Removing the ‘try it before you buy it’ barrier for online shoppers
Virtual reality lets shoppers try purchases out at home before spending their money
TORONTO — When Daniel Beauchamp was hunting for a new car, he skipped trips to dealerships by using virtual and augmented reality to test vehicles from a makeshift driver’s seat he set up in his home with a few chairs.
The head of virtual reality at Ottawa-based e-commerce company Shopify brought out the technology again when furnishing and renovating his home, using it to figure out where to place couches and tables without having to put in the manual labour.
While most shoppers still flock to dealerships or grab their measuring tape to see what furniture fits a spot, Beauchamp’s creative use of such technology signals how the masses might start using virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) to navigate the retail world in the future.
And Shopify, which is experimenting with several applications of the technology, hopes to be at the forefront of the retail revolution.
“AR and VR will fundamentally change the way we shop,” said Beauchamp. “Shopping experiences that use AR that allow you to preview products in your home before buying them are things that are available now and more and more will be coming out.”
Shopify, which has a large office in Waterloo, hopes the AR and VR-based shopping experience it has created could surmount one of the market’s biggest barriers: getting customers to buy products without insisting on first seeing them in-person.
It joins a host of other retailers experimenting with different ways of diffusing shoppers’ hesitation — from 3D scan mirrors in stockless stores to identify the correct size to apps that allow shoppers to manipulate photos of the product and themselves or their homes.
One survey conducted by industry research site Retail Dive suggests that more than 55 per cent of shoppers visit stores before buying online.
Virtual and augmented reality technology will benefit both e-commerce businesses and shoppers, especially those in rural or remote areas, for whom it is not as practical to visit a store before buying, said David Soberman, a professor of marketing at the University of Toronto.
“The reality of online retailing is that it is a good place to shop for people who have seen or experienced a product at a friend’s house or at an actual retail store,” Soberman said.
“Some people don’t want to pay money for something until they’ve held it in their hand.”
To conquer a consumer’s hesitation to buy before trying, Shopify has developed technology that allows shoppers to browse products in an online store from wherever they are and virtually position the items, such as a table or shelf, in the space where they’re standing.
Once virtually placed, the product appears to-scale and the consumer can get up close to look inside items with an opening, like a vase, or view intricate but minuscule details like stitching on clothing. Consumers can even step inside larger items such as a tent.
Shopify has tested the functionality with home decor and lifestyle brand Magnolia Market, owned by HGTV star Joanna Gaines and featuring products seen on her “Fixer Upper” show.
It’s also developing technology that lets shoppers wander around a virtual store by using a mobile phone or tablet to peek at product displays and shelves of merchandise, which customers can swivel to see from every angle, from the comfort of their home or wherever else they may be.
A third iteration will introduce a salesperson wearing a VR and AR headset.
Such technology could disrupt the apparel and cosmetics industry, which have already started experimenting with consumer-based AR and VR applications.