This year’s Snap Partner Summit, held on May 20 with ‘utility’ at its core, offered a comprehensive look at what the platform has in store for users, partners, and brands. It also highlighted Snap’s ambitions as a ‘camera company’ and its long-term vision for the camera, augmented reality, and ‘computing overlaid on the world around us.’
Snapchat reaches over 500 million monthly active users (MAU) today and roughly 40% of its community is now located outside of North America and Europe. In the Middle East, its monthly addressable reach continues to grow substantially, now over 75 million unique Snapchatters – a 33% rise year on year as of March 2021.
Augmented Reality for Brands & Partners
Snap introduced new and improved shopping features and capabilities for brands and experiences for Snapchatters. Notably, the next generation of Spectacles, Snap’s first pair of glasses that bring augmented reality to life, was also unveiled.
- Scan goes to the home screen + Screenshop for e-commerce. More than 170 million Snapchatters use Scan every month and Snap is now adding Scan to its home camera screen. Scan matches what you see through the camera with relevant AR experiences.
- Major AR try-on upgrades. Apparel and accessories are the largest shopping category by far among teenagers. Snap is greatly upgrading its AR shopping capabilities, including new ‘voice-enabled commands’ that let you verbally control AR Lenses; new ‘gesture-enabled controls’ that let you physically signal Lenses to take an action; new ‘wrist-tracking technology’ that kicks off AR try-on for watches and jewelry, and much more.
