Your Cube Convenience Store IOS, Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR) have come a long way from being immature technologies to create a massive impact completely. With over 8.9 million AR/VR headsets sold in 2019 and AR-enabled smartphones, it can be seen that consumers are acknowledging these technologies. These groundbreaking technologies are also referred together as Extended reality (XR) due to the similar nature of use and functionality.

Retail is one of the most competitive fields of the economy. It is common knowledge that no matter how niche your market might be – you have to fight for the place under the sun, Your Cube Convenience Store IOS, you have to persuade customers. That makes retail businesses particularly interested in finding new and more elaborate ways of engaging customers and establishing new brands.

• Lowe’s, a major North American retailer of home improvement goods, has dreamt up an interesting in-store use of VR. Using an HTC Vive and a specially made controller, the ‘Holoroom Test Drive’ allows anyone timid around power tools to put on a VR headset to learn how to use the tools in a safe virtual space.
• Ikea came up with the Ikea Place ARKit app, which avails users a 3D preview of the chosen furniture at the desired spot in their homes/offices. The users can look for the fit and preferences in the furniture items.
• Topshop, for instance, partnered with AR Door and used Kinect motion-sensing technology to create a virtual fitting room for customers in their Moscow store. By standing in front of the camera, customers were able to see how clothing items looked on their bodies without physically trying anything on.

The key challenge is developing software that works with AR/VR devices for these specific use cases. According to a Goldman Sachs report, Your Cube Convenience Store IOS, AR/VR retail software revenue is expected to reach $1.6 billion by 2025.

Retailers can use this technology to fundamentally change the way consumers shop, creating deeper engagement, increasing customer delight, and efficiency to drive sales, and maximize ROI.

Retailers must also anticipate the changes in consumer behavior due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic globally. While consumers are largely dependent on CPG manufacturers and retailers for a constant supply of essential goods, Your Cube Convenience Store IOS retailers are facing a tough time catering to the surge in demand while keeping up to safety standards and living up to customer expectations. On the other hand, retailers that cater to durables have temporarily closed their brick and mortar establishments and are continuing to engage customers on various online platforms and through other initiatives.

Now, more than ever digital transformation will play a critical role for retailers. Implementation of AR & VR in retail helps retailers and consumers alike have a better shopping experience while reducing operating costs of retailers and offering an immersive, engaging, and safe experience to consumers.

While AR and VR fall under the same realm, there is a significant difference in the hardware and software that goes into enabling these technologies and the experience that they create. While AR layers digital information into real-world scenarios, VR offers a wholly immersive experience. A multitude of devices such as smartphones which a vast majority of consumers possess are already AR-enabled making them more accessible, economic, and easier to execute. Over two billion smartphones are capable of displaying high-quality, true-to-size AR content. VR on the other hand requires specially configured devices that are rather costly and not possessed by the average consumer. Although the number of VR devices being sold has seen a significant increase over the years. Hence we’ll be discussing both these technologies individually in the coming sections.

Create better online shopping experiences: Coronavirus is unsettling every aspect of our lives, including our retail experiences. As consumers have become more confined to their homes, online shopping is now more important than ever, and augmented reality (AR) technology has been thrust into the limelight to help online retailers deliver an efficient shopping experience. People are now more inclined towards staying home as a result of lockdowns in several countries, self-quarantine, and compulsory work from home. With social distancing norms in place, consumers are more and more reluctant to visit stores in person, which is severely affecting retailers in nearly every industry. Hence, people have more free time now. You can expect consumers to spend more of this time shopping online. Thus it falls upon you to enrich the consumer’s shopping journey and help them make better decisions. With AR technology consumers can use their smartphones to bring life to a product and see what it might look like in their homes, on their tables or walls, Your Cube Convenience Store IOS, or even on themselves. Here’s how Ikea helped consumers make quicker and better decisions while engaging with AR.

1. Brands that have been early adopters of AR technology have seen a significant lift in sales for several years. Conversion rates are increasing anywhere from 10% to as much as 200%. Product returns are dropping by 25%. Time to make buying decisions has been cut in half. AR is making impacts with real ROI that can’t be ignored, even without looming fears of coronavirus.
2. In-store navigation: Retail experiences need to involve less physical contact in the current circumstances. Even long after this crisis, consumers will be highly alert and particularly conscious about how they interact with products in bricks-and-mortar stores – here’s where augmented reality (AR) technology can come in. Current limitations provide chances for retailers to connect emotionally to consumers and appeal to their shopping senses. Some ways of doing so are by prioritizing consumers’ safety, establishing trust, and offering convenience and ease of use. By using AR to facilitate in-store navigation, you can help consumers reduce the time spent and interactions in the store. You can choose to provide consumers with directions to the stores from different mall entrances or with in-door maps to enable them to find items quickly in the store.