100 Million People Are Estimated To Shop With AR & VR In 2020

With the introduction of 5G in the market recently, it is no question to ask about the lightning speed the tech world is progressing especially when it comes to transforming the online consumer shopping experience and the entertainment industry. Among which the Augmented and Virtual reality trends are in the spotlight.

Virtual Reality (VR) alongside with the Augmented Reality (AR) can be seen in action in many of the big tech apps over the recent years. Describing VR and AR in the technical term is when the computer-generated world is explored by wearing a VR device over the eyes whereas overlaying our real-world environment into a computer-generated graphic is known as Augmented Reality. One of the reasons these are getting common is that the devices are getting more capable of producing advanced visuals and graphics which has resulted in comparatively high use of the AR and VR in them.

5G is said to be giving a significant boost for AR and VR to arrive in the market on a larger scale. A major research firm Gartner has established the statement that by 2020 there will be around 100m users shopping through AR online and in-stores. According to their survey conducted in the US, Canada, Europe, and China, nearly 46% of the major retailers are planning on installing the systems supporting AR. “Gartner expects that the implementation of 5G and AR/VR in stores will transform not only customer engagement but also the entire product management cycle of brands,” said Sylvain Fabre, senior research director at Gartner. “5G can optimize warehouse resources, enhance store traffic analytics and enable beacons that communicate with shoppers’ smartphones.”

Big furniture retailers such as IKEA and Wayfair have already been providing the usage of AR technology for their customers to make them have an idea by virtually placing furniture items using an app on their phones.

VR developers are on the move to create more user-friendly and realistic simulations for a more intensive entertainment experience. One of the stand-alone VR headsets manufacturing company Oculus overtaken by Facebook shows that the social media tech mogul predicts the importance of VR in the online communication industry. The predictions can be a virtually established board room for official online conferences or just chilling with friends in an online shared environment.

In short, retailers can immensely transform and increase their task efficiencies by using the AR and VR solutions while reducing the cost of the developments of the designing new customer interface products.