No matter what you are selling, you can use virtual reality technology with any product. This has already been proven by companies from various retail segments: Ikea, Audi, Topshop, Snapchat. Technology allows you to visit a fitting room, arrange furniture at home, or hold the latest iPhone in your hands without getting up from the couch.
The main task of virtual reality in retail is to give the buyer a product before purchase and do it as quickly as possible. When a girl can choose the perfect makeup in the app, it is clear that she will buy shadows and lipstick in the store that released this application.
The use of VR by individual stores is becoming more of a necessity than a competitive advantage, and VR technology in entire malls is a growing trend. Malls are attracting their visitors by tenants who use VR in their outlets and investing in VR themselves.
VR in entertainment
Virtual reality has practically solved the problem of remote presence at a wide variety of events. Now many concerts, sports matches and live casinos you can visit with the help of VR. If there is special software, you just put on glasses and attend a concert or casino remotely.
You see everything the same as real participants, you can communicate, but you can’t touch anything. Live casino games are a great alternative to a real presence, especially during quarantine.
How VR technologies affect the retail market
Forbes research says that 40% of buyers are willing to overpay for a product if they get the opportunity to test it in virtual reality before buying. A store that provides this opportunity not only increases profits but customer satisfaction. And a satisfied customer tends to come back for more purchases.
61% of buyers admitted that VR in the store stimulates the purchase more than the seller’s advice, discount or enticing advertising. Consumers surveyed said that after testing a product in virtual reality, they even buy something that they did not plan.
VR increases user engagement, builds trust and loyalty to a particular store or shopping center. Centers that offer a VR experience that is still new to most consumers are attracting significantly more customers. Mall visitors who have visited a VR amusement park or had another VR experience will return to the mall for shopping. On average, with the opening of VR entertainment, the flow of new visitors to the shopping center increases by 1.2-1.5 times.
Virtual reality technologies stimulate demand, make it easier to choose and buy things. They create interesting events and provoke public attention. Companies that promote products using augmented reality and come up with new ways to use VR technologies will become major players in the retail and entertainment markets. Shopping malls are attracting shoppers with new VR parks and are transforming from shopping aisles to leisure spaces.