Brands embraced AR after Apple Vision Pro debuted in China. Here’s what to know

Since Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro headset in Mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan at the end of June, retail brands have started exploring more ways to offer interactive retail experiences using augmented reality (AR) to capture tech-savvy customers. 

However, given the humble sales of Apple Vision Pro since it first became available in the US in February, the question is: is it the right time for retailers to invest further in this space?

In augmented reality

Balenciaga is the latest fashion house to embrace AR, releasing the first phase of its Apple Vision Pro app three weeks after Apple released the product outside the US. 

“Having an immersive experience on Apple Vision Pro is a natural extension of Balenciaga’s innovative approach to fashion and technology and creative director Demna Gvasalia’s storytelling,” Helen Papagiannis, an immersive technologies expert, told Inside Retail.

“We’ve already seen the brand playfully explore the possibilities for these virtual technologies including a fully digital fashion show, ‘Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow’ using video game technology in 2021, and a WeChat mini game powered by AR in 2023.

During the first phase of the app, Balenciaga is bringing its runways to headset users, including the latest Spring 2025 show in Shanghai. The app also features an interactive lookbook and stereoscopic video. 

Papagiannis said this is the first app from a luxury brand to feature runway shows and provides the functionality to have multiple windows and angles, all viewed on a super-sized screen where users can choose the atmosphere to experience it in.

“The app currently has a ‘soon’ tab,” she added. “I expect to see immersive games included as the app evolves, three-dimensional models you can browse and interact with in AR, and the ability to shop Balenciaga ready-to-wear pieces using Apple Pay.”

Gucci also launched a Vision Pro app earlier this year, allowing users access to an AR version of the short documentary, Who Is Sabato De Sarno? A Gucci Story. 

“In the US, J.Crew offers virtual stylist appointments in Vision Pro where you can have a personalised live immersive experience to find whatever you’re shopping for,” Papagiannis said.  

“Luxury brands like Gucci offer a similar web-based service with their digital showroom via a one-way video call with a client advisor. The next step is to make this service available on Vision Pro and even be able to browse and virtually try on exclusive looks straight from the runway, an extension of Balenciaga’s first phase of its app.”

Besides luxury brands, major retailers are also joining the race. 

Last month, Alibaba Group’s marketplace Taobao introduced an updated version of its application for the Apple Vision Pro. The platform was also the first Chinese online retailer to launch an application on the headset with the beta version in April. 

Meanwhile, JD.com launched JD.Vision ahead of the Apple Vision Pro’s release in China, integrating its ChatRhino large language model into the app as an AI-powered shopping assistant. This feature enables interactive communication with JD’s mascot ‘Joy’ which helps enhance customer engagement and personalisation.

While high-end labels choose AR as a space with a focus on brand stories, other retailers are exploring opportunities to offer different shopping experiences to boost sales on the device. 

For Taobao Vision Pro and JD.Vision, customers can interact with products in 3D, arranging the items in their AR homes to have a preview of how they will look in the actual world. 

In reality 

While these efforts from retail brands have made the headlines, the reality is Apple’s headset product received mixed reviews from customers. 

With the retail price in China (US$1376) about 18 per cent higher than its listed price in the US, Apple Vision Pro is losing its appeal in the world’s second largest economy. Almost a month after its launch in the market, experts say customers are reluctant to buy the product, indicating a staggering 50 per cent return rate for this product in the country.  

Meanwhile, market intelligence company IDC projects Apple Vision Pro sales in the US to drop 75 per cent in the third quarter and is unlikely to achieve 500,00 unit sales in the first year. 

The lower-than-expected demand for the device raised the question of whether or not brands should invest more in this space. 

According to Papagiannis, the opportunity still exists for retailers to provide “a high-touch (virtual) contact experience”. 

“Apple Vision Pro and luxury brands are the perfect marriage,” she remarked. “With its relatively high price point, Apple Vision Pro, in its current iteration, is still very much a luxury device. Luxury brands need to lean into this, not shy away from it.”

“Luxury, after all, is synonymous with exclusivity and now is the time for brands to build out their next-generation e-commerce experiences and brand story worlds. This is a high-demand topic in my consulting and advisory practice as I guide luxury brands into this new terrain,” she concluded.

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