Did you know that according to the Goldman Sachs, the use of AR VR in retail will reach $ 1.6 billion by 2025? This means the numbers themselves are proof that AR / VR has a huge reach in the retail industry.
The retail sector is one of the most important market segments for the global economy where success no longer depends only on the product quality but also on its customer shopping experience too. So, to improve customer experience, many retailers are using immersive marketing through AR and VR in retail industries to offer personalized and interactive services to their customers.
In fact, now a days AR- and VR- driven applications are becoming increasingly popular in retail, with giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba investing heavily in their sales technologies. To keep up with industry trends and remain successful, Benefits of AR and VR in retail can be a game-changer. It helps retailers find new and better ways to attract customers, going beyond the competition by making their shopping experience enjoyable, safe, and convenient.
Here are some of the most prominent use cases of AR/VR applications in the retail business are given below –
AR and VR in fashion retail
The fashion and beauty retail industries are busy looking at how they can transform our buying habits and make apparel more fun by bringing new trends, thoughts, innovation, and a fresh new wave of collections for all seasons. It’s not only about clothes, shoes, and beauty accessories — the fashion retail industry also sells us dreams and stories. Where from there is a wide range of people who come to shop for their desired needs. So, if you have any kind of lifestyle retail brand no wonder without AR and VR it is impossible to offer exciting opportunities in fashion retail like a virtual trial room, try before you buy, try it and take it, try on without taking off, or see my fit.
For example –
With our busy schedule, it’s can be difficult to find out time to go for shop or spend hours searching for the desired clothing collections or even waiting for your turn outside the trial rooms can be extremely boring and time-consuming. Virtual mirrors are playing great role in fashion retail businesses by offering customers a way to try out various products without wearing them. From clothing to accessories and beauty products, shoppers can see how they look and fit based on different sizes, colors, shapes and designs. This eliminates the need to physically go to a store, wait in line for a trial room, and spend hours searching for the desired items.
So, isn’t it as simple as avoiding the hassles of free shopping & finding the best product that fits perfectly with the help of ARVR technology in the fashion & beauty retail industry?
There are already many real-life examples of AR and VR being deployed for fashion retail purposes, such as –
(World most famous clothing retail brand ZARA, SEPHORA cosmetics brand, Footwear brand ADIDAS already implemented ARVR technology into their retail business to showcase their all-new arrivals with in-store shopping experience)
Virtual shop-23
Moreover, in this Covid-19 situation, hygiene and safety are a top priority for every business industry. The retail industry has taken the worst hit in this pandemic, and even after the lockdown being lifted people are afraid to travel to physical locations to shop so most of the shoppers prefer shopping online & in response to the pandemic even many fashion & beauty retailers have prohibited to trailing or physically testing out makeup products on their skin. therefore, we Brain Station 23 have made virtual shop-23 for the retail owner where Virtual showrooms can empower your consumers to make faster purchasing decisions without them having to visit a store or virtual exhibitions physically. Virtual showrooms can bring your customers closer by employing basic personal devices such as 3D WebGL, Desktop & VR-Based Shop mobile, tablets, etc from anywhere in the world. This can solve the complication of promoting your product and exhibitions can be created and displayed without even opening a real showroom or store.
For every business owner & customer, the two most essential factors are time and money and Virtual showrooms will help any retailer to save you both. The virtual showroom can give your consumers a lifelike experience; they can move around the virtual showroom as if they were walking inside a real showroom, examine their items in 360 degrees, and zoom in and out to get a feel for the product characteristics in-depth. In addition, they can even access PDFs and videos if required for more in-depth information on the displayed products. Virtual showrooms will also provide an option to communicate with the virtual sales assistant for help & most surprisingly retailers, do not need to return to the solution provider on a frequent basis since they can self-customize their Virtual shop-23 depending on their changing demands without any training. Virtual shop-23 can provide your business with a competitive edge as it will make your business stand out from the crowd.
Here is a demo of a 3D-dimensional interactive virtual showroom where clients can virtually take all of the services just as like they are sitting in a chair.
