Yahoo Finance Snap stock boosted following unveil of new AR shopping service segment
The Yahoo Finance Live team discusses the jump in Snap stock after the company unveiled a new AR business unit.
Video Transcript
- I want to take a look at social media today. You see Snap, Pinterest, Meta, Yelp, even, all trading higher. That's, of course, as the TikTok hearing is ongoing in Capitol Hill. But also, Snap clearly the leader, and it appears to be because of a new business unit titled AR Enterprise Services.
They're calling it, I believe, ARES, A-R-E-S, like the Greek God. And it provides Snap's AR technology suite into each company's own apps, websites, and physical locations. So Snap has dubbed it the Shopping Suite.
And really, what this helps you do, is you can try on a pair of sunglasses, you can maybe try on some shoes. It's sort of like, it's like the Snapchat filters, right, guys, that we all play with, and you can turn yourself into maybe a dog face or you can put sunglasses on yourself. And it's so you can try it on.
I thought it was interesting. One of the websites they cited said that they had a 25% reduction in returns. Another website said that they had sales go up because people could try it on. Have you guys ever tried something like-- I've tried it before with sunglasses. I thought it was hard to see if they fit your face.
SEANA SMITH: Say how well--
- That's the point, right, and so you can see if it's too big or too small. I didn't really think it worked for me. But I do think it's interesting innovation.
DAVE BRIGGS: I love it. We tried Halloween costumes, what was that--
SEANA SMITH: We did, I forgot about that.
DAVE BRIGGS: ---not too long ago. I think it is a tremendous advancement for people like me that do not like to go shopping, and also don't entirely trust online shopping. So I think it's tremendous. But overall, I just think Snap's probably second to Reels in terms of the beneficiary of a potential TikTok ban.
And talking to young people, I don't get Snap. Obviously, too old. But they say Snap is the thing that is closest to TikTok in terms of emulating what that is. Reels, obviously, a much bigger user base, having Meta. But I think Snap could be a huge beneficiary if, in fact, this momentum continues, on a side note.
SEANA SMITH: Certainly. And our friend Dan Ives of Wedbush, he was saying that Snap was one of those companies to benefit. Also Meta, obviously, pointing to what you're just saying, with Reels. I think this is very smart though, going back to this AR technology, what Snap is doing here for its business.
Because the big criticism for Snap, is the company needs to come up with more ways to diversify its revenue. Simply growing the app, not expanding the app, is not going to do the trick. So this adds another line of revenue here for the company. According to Snap, 250 million people use their AR capabilities, so they certainly have a lot of experience in this space. We'll see whether or not it makes a difference in the long run.
- It's something we've talked about time and time again, I feel like. What are they going to do to diversify that revenue stream?
DAVE BRIGGS: Right.
- It wasn't cameras, it wasn't drones.
DAVE BRIGGS: I was going to say, the drone in the camera really did well.
- This feels more immediately applicable, and like something that people will use.
