Champs uses AR to let you 'try on' sneakers and buy them on Snapchat

With the U.S. still in the middle of a pandemic, it's not surprising that some people would rather do all or most of their shopping online. And while sneakerheads and hypebeasts aren't afraid of waiting in line at stores, they do have plenty of options to get their drip without having to leave their home. The latest comes thanks to Champs Sports, which is introducing a new feature on Snapchat that lets you "try on" different pairs of shoes and buy them directly from the social media app.

This partnership between the two companies stems from Snapchat's push into creating "shoppable" augmented reality experiences, an effort that has also led to similar shoe try-on Lenses from brands like Gucci and Adidas – with Champs being the first athletic-lifestyle retailer to jump on board.

Refresh Your Game — Right now, Champs' AR Lens only allows people to virtually test out and purchase Nike's Air Vapormax 2020 Flyknit and Air Max 95 on Snapchat, as part of a marketing campaign with the Swoosh dubbed "Refresh Your Game" that will run through this month. The experience could definitely be better if it featured pairs from brands besides Nike, such as Adidas or Pumas, but at least it gives sneaker enthusiasts (and Snapchat users) a glimpse of what's possible with the technology. And the best part is it's not a gimmick since you can actually buy the Vapormaxes or 95s right from the Snapchat app — which is exactly the tech company set out to build in 2018.

More "Shoppable AR" to come — While Champs is limiting its Snapchat AR experience to those Nike models we mentioned, the retailer says its Lens is seeing a notable number of shares from users and it's performing five times better than the "retail Lens" benchmark — which might bode well for the future of the medium. A spokesperson for Champs Sports told Input it's "thrilled about the engagement results so far, and although it's currently focused on the Refresh Your Game augmented reality campaign, the learnings from it could lead to other members of the Foot Locker, Inc. family to bring more cutting-edge experiences to Snapchat.

For now, if you would like to test out the Champs Lens for yourself, all you have to do is fire up the Snapchat app and scan the Snapcode below. Then you won't have to worry about going to the store to get a fresh pair, as you'll know what they look like on your feet right from the comfort of your couch, or wherever else you may be when you decide to do a bit of shopping.