Augmented Reality in Retail: Use Cases & Business Benefits
Try Before You Buy: Creating Interactive Retail Shopping Experiences with AR
Imagine waking up to a record sales conversion on your eCommerce portal! Your customers are 20% more engaged and satisfied with the shopping experience. Your business gains boosted customer trust, brand value, and improved ROI!
Yes, it’s possible with Augmented Reality!
Augmented Reality in Retail is revolutionizing shopping experiences expeditiously! With AR in retail, customers can interact, customize, and engage with products better, so that they make the right purchase decisions. Nike’s Virtual View is one top example of how WebAR in Retail boosts customer engagement and trust!
But of course, it’s only natural to be a little skeptical before investing in any new business technology. That is why we bring you a detailed guide on what is Augmented Reality, and how your Retail and eCommerce firms can smartly deploy and benefit from augmented reality services !
Simply put, Augmented Reality (AR) superimposes digital content and information onto a user’s real-life scenario to enhance their virtual experience of the existing physical environment. The improved version of the physical world is attained by leveraging the capabilities of the computer-generated display, visuals, sound, text, and graphics which augments the user’s real-world experience.
AR will allow you to search things visually by simply pointing out mobile cameras toward objects in real-life surroundings. The Live View feature in Google Maps is a leading example of how AR allows users to visualize their destinations in the real world. Nintendo’s Pokémon Go App and the photo filters on Facebook and Snapchat are some of the popular examples of AR today.
However, AR is not just a gaming or navigational application. Several industries today, including consumer products and retail, are implementing AR to improve their operational and marketing abilities. Leading ecommerce brands, as well as in-store retailers, are highly investing in AR to build and deliver top-notch brand experiences.
By 2024, the number of mobile AR users will reach 1.73 billion.
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By 2024, the number of mobile AR users will reach 1.73 billion.
Why Is Augmented Reality Important In Retail and eCommerce?
Millennials are the core shoppers today, and they need services at their fingertips! Standing in long queues to grab that limited offer is off the trend! Now shoppers love to book it first online.
With Augmented Reality in Retail, online shopping experiences takes a new turn. Customers get to virtually try on items, customize and interact with the products better so that they make quick and smart purchase decisions. Getting complete satisfaction with online shopping increases brand trust immensely, giving retailers an immediate boost to expedite sales! The more reasons to implement AR in Retail!
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40% of consumers say they would pay more for a product that they could customize in AR.
What are the Latest AR Trends in Retail?
Today’s customers value personalization and convenience over pricing and product. Augmented Reality allows brands to develop smart retail experiences that influence their customers’ buying decisions.
AR makes online selling easier and more comfortable by creating virtual simulations for users to interact with a product, just like how they try a fashion outfit in a physical store. Using AR, retail customers can virtually visit their favorite brand stores, try products, and make comparisons, without leaving the comfort of their homes.
Top AR Trends in Retail Today
Improved In-store Experience
Shopping Sizeable Products
WebAR
Try Before You Buy
Experiential Marketing
AR Product Configurators
Improved In-store Experience
Improved In-store Experience
Using AR apps on mobile devices, customers can now quickly access product details, try out varied colors of the desired products, and make purchase decisions faster without actually trying each one out. The popular brand Lacoste gained much traction when they implemented this AR feature to bring their sports shoe colors to life!
Shopping Sizeable Products
Shopping Sizeable Products
Furniture and electronics brands are now highly using AR to improve their point-of-sales by letting their customers view the size, color, and look of the products in their selected space! Here’s a look at how Fingent, using web-based AR and 3D configurator, is making business smarter for retailers.
WebAR
WebAR
Make your website content interactive! Shoppers today dislike skimming through large content to understand product features. With WebAR, retailers can implement top AR features on websites so that customers can view the styles and fittings of clothes and accessories in augmented reality without downloading any further apps. ‘Nike Virtual View’ is one example of this brilliant feature.
Try Before You Buy
Try Before You Buy
Virtual try-ons powered by AR allow customers to try products without physically visiting the stores. Top eyewear and cloth stores are now letting their customers visualize how they look in different products right from home before purchasing them.
