With AR and VR integration, consumers can have more confidence when buying online and retailers can increase shopping opportunities and cut expenses.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed shopping habits. Consumers now find items online that they used to purchase only in stores. Although many customers still prefer in-person shopping, we will continue to see annual increases in online purchases as more people connect with the digital landscape. EnterpriseAppToday reports 63% of the "shopping journey" begins online, regardless of whether consumers shop in person or online.
However, online shopping has had its challenges, especially regarding product returns. This problem is where augmented and virtual reality can play a transformative role. E-commerce sites are creating immersive shopping experiences that rival brick-and-mortar stores to entice consumers to buy online.
Virtual "try-before-you-buy" platforms are an online innovation that allows shoppers to use augmented and virtual reality to experience a product more fully before purchasing it. It offers enhanced product visualization and increased purchase confidence, which can lead to reduced returns rates and higher conversion rates.
Online shopping hurdles
One advantage brick-and-mortar retailers traditionally have had over online shopping is the customers' ability to experience the products. While online shopping can't replicate the physical buying experience, AR and VR can simulate key sensory aspects to aid decision-making.
Many consumers feel uncertain when making a purchase online. The ability to visualize products in the comfort of their home or on their body can sway them to pull the trigger. The hassle of returns, which
Statista reports occurs at a rate as high as 23% for clothes, prevents many consumers from frequenting e-commerce sites. Online return rates are three times higher than the rate for in-store purchases, costing retailers approximately $15 for every $100 spent online.
Some customers, however, acquire items with the intention of returning them. "Bracketing" occurs when customers buy multiple products online to choose the perfect one. AR and VR tech can minimize this practice because it helps customers narrow their options without purchasing anything. Statista cites a 2022 survey showing that 31% of American consumers bracketed clothing purchases if they could not remember their exact size.
Thus, virtual try-on technology helps mitigate high return rates while providing a more enjoyable shopping experience.
Not only do high return rates cause financial losses for businesses, but they also contribute to environmental waste. CleanHub, an environmental services company working to prevent plastic pollution, claims that up to 24 million metric tons of CO2 emissions are from e-commerce returns, and in 2022, companies delivered 9.5 billion pounds of returned products to landfills.
Retail tech solutions
To overcome these challenges and improve the shopping experience, retailers are adopting advanced AR/VR platforms that leverage computer vision, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence technologies like machine learning.
Computer Vision
AR/VR platforms, increasingly popular for virtual clothes shopping, use computer vision, a key AI/ML technology, to create immersive shopping experiences. By recognizing and tracking objects, such as the user's body, these systems create a realistic visualization similar to what you would see at a store. This advanced technology includes eye tracking and room mapping, helping to give consumers a satisfying experience from the comfort of their homes.
AR/VR allows precise object placement, giving the illusion that they exist in the physical world. With home furniture purchases, users can move through virtual environments and manipulate objects as the system tracks their movements. Companies can overlay data and graphics to provide consumers with real-world information.
Natural Language Processing
Beyond the immersive visual experience, NLP brings personalization to the next level by enabling voice commands in their virtual spaces, and AI algorithms help interpret and respond to the spoken language. NLP can improve the virtual experience by providing personal shopping assistants, product descriptions, and recommendations, making it also more accessible to people with disabilities. Text-to-speech and speech-to-text features help visually impaired people.
Machine Learning
Retailers use ML to personalize content to each shopper's preferences. ML algorithms analyze user interactions and preferences and adapt to the virtual environment to suit users' interests. This technology offers enhanced customer engagement as it tailors content for specific consumers. ML is vital for virtual "try before you buy" systems because it enables object recognition, body measurement estimates, and other features that let consumers see how the products will look in real life.
AR/VR real world examples
Advances in interactive retail technology have made AR and VR technology more accessible and affordable. Mobile applications with AR and VR integration make it accessible to anyone with a smartphone. Walmart and Amazon have already made strides in virtual "try-before-you-buy" capabilities on their apps.
Walmart expanded its AR-powered "Beauty Virtual Try-On" technology to include hair color options amongst its almost 500 products in the category, plus cosmetics and apparel. Venture Beat reported consumers can choose from 150 models when trying on clothes. The online giant also launched a try-on platform for eye wear at the beginning of 2024.
Amazon this year "touted its virtual-trying capabilities," which allow customers to choose products from major brands like Adidas, Ray-Ban, and L'Oreal." Its technology helps "you visualize a new pair of sneakers or sunglasses yourself, as well as lip colors and eye shadow in real time."
These examples illustrate AR and VR are poised to reshape the online buying experience. However, there will be challenges to overcome, such as data privacy, quality 3D modeling, and user technical requirements.
Still, people value convenience and want to avoid returns, which ultimately cost businesses profits, leading some retailers to charge restocking fees. With AR and VR integration, consumers can have more confidence when buying online, and retailers can increase shopping opportunities and cut expenses.
Source: www.retailcustomerexperience.com
Comments