Virtual Reality and E-commerce
Virtual Reality (VR) is a rapidly growing technology that is disrupting many sectors, including e-commerce. With its immersive and engaging potential, VR offers new perspectives for the e-shopping experience. We are currently in a transition phase between in-store and online shopping. According to FEVAD, the VR market is estimated to reach 62 billion euros by 2024, marking a transformation in the operations of online businesses. The challenge is to differentiate oneself from physical retail outlets in order to increase conversions in the digital realm.
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Today, it is almost obvious for some brands to offer a virtual reality experience to their users to overcome the barriers of the sector. With its potential, this new tool attracts user interest and leaves a lasting impression.
When purchasing a product online, it’s not always straightforward: wrong size, wrong color, texture doesn’t match… the list of potential unmet expectations can be particularly long. It is to address these barriers that virtual reality comes into play.
Several brands from various sectors are now entering the VR race: a new digital and interactive environment that offers 3D experiences to users to make them fully immersive.
With VR, consumers can interact with products in a much more realistic and engaging way than with traditional images or videos. In fact, nearly 63% of online consumers say that virtual reality can have a significant and positive impact on their final purchasing decision.
For example, IKEA aims to replicate the in-store experience by offering an application that allows users to visualize furniture in a room in order to assess its potential integration into the daily environment. This initiative facilitates the buying process, strengthens the brand’s reputation, and converts more prospects.
Optics is also a sector where VR is common practice. For instance, Ray-Ban offers a “virtual try-on” option, which allows users to try on glasses directly on the website before purchasing them.
Not surprisingly, smartphones and other connected devices such as tablets play a significant role in the equation. Users always have their phones at hand and are constantly connected to the internet to search for products and information. With the front and rear cameras of their device, users can test the product, and the brand can reach a much wider audience.
Until now, what was missing from e-commerce was this tactile and visual product experience. And our digital merchants have understood this well. Consumers no longer simply follow a simple purchasing path but tend towards mixed paths, between virtual and physical, favoring multichannel. Today’s consumers compare prices, competitors, quality, delivery times, advantages, and disadvantages of each sales channel. Thus, to remain competitive and increase sales and revenue volumes, the customer experience must play a more emotional and human role to be intuitive and personalized.
Immersion and digital therefore go hand in hand and allow for cost reduction, both for companies and their customers, who, by gaining a real idea of a product, limit returns and customer service requests. The power of this new process lies in reshaping the definition of the online customer experience and strengthening customer loyalty.
BRAND MARKETING AND NOTORIETY:
Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly becoming an effective marketing tool to enhance brand awareness in the e-commerce sector. Indeed, the trend reveals a growing awareness among brands of the importance of innovative marketing to stand out in an ultra-competitive market.
With virtual reality, brands are moving towards new strategies, with active customer engagement who will actively participate in the implementation of this strategy, to benefit from a unique experience that they could not find with a competitor. Virtual reality creates a new trust relationship between the brand and the consumer by giving more value to their shopping experience.
The total immersion in a virtual environment gives users the impression of being in a real store, where they can interact with products and make purchase decisions with confidence. The detailed visualization of products and their features allows customers to avoid size, color, and texture errors and, above all, demonstrates the investment and expertise of the company. It is a brand that cares about its customers’ shopping experience and goes to great lengths to ensure that their purchase precisely meets their needs.
Virtual reality represents a major advancement in e-commerce, offering an optimal synergy between visual and physical interface in the purchasing process. It is becoming increasingly accessible, opening the door to new growth opportunities for businesses of all sizes. Despite its many advantages, its adoption presents several challenges, particularly concerning data privacy and the ability to understand this new environment in relation to the evolution of society.
With constantly evolving shopping journeys, virtual reality will undoubtedly continue to develop significantly, offering increasingly immersive and engaging experiences to consumers.
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