Virtual Reality. Smart Retail. Real Results.
Who said Virtual Reality is only about Gaming? Retail is among the sectors that will be mostly shaped by Virtual Reality.
Virtual Reality
“The Virtual Reality (VR) market was valued at USD 11.52 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach USD 87.97 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 48.7% over the forecasted period 2020 – 2025” (Mordor Intelligence)
Virtual Reality is the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment. Unlike traditional technologies, users find themselves immersed in a virtual world where they can interact with 3D contents. The most advanced experiences are multisensorial, trying to simulate not only sight, but also touch, hearing and smell.
VR is the only technology enabling users to be in a totally different place than that they are currently in, living any imaginable experience.
The VR industry is growing at a fast pace, with the market size of consumer virtual reality hardware and software projected to increase from 6.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to more than 16 billion U.S. dollars by 2022, according to Statista.
Usability and comfort of the latest headsets, together with price affordability, will foster the mainstream adoption of VR. Nearly half of all VR headsets sold in 2019 were made by standalone devices like the Oculus Quest.
The technology has developed exceptionally well in Gaming, but its real value is in commercial and industrial environments. VR gaming and VR video do actually represent the largest consumer use cases for VR technology today, with 20.8 billion US dollars expected to be spent in 2023, according to Statista. However, the potential of VR isn’t limited to the consumer side, but the industrial application of the technology is actually expected to be three times larger than the consumers’ one. Among the most impacted commercial sectors are retail, healthcare, military and defense, real estate and education.
Smart Retail
“In the Retail and Marketing sectors, the use of Virtual Reality is expected to generate $1.8 billion by 2022” (ABI Research)
Virtual Reality presents a huge potential for Retail, on both the business and consumer sides.
The technology enables brands and retailers to simulate any in-store executions before their physical implementation. Companies often forgo experimenting solutions due to high investments needed, the heavy impact on in-store operations and the impossibility of having a clear idea of the final result beforehand. 3D digitization and virtual reality instead enable companies to cut time and costs, as well as to preliminarily validate the final result avoiding any impact on the physical store, while accelerating their go to market.
Also the relationship between the brand/retailer and their consumers is shaped by virtual reality. Being either a VR experience replacing that of physical stores or an in-store VR experience making the physical experience of shopping more compelling, virtual reality proves itself to be a great tool for companies willing to offer more engaging and customized experiences to their customers with an omnichannel approach.
Consumers can live experiences that they couldn’t ever have lived before – think of Amazon’s 10 virtual reality kiosks in shopping malls across India, where consumers could take hot air balloon rides and walk through rooms with various products on display to be explored. The brand/retailer can even display products or features it won’t normally showcase, or better talk about itself and its values.
Real Results
Many brands and retailers have already adopted virtual reality, reaping real results.
The simulation of in-store executions through Virtual Reality enables clients to accelerate the go-to-market only of the already validated options, thus preventing the risk of any wrong implementations.
By being confidently first-to-market every time, companies are repeatedly beating their competition. The immersive representation of the proposed solutions accelerates the overview of the final result and therefore the fast finalization of an agreement between retailers and brands.
With V-Commerce (virtual reality commerce), brands and retailers can “talk about themselves” in a more distinctive way as compared to their competitors, opening a real new channel and offering an empowered shopping experience to consumers, that today is flattened by e-commerce.
The majority of shoppers still prefer brick-and-mortar for many elements of the in-store shopping experience that cannot be replicated online, such as the social or emotional aspects. With v-commerce, people will interact with the offer, the retailer, the brand in a thoroughly active, immersive and experiential way, without necessarily going to a physical store. Companies can also collect data on how customers interact with products, giving insights on their marketing efforts. VR in retail has the potential to create unique brand experiences that drive conversions, repeat visits and allow higher revenue.
Do you work on store design and remodeling, category management and trade marketing or shopper research? Invrsion is a Virtual Reality company developing ultra-realistic, immersive VR simulations for CPG industry and retail. It offers a SaaS solution, Shelfzone, that helps you simulate any in-store executions before their physical implementation, along with a patented enterprise-level 3D digitization service to get the highest-quality Digital Twins of your products.
Contact us to learn more on how our virtual solutions can impact your business!