The Tiffany try-on, on the other hand, showcases the importance of a virtual experience. “People want the product in AR to look like the real product in the store,” she says. With jewelry, that means making the glint of gems as realistic as possible.

Jiang found that if a luxury product could use AR to create interactivity and virtual experiences, it created an intention to purchase. That doesn’t mean people will actually buy the product immediately—maybe they can’t afford it right now, or they want to share the image with friends and family to get their input. But if the AR experience is memorable, Jiang says, Gen Z consumers will make a mental note to purchase the product in the future.

While a spokesperson at Snap declined to give information about how many users of the Tiffany and Cartier experiences had actually purchased jewelry from the brands, Jiang’s work is backed up by actual buying trends. A report from the management consulting firm Bain in January not only found that the luxury market was growing robustly despite an economic slowdown but predicted that by 2030, Gen Z and Gen Alpha—the generation born between 2010 and 2020—would make up one-third of that luxury goods market. Gen Z consumers are also buying their first luxury items earlier than other generations, at age 15—five years before millennials did.

This might explain why luxury brands are doubling down on AR experiences. Jiang says that the pandemic was hard on these brands because in-store visits and opportunities to interact with the products are important in influencing a customer to buy. AR solves that problem, making luxury more accessible—even if you’re in sweatpants.