Camera-based messaging service Snapchat is expanding its core services in new directions, while prior innovations have held it steady in complicated new times.

Why it matters

Snap’s alternative view of social media was criticised when rivals built ad products out of extensive customer data; a few years later, and with data privacy now a moral and regulatory obligation, the camera-focused platform’s approach reveals a sleeping giant whose longstanding AR capabilities present a new opportunity in retail.

Takeaways