Experiential Marketing
Experiential Marketing
AR’s interactive visualization features enable retailers to entice a consumer from product consideration to product purchase through experiential marketing. Top beauty brands are now allowing customers to experience scientifically validated skin assessments and photo-realistic makeup simulations.
AR Product Configurators
AR Product Configurators
Retailers can create interactive product catalogs that display each product in a digital format that customers can explore. Nike’s sneaker configurator employs AR technology that allows customers to personalize their sneakers extensively by browsing product catalogs, is a fascinating example of this trend!
AR will enable retailers to deliver impactful, well-timed, and relevant user experiences that increase customer value, both in physical stores as well as in ecommerce!
Enriching Customer Experiences With Smart Malls Of The Future!
Right from parking to shopping to food, AR is reimagining mall experiences.
Notify your customers on their mobile about your top deals as they walk past your store!
Make mall visits fun for your customers. Add in some AR games to the mix!
Watch more on how your business can leverage AR for a unique and smart mall experience!
Why is AR a Powerful Retail Sales Channel?
By 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all people who use social or communication apps will be frequent AR users. AR adoption will see growth in these four key areas:
But why use AR for retail?
Research shows the top reasons why customers return their products.
AR-integrated ecommerce websites and applications can run on any smartphone allowing customers to contextually experience every product at scale. Immersive product discovery experiences lead to better conversions as retailers can capture shoppers’ attention at the decision-making stage.
Brands that implement AR for Retail Sales will see:
AR offers shoppers innumerable options to interact with consumer products in a more personalized way. Customers aren’t anymore held back by a limited number of product images and videos. With AR, every single online session can be turned into a powerful sales channel.
Capture shoppers’ attention at the decision-making stage | Allow shoppers to personally interact with products | Turn online browsings into powerful sales channels
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32% of consumers use AR while shopping!
How Does AR Increase Sales in Retail?
AR use cases in retail are growing in leaps and bounds. Across the B2C, D2C, and B2B realms, AR will bridge the gap between online selling and the customer experience in the following ways.
AR can improve complex warehouse operations by streamlining warehousing management activities such as order allocation and picking, inventory control, material handling, and packaging. Using an interactive 3D warehouse layout, retailers can improve their warehouse planning.
Locate products and process orders faster.
Quickly extract necessary information (order number, trolley number, deposit bin information, passage numbers).
Expedite loading and unloading processes.
Achieve zero-delay deliveries through warehouse optimization.
Increases your sale orders and drives revenue.
Virtual Fitting Rooms
Virtual fitting rooms allow your customers to try on clothing items, jewelry, and other accessories even if they don’t visit your physical store. Even without touching an item, shoppers can see the size, style, and fit of apparel before they buy it. According to Shopify, an omnichannel shopping experience powered by AR nudges online shoppers to spend 10% more.
Superimpose the visuals of your items on live video feeds for your customers.
Create a virtual dressing room using Augmented Reality features.
AR-powered virtual mirrors can save valuable retail space in your brick-and-mortar stores.
Avoid the need to set up separate trial rooms.
Placement Previews
IKEA Place App’s AR feature allows customers to visualize how a new piece of furniture will fit their space. After selecting an item from IKEA’s catalog, the customer can point their mobile camera anywhere in their surroundings to see the furniture’s placement, adjust it from different angles, take photos, and share it with their friends for feedback.
The highly interactive preview experience keeps users motivated throughout the buying journey.
The seamless and fluid experience will encourage customers to return for more purchases.
This automatically boosts customer loyalty and brand recognition.
Guarantees conversion ten times more.
Route Optimization
Not just online and shopping experiences counts to customers. When products are delivered quickly and smartly, there are much more chances for a customer to build their trust in brands. With AR enabling effective navigation capabilities, routes can be optimized for seamless delivery channels.
Develop AR-powered apps that enable the delivery teams to plan their travel smarter.
Plan shortest route options, traffic updates, map views, and more.
Support your delivery partners with additional assistance just from their smartphone cameras, leading them to the right routes.
Ensure no package delivery goes missed or undelivered.
