The In-Store Retail Experience Is About to Get a Huge Boost from Augmented and Virtual Reality

brought to you by WBR insights

Access the Report: Available November 2020

Digital and mobile technologies are enhancing the ways consumer shop in physical stores, ridding those experiences of problems and inconveniences that have plagued shoppers for decades. Now, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) offer new benefits beyond both online and traditional shopping environments. Whether it’s visualizing how a new ensemble will look under certain lighting or picking furniture that will match your living room, the sky is the limit in terms of opportunities with these technologies.

In 2020, investment in augmented reality and virtual reality remains low among retailers—Forrester ranks them 24th and 28th in terms of retail tech investments for 2020. But consumers’ expectations for enhanced experiences that AR and VR support are increasing, where roughly 75% of consumers now expect retailers to offer an AR experience. The arrival of 5G will only accelerated this trend.

What’s more, dozens of both potential and real use cases have already been identified. Examples of clothing stores with AR technologies that automatically measure one’s size and allow customers to visualize styles that fit them are already in use. Companies are using AR technologies to create in-store scavenger hunts, and VR technologies to show customers where and how their products are made.

Still, questions remain. How user-friendly are most in-store VR and AR devices, really? Are retailers investing in these technologies at scale, and are customers choosing to use them? Finally, do these new technologies really add business value—or are they just a gimmick?

Q4 2020 Future Stores Report: Successes and Failures: VR and AR in In-Store Retail

In this special Q4 2020 Future Stores report, we uncover the degree to which in-store retailers have adopted VR and AR technologies in their physical stores. Through exploration of their successes and failures, we identify best practices that you can incorporate in your own future AR and VR investments. Finally, we identify where AR and VR are driving true business value, and what that means about the long-term use of these technologies.

Access the Report: Available November 2020