Virtual Reality is a hot topic these days, but is it worth investing your time and money in as a retailer?

VR and AR are creating the future of eCommerce by creating a virtual reality shopping experience. Virtual reality is a futuristic approach that can help in creating an impact, and prove to be a valuable asset in various marketing elements. Keep reading to find out how to create a winning virtual shopping experience

How can you use Virtual Reality in eCommerce?

As a marketing tool, virtual reality is becoming quite popular these days. Let’s find out how you can get the most out of the concept and use of virtual reality as an eCommerce retailer.

Telling your product’s story

These days nothing is full of quality and original anymore. Still, you can win your potential customers and make yourself stand out. People do not buy products. Instead, they buy emotions. So, you need to sell emotions to your customers and keep them coming again and again. Attach an emotional and engaging back-story to your products.

The back-story must be compelling to appeal to your target audience. It will give your brand an option to connect with your audience emotionally. This will help in making a contact with the audience on a deeper level and then selling products successfully. This storytelling is proven to increase rates of conversion and VR is a great technique to create rich, compelling back-story experiences.

For instance, you are creating a backstory using VR for your natural, hand-made beauty product. VR can be used to give a full 360-degree showcase of the natural and ethical ingredients used to create the product. In addition to this, you can take your customers on a journey to manufacturing sites where trials are performed on volunteers and not animals, or take them to production farms where employees are paid living wages.

Improving customer service

The way you handle your customers or resolve an issue lets them know your worth and is a great opportunity to build trust. It is more likely for customers to do business with your brand if you resolve customer complaints quickly and properly.  

If the support staff relies on the description of issues from customers then it can be problematic. It can be frustrating for staff as well as the customers. Customers might not have a proper understanding of the problem. It gets difficult for the support staff to resolve an issue with poor description. If your support staff doesn’t have good visualization, handling issues might get quite confusing and frustrating. This makes it difficult for brands to rebuild the trust they lost while failing to resolve the issue.

Customer support teams can take advantage of 360 degrees perspective of VR which will relieve the frustration between customers as well as staff. This assistance can help customers give a better view and explanation about the issue they are facing. Also, the support staff can use this technique to show customers exactly how to easily resolve the issue. It can also decrease the chances of customer complaints in the future.

It can be possible from the simplest to the hardest problems that need to be dealt with. This will ensure the betterment of the customer experience. The customers do not need to desire their problems awkwardly; support staff can easily understand issues and make the solving process quick.

Fidelity Investments is using VR to make the customer experience better with a vision of making it easier for staff to empathize with customers.

Product testing

Everyone wishes to try a product before they purchase it to ensure they are buying the right thing. The chances of purchase increase by almost 50% if customers are allowed to try the product first. Providing a 360-degree view of products using VR and can help in reducing the gap between physical and online shopping. However, just seeing a product on screen cannot compete with the option to virtually try a product.

Various eCommerce retailers are taking benefit of virtual reality and augmented reality to allow customers to virtually try products before buying. They do not need to wait days for a sample to try out or physically visit the store. Augmented reality is a form of virtual reality in which the real world is enhanced using virtual elements.

For instance, iStaging has an app that allows its customers to see how their products will look in their homes. People can use the app on their smartphones and see products in actual sizes on the screen. It gives them a realistic idea of whether the product will look good or not. The famous beauty brand Sephora personalized customer shopping experience with a great approach. The customers can try out different makeup looks before making a purchase. Plus, virtual tutorials can make it easy for customers.

Live events

Live events are an amazing opportunity but building attendance can be a little difficult. Some people willing to attend might not be living in close proximity, or they might not be able to make it.

VR is an amazing opportunity to bring the event to the audience instead of the opposite. Add a VR element to your live events and it can make it easy for people willing to attend but couldn’t make it.

The plus point is everyone gets to sit in the front seats to your event. There would be no problem of not being able to watch the show properly or blurred details. It can also improve the guest experience at your event which ultimately creates a positive image of your brand.

Last year in New York Fashion Week, people were allowed to attend the fashion show in Milan using a VR headset. It gave the viewers a 360-degree experience of the fashion collections and gives the red carpet experience.

Bottom Line

Virtual Reality is an amazingly useful technology that can help in resolving the major issue of eCommerce- receding physical and emotional experience online. These cost-effective solutions and ideas mentioned above are great opportunities to reach the same goal. Looking for the best service providers in industry? Technoraft can help you use Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality in amazing ways for your ecommerce business.

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