Interactive AR Packaging
AR-enabled interactive packaging offers consumers a highly engaging shopping experience that will boost ecommerce and in-store sales. Customers could scan a QR code on the retailer’s package to understand the latest offers and discounts, new product roll-outs, or read the brand’s story. Jack Daniel Distillery’s smart AR packaging allows users to take a closer look at their whiskey-making process and explore their growth story.
With AR, product packages aren’t throwaway junk anymore.
Encourage users to scan QR codes on food packaging to get exclusive recipes and cooking videos of top chefs.
Use interactive AR techniques to encourage shoppers to recycle packages and share their product experiences with others.
Interactive Business Cards
AR takes your plain business cards to the next level by allowing you to add 3D objects, interactions, animations, and powerful virtual components on top of your physical business cards. When you point your smartphone camera toward the card, you can see an interactive display of your business profile. AR allows you to incorporate numerous features into your V-card such as videos, audio, images, 3D objects, social links, animations, and URLs, besides your contact info and designation.
Stand out from your competitors and provide prospects with instant resources.
Increase curiosity and prompts your clients to access more information about your business.
Immersive and unique experiences in the real world improve your business’s credibility and doubles lead capturing.
Interactive business cards shorten the sales cycle and increase customer appointments and engagement.
Complete Product Information
AR allows superimposing additional product information that your customers may not get easily in physical or online stores. Processing product information is the most significant aspect that influences a customer’s buying decision. Customers want to know if the products they buy will fit their purpose. Top automotive brands such as Mercedes Benz and Hyundai use AR-powered digital car manuals to explain automotive features in a highly interactive way.
Digitally delivering the right information will simplify the product discovery process for the consumer, boosting sales.
Customers can avoid scrolling through large user manuals.
Pointing to a specific feature with mobile cameras will provide the necessary information required to impact the buyer’s decision.
The age of analyzing products via videos and images is gone! Customers now need more! With AR, realtors can bring their products closer to their customers, enabling them to interact with the items meanwhile establishing added brand value and customer trust!
Real-World Cases Of Boosted Customer Experience with AR
AR Taking Cabin Manufacturing To New Heights: Use Case
Complex designs, large customer requests, and inaccurate floor plans often challenge and restrict the operational efficiencies of shed and cabin manufactures. Leading players of the industry are now trying to implement modern approaches at each stage of their process to streamline functions and improve performance. How can AR help in this?
With a customized software solution featuring 3D web configurators
Customers can build and design their own sheds using AR
61% of consumers say they prefer retailers with AR experiences.
Augmented Reality vs. Virtual Reality
Many people use Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality interchangeably thinking that both technological concepts are the same. Though both AR and VR help creates immersive and interactive experiences, both are different in their own niches.
Augmented Reality
Augments the real-world experience of the user
Creates virtual experience by overlaying digital content on top of what the user is already seeing
Detects markers such as barcodes or QR codes to deliver AR animations to specific user locations
Explored best with smartphones
AR SDKs empower mobile apps to detect and capture real-time user environments
Reflects true-to-life conditions and real-life scenarios
Virtual Reality
Creates a fully-immersive virtual environment
Total immersion is accomplished by shutting the user from the real-world
Virtual Reality Modeling Language or VRML experiences delivered via a client-side interface to simulate virtual environments
Explored best with a VR headset
VR SDKs allow users to navigate pre-loaded and cloud-stored streams by using controllers and environment trackers
Virtual representation of real-life conditions
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Augmented Reality Boosts Online Shopping Sales Up To 200% - Forbes
Augmented Reality In Retail: Why Is It Picking Up Steam In Today’s Digital Age?
AR will boost your customers’ trust and drive their purchasing confidence.
Real-time product visualizations and virtual trials ensure that retailers are able to deliver products that match their customers’ expectations. AR reduces your marketing costs and increases your customer satisfaction.
AR retail experiences will eliminate the friction between sellers and buyers and maximize the probability of purchasing. When customers receive their orders as expected, it will decrease your product returns.
The rise in ecommerce demands delivering more successful online experiences. Retailers leveraging augmented reality can rest assured that they aren’t left behind in the competition.
