Virtual reality has taken a long time to take off, but it’s finally getting closer to the mainstream. Some predictions expect it to be a household item by 2030, and at this point the way people use the internet will be vastly different to today.
VR will transform a range of online industries, with retail likely to be impacted massively. There are myriad ways that VR could revolutionize the online shopping experience and make it even better than it is today.
Virtual Reality is on the Way
VR was supposed to be the next big thing way back in 2016. It turned out that the technology had a much longer way to go than previously expected, but now the market is starting to gather momentum. Major players including Apple and Meta have developed their own VR headsets, and the technology is improving every year. The previously high entry price for VR will gradually lower as newer models are released, meaning that consumers with tight budgets can pick up older generations on the cheap.
With the stars beginning to align for VR, projections suggest that the industry could be worth more than $441.84 billion by 2030. Mark Zuckerberg believes that there will be more than one billion people using the metaverse by then as well, suggesting that Web3 will be beginning to replace the current version of the internet. It’s at this point that there is likely to be a massive shift in the online retail landscape with VR changing the way people shop for a variety of goods.
The Revolution in Clothing Shopping
The clothing industry was one of the first to adapt successfully to the online world, as in-store catalogs easily migrated to the digital sphere and made the shopping process simpler than ever. Clicking on the threads you want to buy after browsing through a website has become the norm now, and there are often better deals available online too. For instance, it’s easy to find cheap hoodies with discounts of up to 45 percent by shopping online, and it’s hard for physical stores to compete in such cases.
The fashion industry has been notoriously adaptive over the years, and some brands are already working on ways to integrate future technology. There are few disadvantages to online clothes shopping, but the fact that people can’t try on clothes has been a stumbling block. Some brands like Gucci and Burberry are already experimenting with virtual fitting apps that allow users to see what they look like in the clothes before they make a purchase.
When the metaverse takes off, there may be new forms of virtual fashion in which users dress up their avatars in unique attire as well. This could open a whole new realm for fashion designers to conquer, and they may end up offering both physical and virtual clothing lines.
Revamping Furniture Shopping
Furniture shopping is another area that could be completely enhanced by VR. One of the main downsides of buying sofas, beds, and wardrobes for your house now is that you have no idea how they are going to look until you have bought them and installed them in your home. If you realize that you don’t like the furniture you’ve picked up at that point, it’s already too late and it will be a major hassle trying to take it back to the store.
There’s no doubt that furniture shopping is a ripe area for VR innovation. Instead of relying on pictures on websites and in catalogs, shoppers may soon be able to use virtual or augmented reality to see how a piece of furniture would fit into their homes before buying. Along with discovering whether the design suits your needs, you’ll also be able to check that the items fit in the rooms in terms of scale.
This immersive experience can be achieved through VR apps that enable you to design and visualize your rooms with your desired furniture pieces in place. You can experiment with different layouts, styles, and color schemes, allowing you to make informed decisions without guesswork. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also minimizes the hassle and cost of returns.
Transforming Real Estate and Home Tours
Imagine if you could view any house on the planet from the comfort of your own home. It would certainly save a lot of time and open a load of new options to you that you may not have considered before. This is beginning to come into effect, with VR home tours allowing long-distance buyers the opportunity to explore properties in a different city or country. As the technology grows more advanced, it will offer a true-to-life representation of what the potential buyers would find if they purchased.
In addition to showing people around homes, VR could eventually provide tours of the neighborhood and surrounding areas. This would be like Google Earth in overdrive, and the immersion could lead to a speeding up of the buying process without the need for multiple visits.
Enhancing Consumer Experience with Personalization and Interactivity
VR clearly has the potential to offer people new ways to shop in a range of industries, and it will most certainly lead to unexpected innovations as well. For instance, it’s likely to bring about greater personalization, with data analytics and AI helping to offer bespoke shopping experiences tailored to individual users’ needs.
When VR shopping comes to the fore, it could also introduce new forms of interactivity. Most online retail sites now have chat functions that allow customers to ask questions, but these may be replaced with AI assistants in VR situations. The possibilities for improving customer and business relations are endless.
VR is set to instigate drastic leaps forward in the realms of online shopping. Today’s methods of buying products on the internet will most likely still exist, but there will also be the option to use VR methods in Web3. It’s exciting to think about the potential that this tech has to enhance e-commerce and take it to the next level.
