real time. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), a customer can point their camera at a control panel or product label in a foreign language, and the AR interface translates the labels instantly on-screen.
How AR adds value: It improves accessibility for a global customer base and prevents dangerous errors in equipment handling or operation. It resolves language barriers for travelers, ensures smooth transactions in stores, and enhances their navigation prowess and food safety.
How AR keeps customers supported after the sale
The post-sale stage is where AR arguably has its deepest impact on customer experience, because this is where the relationship either holds or breaks. A customer who is confused, stuck, or waiting for a technician is forming their final impression of the brand. So it's imperative to use AR for customer service for efficient resolutions and improved customer retention.
1. Interactive product onboarding
The first 30 days of product ownership are critical for retention.
Example 1: Car companies build AR into their vehicle owner's manual. It lets a driver point their phone at any part of the car, and get contextual information immediately on how to check fluid levels, what a warning light means, or how to replace a filter.
Example 2: A customer buys a complex home security system. By scanning a QR code on the box, they see an AR overlay on their walls showing exactly where to drill and how to align sensors.
How AR adds value: AR can replace dense, 50-page paper manuals with interactive guides. It reduces "set-up frustration" and lowers the volume of "how-to" support tickets.
2. Self-service troubleshooting with AR markers
Example 1: A user points their phone at a blinking light on their internet router. The AR app identifies the pattern and overlays a "Reset" button prompt on the physical device.
Example 2: Coffee machine companies use AR to walk customers through the descaling process for their machines step by step, triggered by scanning the packaging.
How AR adds value: Standard FAQs are static. AR-powered self-service allows customers to diagnose their own issues. It empowers the customer to solve their own problems, leading to a sense of autonomy and faster resolution.
3. Visual remote assistance for technical support
This is the most direct application for technical products.
Example: Instead of struggling to describe a hardware issue over the phone, the customer uses a visual remote assistance app like Zoho Lens to stream a live view to a support agent. The agent sees the live camera feed and uses AR tools to annotate the view, point to the relevant component, and walk the customer through a fix step by step.
How AR adds value: It resolves complex issues without a physical technician visit, significantly reducing truck roll costs. What this means for customer experience is that the gap between "I don't know what's wrong" and "the problem is fixed" gets significantly shorter. There's no guessing, no disconnected phone call, and no waiting for a technician to arrive.
How AR enhances B2B customer experiences across different industries
In the B2B sector, AR has transitioned from a novel visualization tool to a critical operational asset that redefines how companies support their clients and manage complex assets. Across industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and aviation, this technology enhances the customer experience by drastically reducing equipment downtime through remote video support.
By bridging the gap between expert knowledge and on-site execution, it empowers B2B providers to offer more responsive, transparent, and high-stakes support, transforming traditional service models into interactive, value-driven partnerships.
1. Field service for high-end appliances
Example 1: A local hospital technician wears smartglasses (like RealWear) and follows AR markers placed by a remote manufacturer to fix an MRI machine.
Example 2: A field technician arrives at a large commercial facility to service a specialized centrifugal chiller they've never encountered before. They connect with an expert from their handheld device and get live visual guidance through AR.
How AR adds value: It minimizes equipment downtime, which is often measured in thousands of dollars per hour. Scaling senior expertise becomes much easier and sustainable. Businesses witness accelerated onboarding and training by using AR for field service.
2. Guided inspections for insurance and claims
Example: In the wake of an accident or home damage, AR speeds up the claims process by allowing customers to conduct "guided self-inspections." An insurance adjuster uses a remote AR session to guide a homeowner to capture specific angles of roof damage, ensuring that all necessary evidence is gathered for the claim.
How AR adds value:AR for insurance shortens the claims cycle from weeks to days, improving customer satisfaction during high-stress events.
3. AR-based guidance in manufacturing
Example 1: A technician on a shop floor requests an AR session for a machine breakdown. A remote expert initiates the session and brings in the shop floor technician. They watch the live feed, annotate the equipment, talk through the diagnostic steps, and help the technician resolve the issue before it becomes a line stoppage.
How AR adds value: It enables operational precision, accelerates knowledge transfer, and enhances safety. With AR in manufacturing, equipment downtime can be reduced significantly and helps industries maintain throughput.
Zoho Lens for your visual remote assistance needs
Zoho Lens is a visual remote assistance platform that allows technicians to connect to a customer's or on-site worker's device, see what they see in time, and guide them through a resolution using 2D and 3D annotations, AR comments, optical character recognition (OCR) to scan labels or error codes, and barcode and QR code support.
Sessions can be recorded, and snapshots with notes are saved automatically for reference. For field service teams, the same capability works through smartglasses (RealWear, Vuzix, and Epson devices), giving frontline workers a hands-free way to bring an expert into a complex repair, without putting down their tools.
If you want to see how visual remote assistance works in practice, sign up for a 15-day free trial of Zoho Lens and run your first session without any set-up beyond a browser link.