Interactive virtual experiences arouse your customers’ curiosity and motivate them to explore your products. AR experiences such as virtual try-on persuade customers to come back and shop for additional products.
AR-enabled shopping experiences collect insightful data on customers’ shopping patterns, buying behavior, interests, and preferences. Retailers can use these insights to run targeted marketing campaigns and develop more personalized products.
The demand for contactless experiences triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay. As people are more concerned about their personal hygiene and contamination risks, retailers can employ AR to connect with their customers and keep the show running.
Customers place emphasis on the value they get when buying from you. CX is the key brand differentiator that boosts customer loyalty today. With AR, you can optimize every customer touchpoint to deliver unmatched CX.
AR ecommerce apps can serve as your shop assistants and sales agents that take you through product features and benefits. You don’t have to hire expensive labor for showing the customer around, as AR does the heavy lifting.
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71% of consumers say they would shop more often if they used AR.
Fingent’s AR-enabled Applications for Retailers
Be it in-store or ecommerce, Fingent top custom software development company, enables retailers to deliver seamless shopping experiences to their consumers by leveraging technology to the fullest. Our AR retail solutions effectively bridge the gap between consumers and sellers:
1. Advanced In-store Experiences
2. AR Product Visualizer
3. Interactive User Manuals
1. Advanced In-store Experiences
Leveraging AR, we build powerful retail applications that offer shoppers an enriching in-store experience. Some of our top solutions include AR pop-up stalls that drive more foot traffic to physical stores, AR product guidance applications, web-based AR ecommerce apps that don’t require separate downloading, virtual try-ons for jewelers and cloth retailers, and AR visual merchandising to build buzz and brand awareness.
2. AR Product Visualizer
AR offers an excellent opportunity for retail shoppers to personalize their products by adding or removing features according to their tastes. Personalized experiences lead to better and faster purchase decisions. Consumers can view their selections in real-time and on a real scale to narrow down their choices. AR helps them overcome the common retail challenges such as mismatch of color, size, fit, design, material, and quality. For instance, they can choose the right washing machine by examining its features, color, front load or top load, energy usage, and so on.
3. Interactive User Manuals
Virtual technicians and interactive user guides that display operation instructions using AR will simplify complex product installations and configurations. Using a smartphone camera, users can explore the features of an electronic device, a vehicle, or a coffee machine. By superimposing computer-generated displays on top of the user’s view of the product feature, AR will help them understand the product demonstrations and instructions quickly. Users can verify if they are executing each step correctly and follow the simple DIY troubleshooting tips to ensure that the product functions well.
Augmented Reality Reshaping eCommerce!
Bring showroom-like experiences to your customer’s fingertips.
No more restrictions on a wide range of product displays.
Let your customers interact with your products and customize them right from the comforts of their homes.
What more on how you can smartly and seamlessly deploy AR for your eCommerce!
How Fingent Can Help Your Business Build Intuitive Apps With AR
With our expertise around ARKit for iOS Platforms, Spark AR, Lens Studio, Vuforia, Web AR Solutions, and AR Core for Android Platforms we help create powerful user experiences that fetch a competitive edge.
eCommerce
Bring the “Wow” factor to your eCommerce with virtual try-ons, preview placements, AR filters, and more!
Healthcare
We help you deploy AR to improve medical training, pediatric MRI evaluation, venipuncture procedures, dentistry, and more!
Equipment Maintenance
With AR connect faster with your machines to work smarter at reduced costs, and effective time management.
Augmented Reality streamlines retail operations to make shopping easier and convenient for both online and offline buyers. AR replaces physical fitting rooms with virtual try-on solutions and allows consumers to configure products based on their preferences. AR modernizes retail marketing through personalized content delivery and offers contactless purchasing options which will boost online sales.
3D product visualizations and “try-before-you-buy” digital experiences allow retailers to reduce the cost of returns that affect their ROI. Retailers can develop 3D animations and visual simulations to improve consumer awareness and influence buying decisions. AR helps retailers analyze customer behavior, test their product samples, boost brand engagement, and augment sales.
