3-D/Augmented Reality is very slowly gaining steam. We have been working on this for years with several organizations, however I still think the technology needs to be less “virtual reality” and more “real reality” for widespread adoption to occur. It has to impact more than just the sight sense, as brick-and-mortar stores do.

There will likely be initial buzz for the first few retailers who jump on this bandwagon but I would expect that to fade fast.

Consumers shop differently online than they do in store. Trying to create the store experience online will likely limit the convenience factor that consumers have come to expect from their online shopping experiences. When it’s not easy, shoppers give up and go elsewhere to make their purchase.

I agree with many of the other commenters that we’ve been talking about and playing with this concept for decades. In fact, my agency built the first Toyota.com site in 1996 and we had 3-D “fly-arounds” of cars. I would say the technology really only makes sense when you need to see inside and outside of a product, like a car or a house or room.

Let’s understand how important the quality of the virtual reality images and experience are to the appeal and value of this medium. VR at the commercial grade for training, design, consumer insights and analytics has been advancing rapidly. The webinar on the status and directions of VR recorded by the Center for Digital Experience describes the business proposition that underpins investment in the medium. VR will become an important manifestation of online commerce, product information and training.

While virtual 3-D is valuable for experience design, visualization and gaming — this technology is a long way from replacing the analog shopping journey. This reminds me of the response I received from a retail marketing executive 15+ years ago. He politely interrupted my passionate demo and stated that, ” … this is a wonderful tactical implementation in desperate search of a strategy.” He was right — we were solving a problem that didn’t exist. Someday we’ll have the Holodeck, but not yet!

Google Maps already offers this service allowing users to walk around inside a store using photo mapping technology. The only channel where this 3-D will work effectively is in virtual worlds like Second Life that are still running strong, believe it or not.

I don’t see 3-D or VR being essential for online retail. At present it seems very much a case of “we can do it, so we will,” rather than offering a real benefit to customers. While I see online retailing continuing to evolve, this seems like a bit of a gimmick at the moment, especially until 3-D and the like is part of everyday life. Currently it’s hard to imagine who would want to shop in this way.

The potential for these types of programs rests almost entirely on the back-end engine that drives the merchandising to the shopper. If it is just trying to match what the customer does in-store, it’s really nothing special and the shopper might as well go to the physical store. If it works with the shopper’s buying history and combines that with publicly available social media data to customize the experience for each person, then they may be on to something.

Cross referencing multiple data sources from onsite activity, product popularity, hot products in the market and offsite data, and then utilizing this knowledge to truly understand who the customers are and what price sensitivities and considerations influence their shopping behaviors would enable a profound wholesome experience. 

Thanks for opening this discussion. I’m the founder of The 360 Mall. The industry experts raise some valid points in this discussion. Though, I think they are missing a piece of the puzzle. As this discussion points out, e-commerce, led by the Amazon model, is increasingly seeking to speed up purchasing and take the friction out of it. But, the problem is that this hyper-focus takes the assumption that all online shoppers already have a product in mind and just want convenience. For those shoppers, the current e-commerce trajectory is good. However, around 60% of shoppers cite that, they “window shop” online (browse without a product in mind), at least moderately often. Now, by definition, they aren’t looking for the quickest transaction online – they need to be especially motivated to make the purchase. These shoppers present the best opportunity to online retailers, but need to be especially immersed into a retailer’s brand story and product context. We’ve found that for 42% of these consumers, an immersive and interactive experiential shopping experience would increase the… Read more »

I agree with many others that 3D shopping that mimics real physical shopping will be more likely a one-time fun thing to do.

There are other approaches and technologies to provide immersive experience: probably virtual reality has some prospective there and virtual doesn’t have to mimic real reality. For example, I think that trying a new dress or suit at say a virtual function is more fun than trying it on in virtual fitting room.