Zara stores use AR technology to help buyers decide

Customers download a mobile phone App and 'point' their handsets towards items of clothing which bear the AR tag, and a moving image will appear on their screen showing a model walking along a catwalk wearing the outfit in question.

At present, AR has only been used for the 'Studio' collection in Zara's womenswear range, but may later extend to other labels, such as Zara itself, Zara Basic and Trafaluc.

AR technology can also be used when making online purchases from Zara, since packages will have a code on them which can be scanned.

At the moment, the programme has only been launched as a pilot, but may well be rolled out to all other stores and the full range of clothing for women, men and children.

It has been developed by the Galicia-based Inditex empire which owns Zara and other chains – including Pull&Bear, Massimo Dutti, UterqÜe, Stradivarius, Bershka, Lefties, Oysho and Zara Home – in conjunction with creative director Ezra Petronio, Holooh technology and the French National Institute of Computational Sciences and Applied Mathematics.

Inditex's founder, Amancio Ortega, remains the richest man in Spain and Europe and the fourth-richest in the world, according to the Forbes list.