Full-fledged 3D experiences can improve product research and discovery which will result in more sales. Retailers selling automotive, home furniture, consumer electronics, and lifestyle products can drive traction and make unique selling pitches through AR. Studies prove that AR increases the average product (images and videos) viewing time from 30 seconds to eight minutes. Linking purchasing decisions with the shopper’s emotions will eliminate their doubts about the product and increase your sales volume.
According to Snapchat, 76% of consumers believe that AR will play an integral role in future shopping, with 57% of consumers planning to increase their AR usage in post-COVID times. AR improves a retail brand’s discoverability and increases a consumer’s likelihood to purchase after an immersive experience. AR experience educates and motivates customers at multiple points in the shopping journey, thereby influencing their purchasing decisions.
Today, every retailer needs to pursue an omnichannel retail strategy that revolves around customer-centricity. This requires retailers to personalize their offerings in the best way possible. AR can simplify your personalization efforts as it’s a highly user-centric technology that tremendously transforms the way you market and sell. Augmented retail strategy improves both your business’s bottom line and customer experience.
The Internet holds over 1.8 billion websites as of today. Out of this big mix, the number of active websites is no less than 644 million. What is equally startling is that more than one-quarter of them are powered by WordPress. Starting off in 2003, WordPress has evolved down the line from a blogging platform to the world’s most popular open-source content management system.
From its first version 0.7 to the current 5.0.1, much has changed. Refined UI, the introduction of plugins, widgets, streamlined dashboards and an array of new features. When it comes to, WordPress is much more than a typical CMS platform. Most businesses now run their websites on WordPress whether in e-commerce, LMS, marketplace etc.
It is easy to use and economical, which is why most businesses prefer WordPress over other CMS platforms. WordPress is 100% customizable allowing businesses to optimize their website or blog for easy discovery and indexing by search engines. Moreover, WordPress sites are perfectly scalable and feature extended functionality with the addition of plugins.
With a string of new releases on their way, WordPress is further broadening its scope. To really understand how, here are 33 astonishing facts about WordPress.
33 amazing facts about WordPress in 2024
1) WordPress Drives One-Quarter of the Internet
WordPress powers nearly 32.5 % of all the websites on the Internet, which means nearly one out of three websites that you have visited is built with WordPress. That is to say, about 75 million websites now run entirely on WordPress.
Source – W3Techs
2) WordPress is Growing Ahead of its Competitors
WordPress attained an astonishing 4 % growth from 2017 to 2018 according to a study made by W3Techs. It clearly establishes that WordPress’s market growth increased by 4% in the past year.
Meanwhile, WordPress’s competitors’ growth diminished in the same year.
Joomla’s market share actually decreased from 3.4% to 3.1%
Drupal’s market share decreased from 2.2% to 2.1%
3) Google Trends Data Shows Growing Popularity of WordPress
From the worldwide Google Trends data of the past year, you can see how popular is WordPress compared to other competitor CMS platforms like Joomla, Drupal, Magento, and Shopify.
4) Woocommerce Plugin has a Remarkable Market Share
WooCommerce, the eCommerce plugin for WordPress powers about 29% of all the eCommerce sites on the Internet according to Datanyze. According to the same, WooCommerce has a market share of 21% across all the eCommerce websites in the world.
Source: BuiltWith
We worked with WooCommerce to build an e-commerce platform for one of our clients, Homeschool. It is a platform that provided users with high-quality educational resources that they can purchase or read online. Moreover, we also used WordPress to build an e-commerce website for VKC, one of the largest footwear manufacturing company in India.
5) “WordPress” Keyword has High Search Volumes in Google
In fact, the popularity of WordPress has peaked in recent times that it clearly has gained an upper hand in the search volumes of search engines. The keyword “WordPress” has around 1M-10M average monthly search volume in Google, which is 10 times the search volume for keywords of “Drupal” and “PHP”.
6)WordPress Leads in Global CMS Market Share
WordPress owns nearly 60% of the global CMS market share according to a report by W3Techs.
Joomla comes as the next competitor to WordPress with a market share of 6% followed by Drupal with 3.6%.
