2021 Retail Industry Guide

Enhance stores with VR and AR

Furniture retailers are also benefiting, letting customers virtually place furniture in their homes using AR. Allowing consumers to see how something fits within their surroundings and colour schemes increases their confidence when making the purchase – and has the obvious added benefit of reducing returns. Perhaps one of the most well- known examples is Amazon’s “View in your room” option, where Amazon users can furnish their room by placing several selected products simultaneously.

How VR&AR are revolutionising the in-store experience

VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) are used to create or enhance a customer’s viewing experience. AR is used to overlay graphics onto real surroundings, whilst VR creates a completely new environment to surround the viewer. Whilst VR requires expensive upfront hardware requirements and, with its space- age looking headsets, can be intimidating to many customers, AR can be supported by a mobile device, which billions of users already have. AR allows consumers to visualise their purchases in advance. This is particularly useful when selling clothing and accessories. Customers can instantly see how clothes appear on their bodies without trying them on, so they can shop for clothes they already know suit them, saving them time and shortening those familiar long lines at changing rooms. Makeup and other cosmetics can also be virtually applied before purchase, reducing waste and the worry of contaminated samples, and giving customers the chance to try before they buy with friends at home.

AR tranforms buying experience

of online shoppers see AR as improvement to their shopping experience. 14 63

The ARMarket is projected to be worth $18bn by 2023. 13

13 Statista 14 eComDash