VCommerce: the vision of the future

Can there be a world with no boundaries between the reality and the virtual? It still depends on devices, that allow us to experience the wonders of digital interfaces — if they’ll become natural and intuitive, only graphical or dimension dilemmas will stand in a way of living in two realities at the same time. Tools and programs are developed to serve this goal, and further improvement will have a large impact on e-commerce too.

First of all, we have to make a division between Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. These are two fields, in which retail platforms are present. The first — Virtual Reality — is a technology that generates digital environment, that replaces reality. This is done mostly by headsets, optical gear. The second term — Augmented Reality — refers to additional digital layer, that is applied to reality. It works like Pokemon Go — by using a tablet or a mobile, you can see expanded version of the real world — animated figures & objects that appear on the natural surface.

How this can be used in online retail? Virtual Reality can be a game changer in creating a virtual store, in which users could find themselves by just wearing a headset. They can browse alleys and pick products, check prices or see the product in all dimensions.

Augmented Reality is a different matter. It gives consumers a chance to try products before buying & see how they look when implemented. It’s photoshopping products onto natural environment — either in your house or on yourself.

Try-on creations are developed by companies like IKEA and their scannable catalog. By having just an app and mobile device, the largest furniture store came up with Augmented Reality feature, that build up chosen products onto your room, kitchen, bedroom.

Will clients love the new sales implementation? More than ⅓ of customers declare, that they would buy more products if they could try them virtually. 63% of respondents say, that they would increase their positive shopping experience if they could use VR and AR for browsing. Is this a worldwide trend or just a flame? It’s hard to tell. When it comes to workloads, all products would have to be digitalized and promoted by huge companies that have the resources to implement novelties. This seems to be fun for the richest, and we won’t see changes here in no time soon. How about the users? VR gear, mobile and tablets would be required — it will take time to get used to, but with Google cardboard glasses or Samsung headsets, that match more mobile devices, we might just see a new era of virtual experience. Who will make the most of it? Travel agencies, fashion stores, furniture retailers or cosmetic industry. Books, music and grocery companies will probably miss out the trend. Also, VR and AR bypass the chance of comparing prices, finding promotions in other stores — this is why regular internet users will possibly double check products before making a purchase. There’s a lot of opportunities and chances when it comes to vCommerce, but outrunning classical e-commerce takes much more than that.