7) WordPress is Available in more than 80 Languages
Being a complete CMS solution, it is no wonder that WordPress packs more language support than its close competitors. WordPress contains translations for over 167 languages. Out of that, currently, 32 locales run full translations worldwide and has 58 up to date locales.
More languages are added by a team of independent collaborators as we write this to further extend the language support offered at WordPress. Very shortly, WordPress will cover almost all the major languages across different regions of the world to enable anyone to write, edit and publish content online from anywhere.
Get Your WordPress Website Setup!
Find out how we can build rich and responsive WordPress websites to help your business set up an online identity. Get in touch with our consultants now! Get A Free Quote!
8)56,319 Plugins and Counting
WordPress does have around 56,319 free plugins in their repository. That is by far one of its biggest advantages, which can be summed down to one word, extensibility.
The sheer number of plugins, both free and paid is what sets WordPress apart from its competitors. The WordPress plugin repository is growing each day as new plugins are added on a continual basis.
Besides, one can easily build their own custom plugins as is the case with one of our projects. We built a unique custom WordPress plugin for the Australian Retailer Association to help them manage events from a single interface.
9) Alexa Ranks WordPress High
As per Alexa, WordPress.com is the 57th most popular website in the world, or in other words, WordPress.com is popular than Pinterest, Github and CNN.
Source: Alexa
10) A Single WordPress Theme Churned Out Millions
One single WordPress theme Avada has generated more than 27 Million USD in revenue. It became the highest selling multi-purpose theme and the most downloaded on ThemeForest.
Custom themes are yet another key attribute of WordPress. As we have mentioned earlier, our work on a custom plugin for one of our client did not stop with that. Our team developed a custom responsive WordPress theme that revamped their website for better load and render times.
11) WordPress is Behind Big Brands
Lots of big brands use WordPress. It may be surprising that an open source CMS has such a high number of valued users from various businesses. Here are some of the top brands using WordPress to manage and publish their content online.
12) A Swift, Responsive and Redefined WordPress with Calypso
Calypso is the new JavaScript and API driven interface for WordPress.com. It is a highly powerful interface with lots of futuristic features that simplify how we manage websites. Calypso includes multi-site support with better page loading speed by utilizing the REST API and WordPress JavaScript.
Calypso is available as a downloadable application from WordPress.com that utilize its interface on computers running on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. The responsive design offers a streamlined user experience that makes it a very user-friendly platform for managing websites.
13)Gutenberg – An Entirely New WordPress Experience
Gutenberg is the new react driven revolutionary editor of WordPress. It is said to be a radical step in the future of WordPress giving a whole new disruptive editing experience, especially for media-rich web pages.
Creating rich and engaging content is made easier with Gutenberg’s refined interface. It includes new tools like blocks that help users with even basic technical knowledge stylize and rearrange multimedia content effortlessly. Gutenberg will be the default editor of WordPress from version 5.0(which is set to release soon).
14) Moz lists WordPress in its Top 500
Moz in its Top 500 domains, lists WordPress.org as the 7th most popular website in the world. WordPress.com follows close behind, ranked 10th in the list.
15)4,300,000 downloads for a Single Premium WordPress Plugin
Wpbakery Page Builder is a premium WordPress plugin with more than 4,300,000 installations.
16) Wix Once Stole WordPress Code
Wix, one of the biggest competitor of WordPress actually once stole GPL code from WordPress. The result was several allegations made by Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg against Wix of stealing their open source under the GNU Public License (GPL) code without any attribution, credit or license. Wix CEO, responded back that they indeed used WordPress code citing it as open source and free to use.
17) Yoast is Still the most Popular WordPress Plugin
Yoast, the SEO plugin of WordPress alone has more than 5 million installations. Around since 2008, Yoast has been the favorite plugin of countless users for implementing effective SEO strategies that earn them a notable place in the search results.
18)Plugin Installations is the Highest on WordPress
Around 35+ WordPress plugins have more than 1 million active installations. When looking at WordPress.org the number of plugin downloads have exceeded 1 billion.
19) The Most Vulnerable CMS on the Planet
Security is one weak string that WordPress has long struggled with. Data suggests that nearly 60% of WordPress sites are affected by security vulnerabilities caused due to an outdated or poorly coded WordPress plugin or theme. Around 8% of WordPress sites were hacked due to a weak password.