AR VR in home decor and furniture retail
Home decor is another sector where the purchase often depends on the ability to “try” the item in the actual interior & here Customers always prefer to visualize before purchasing any product. therefore, home décor & furniture retailers can use augmented reality to educate their customers about their products or take another step back, helping shoppers decide if they should explore specific products at all. For example –
Looking for a required piece of furniture is always a challenging task because furniture is normally massive and it would be hard to carry an item home to see whether it would fit or not? Also, do you want to make sure that it fits both in size and style of the interior of the house but it’s not working? So, now with AR-driven apps in the furniture retail business customers do not have to experience all these difficulties anymore. The AR smartphone app allows users to set a digital full-size representation of selected goods into a certain space. without purchasing the desired furniture or any electronics item with the help of ARVR retailers could let shoppers measure how a certain-size chair, sofa, wardrobe, the fridge would fit into their homes or office interior and also can move them around to see in different colours, shapes & styles would go with the surroundings & surface. Most interestingly buyers can open drawers, switch appliances on and off, and try if it goes well with the surroundings. Many furniture and home decor retailer are now implementing ARVR applications to allow their customers to view their items in a real environment and make a happy purchase with return customers. (A good example of Major furniture retailers like Ikea and have already implemented augmented reality-assisted buying options for their consumers)
Information Source: Business Wire
So undoubtedly this picture also shows that Augmented Reality suits the furniture retail business perfectly & as we all know customers are the main priority for any kind of retail business So the customers would definitely welcome every effort of AR VR to bridge the gap between the online and in-store shopping experience. This way, customers can virtually try out many pieces of furniture at a time, without not worrying about bad decisions, which removes a huge weight from their shoulders before the big purchase. Then why not boosting your customer’s shopping experience with ARVR in your home decor and furniture retail business?
So, here this video shows that how we Brain station 23 developed our AR room planner to make your dream corner the way you want to see & how we also served AR-VR Service to the most well-renowned company Cowell Asia working in Tokyo and Miyazaki (Japan), Hanoi and Da Nang (Vietnam). our AR features are not designed to simply sell any product it also helps the retailer to be transparent and open about the products in detail may assure a potential customer to come back again.
Even more, after assembling the all furniture into your home or office interior if a buyer decides to change the colour of their walls, there is even ARVR app that allows you to hold your phone up towards your wall and see different colour options match with all belongings just like it was painted before even buying them in real-time and without risking any money for something that doesn’t fit. Isn’t it sound interesting that your consumer will love to explore?
This is how we provided ARVR services to one of the leading paint solution providers in Bangladesh Berger Paint to virtually visualize or detect how the colour shades or captured images will suit the desired surface from Berger Colour Bank in real-time for their client.
This is a picture of the painting solution that we Brain Station 23 gave to rainbow visualizer. Even now, paint retailers can deliver with an exact cost estimate prediction to their valued customers without requiring them to visit their showroom or communicate with the solution supplier.
AR VR in Car retail
Nowadays AR & VR have a great impact on the car we drive today. With the help of ARVR car retailers can now not only show the look but also can show how it drives through the Virtual test-driving experience. This is how Manufacturers can save millions of dollars by testing vehicle with no risk issues. IN fact, with 360 motion pictures and videos, car makers like Infinity has already started making investments that permit potential customers to experience a real-life driving. (Just as like Virtual shop-23 A good example of using AR VR is the Audi virtual showroom in London) So, incorporating immersive technology ARVR in the car retail business will ultimately help the retailer to run their business with transparency and reduce post-purchase decisions for every customer. Through the AR app, Potential car buyers can personalize their desired car models and specifications in augmented reality without leaving their homes by simply downloading the app into their phone. They also can view animations that demonstrate the vehicle’s aerodynamics, explore internal components, and take a virtual test drive using interactive driving mode. Additionally, they can customize the car design, including color, print, seats, and interior until they are satisfied with the final product.
We Brain station-23 created this storefront design to show our clients what they could use through the ARVR for inside & outside of their car. moreover, we have helped Nissan Motor Company, Ltd is one of the largest multinational automobile car retailer companies to make their driving experience more comfortable & easier with finding out necessary information from a printed User Reference as well as a virtual driving Guide & also solved many more difficulties with our ARVR services.
The sample image shows how we designed the interior, lighting package, and how a user can virtually visualize car’s accessories using AR and VR services.
Conclusion
So finally, it can be said that the benefits of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in the retail industry result in an engaging and immersive shopping experience, which benefits both retailers and customers while also has a tremendous impact on various industries, including retail, healthcare, gaming, education, manufacturing, and telco in many ways. Such as-
In healthcare, AR technology is being used to improve medical education for staff and patients, providing a deeper understanding of anatomy and body functions, and creating 3D models for learning purposes. The technology also saves time in emergency surgery cases, proving to be a valuable advantage. AR VR technology can be used in architecture to create 3D representations of blueprints, helping bridge the gap between imagination and reality.
Similarly, in education, AR VR technology can offer more detailed and immersive learning experiences, utilizing 2D/3D modeling, discovery-based learning, AR games, AR books, and AR-based skill development. The evolution of AR and VR in various industries acts as a bridge between the online and offline world, allowing users to be more interactive in their buying process while opening up significant market potential for businesses.
This is why now is a good time to think about how you can integrate augmented reality and virtual reality in your retail eCommerce or physical stores, before it’s too late so that Customers will come back, no longer just for a bargain, but for the experience, your store offers and make your business unique than the competitors. I hope this article serves as an inspiration for things retailers & other industries can do today, with the help of ARVR to interact more effectively with their audience and reap the long-term benefits I described at the beginning.
Contributors
- Md. Mahmudul Hasan
- Fahim Arsad Nafis
- Fahmiza Ramina Hossain