This is, however, not a sign of weakness of the CMS platform. Out of date versions and plugins have been identified as the leading causes behind the vulnerabilities that affect the platform such as hacking and malware attacks.
20) WordPress Hosts an Amazing Global Community
At the heart of WordPress is a large community dispersed globally who collaborates and contribute to making the platform better. WordCamps is one such, which are local conferences that covers everything about WordPress.
As of now, around 915 WordCamps have been organized in 65 countries and 71 cities across 6 continents. It brings together developers all over with sessions and activities to find ways to more effectively use WordPress.
21) A Majority of Educational Institutions Use WordPress
44.8% of colleges, schools, and universities all over the world use WordPress.
Harvard Blogs
MIT
Northwestern University
Boston University
University of Berlin
University of Melbourne
Oregon State University Blogs
22) WordPress is Used by Governments All Over The World
WordPress powers thousands of government websites in all parts of the world. The list includes dozens of US Federal and State government websites, counties, small towns, high schools, etc.
Government websites like America.gov, Congressional Budget Office, Library of Congress, Brazilian Culture Ministry etc. are some that are run entirely using WordPress.
23) WordPress.com is not the Same as WordPress.org
WordPress.org(self-hosted WordPress) is the actual open source WordPress software. Anyone can download, install, modify and host it anywhere.
WordPress.com is the “website-as-a-service” implementation built on the WordPress.org software. WordPress.com hosts your site and handles everything for you.
24) WordPress versions are Named after Jazz Musicians
WordPress core developers share a love of jazz music, and since WordPress 1.0 all major releases are named in honor of jazz musicians they admire.
25)GNU GPL Licenses WordPress
WordPress is released under GNU GPL which means you have the freedom to,
Run the program for any purpose.
Study how the program works and change it to make it do what you wish.
Redistribute copies so that you can help your neighbor.
Improve the program and release your improvements (and modified versions in general) to the public, so that the whole community benefits.
Getting started with WordPress [Source : LearnWebCode]
26) WordPress has only 822 Employees
WordPress has only around 822 employees around the world which is 1/700 of the total employees in Amazon.
Website
Monthly Visits
Employees
Amazon.com
199M
575,700
WordPress.com
147M
822
eBay.com
104M
14,100
You can also see that, even though eBay has much less traffic compared to WordPress, they do have 17 times more employees than WordPress.
27) Content Keeps Pouring Out from WordPress
Users produce about 69.3 million new WordPress posts and 72.0 million new comments each month. By looking at the live activity, we can infer the amount of usage at different countries.
28)More WordPress Versions in a Short Span
More than 98 versions of WordPress has been released till now. The development community has been quick in coming up with redefined versions to help make WordPress better and an all-encompassing CMS system open to everyone.
29) WordPress Once Passed off as a Necessary Job Skill
WordPress was the most requested job skill in the world in 2014. For developers, having a handful of WordPress skills like writing, publishing and managing content on the platform were viewed as necessary to land a job in the information technology sector.
31) You can Setup a WordPress Website in 5 Minutes
WordPress does have the famous 5-minute installation setup, which means you can launch your first WordPress website fully ready in just 5 minutes.
32) A WordPress Plugin Akismet is Catching more Spam than Ever
Akismet, the spam blocking WordPress plugin catches 7,500,000 pieces of spam per hour. As of now, Akismet has succeeded in blocking about 456, 455, 260, 375 spam comments from the web. Several websites integrate Akismet into their WordPress to deal with spam worry free.
33) WordPress has its own Merchandise Store
The official merchandise store of WordPress has been named as Swag Store. It sells a range of WordPress merchandise from t-shirts, coffee mugs, sweatshirts, sunglasses, carry bags and skullcaps.
Summing Up
From individual bloggers to big companies, WordPress helps them share their passions, promote their company’s products and engage with a wider audience. Being a step ahead of its competitors, WordPress puts forth what an ideal CMS platform should be like. Open source and an extensive collaborative community that strives to make it better with each new releases and updates.
For this reason, we at Fingent rely extensively on WordPress to create, publish and manage all our digital content as well as use it across different projects to serve the requirements of our clients. The conciseness and extended capabilities of WordPress ensure that digital publishing and management is more swift and easier than before.
We can help you with the same as our expertise in WordPress can give your business a solid online identity that will push your content across a wider audience and distribute your marketing efforts more effectively.
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About the Author
linjo
Linjo works at Fingent where he is all into WordPress and PHP development. He has worked with clients to create, revamp and optimize their website for better conversions. He loves all things new and often indulge in reading true stories.
The increasing investment in UX syncs with the preferences of today’s highly demanding customers, who value a hassle-free engagement, without having to struggle to consume information. Even users of enterprise apps now expect a visual appeal, or UX similar to what they find with games and other consumer apps.
Traditionally, UX and security have been inversely linked, with improvements in security often getting in the way of UX. For instance, the common requirement of having to reset password once in two weeks makes the account more secure, but impede usability. Similarly, blocking file download from an unknown IP address may prevent a hacker from accessing the data, but also prevents the user from accessing his own data when he needs it, on the move.
The best security is invisible, working away in the background, keeping digital assets safe without the user even noticing the workings. While the ground reality is far from such an ideal state in most enterprises, there is now growing realization that the tendency to push in too many security features, especially in an already stressed mobility space, can drive away users, or worse, prompt them to seek out loopholes.
The solution, however, is not to throw security out with the UX bathwater, but rather deliver a seamless UX yet uncompromising on any security considerations. This requires a change of approach, best exemplified by an allegory of locks. While the existing approach resembles adding more number of locks to a door, which while keeping trespassers away also makes it more difficult for the genuine user to get it, the new approach tries to offer only a single, but an unbreakable lock. Mobility investments are flowing in this direction.
One way to reconcile security with UX is the “security by design” approach, or building in security early in the development process, rather than co-opt it as an awkward extra layer in the end, akin to manufacturing a door with a deadbolt lock built-in rather than affixing locks after installing the door.
But what exactly is the difference, one may be left wondering?
Consider an approach where users need to enter their login credentials every time and access to a specific section or resource depends on the credentials provided and another approach where there is a tight control on what each and every user can see, based on a need-to-see basis incorporated at the design stage itself. A user, rather than being prevented from peeking at data, not for their eyes, may not be served with means to access to such data in the first place. For example, the sales team may be given an app that offers all sales data, but not information that pickers in the warehouse access through their apps, and managers have another set of apps, offering a far wider range of data and information.
Another approach to reconciling the divide between security and UX is through the hardware. A case in point is Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner and similar systems on Android smartphones. When hardware becomes the trusted security medium, UX can be spared from having to authenticating users. The assumption, of course, is only the right users will have access to the hardware in the first place.
Yet another approach is not to break it, but explain it. At times, there’s no workaround for a security procedure that impedes a smooth UX. In fact, focusing too much on usability may be counter-intuitive, for what is the easiest and most convenient may not be in the best interests of security. A confusing interface may best be solved with a tutorial, a FAQ page, or some help videos, rather than breaking the interface for the sake of UX and impede security in the process. There is also the issue of writing earning message in a way users understand, focusing on the implications of an unsafe action, rather than harping on technical jargon.
Security is all-important, but only if there are users available in the first place. A poor UX in today’s highly demanding and competitive age would simply drive away users, making rigid security protocols self-defeating and redundant. Developers are widening up to this all-important logjam and investing big in UX, but such focus should be with the understanding that UX and security aren’t necessarily at odds, and the duo even benefits each other.
Your best bet in developing state of the art mobility software that offers the best of both worlds is partnering with us. Our experienced and versatile team of developers understand both UX issues and security considerations and help you roll out software and apps that fit the bill perfectly.
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About the Author
Ashmitha Chatterjee
Ashmitha works with Fingent as a creative writer. She collaborates with the Digital Marketing team to deliver engaging, informative, and SEO friendly business collaterals. Being passionate about writing, Ashmitha frequently engages in blogging and creating fiction. Besides writing, Ashmitha indulges in exploring effective content marketing strategies.
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