Les virtual universes have been widely used for several years in the world of gaming. Their development is poised to revolutionize, in the more or less long term, the customer experience. Indeed, virtual reality technology makes it possible to create increasingly immersive worlds. By becoming increasingly popular across leisure areas (video games, escape games, etc.), virtual reality is now seducing the commercial world by offering an infinite range of concrete projections for customers. But, between myths and realities, what can we expect from v-commerce?
Increasingly immersive worlds
First of all, it is important to distinguish between virtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual reality (VR) aims to digitally recreate a realistic environment allowing access to educational, collaborative, cultural… and now commercial worlds. Augmented reality, for its part, allows you to add virtual elements to a real environment.
Augmented reality (AR for Augmented Reality) has already been present for several years in the field of gaming (Pokemon Go, for example). It opens the way to new user experiences. We can, for example, cite the smartphone application developed in 2017 by IKEA (IKEA Place). This allows you to include objects and furniture from the brand, in 3D, in your own interior in order to get an idea of the rendering.
For its part, virtual reality requires the use of a headset (or glasses). The principle is to immerse the user in a realistic virtual universe. And in which he will be able to carry out movements and actions, in three dimensions.
Today, one or other of these technologies is mainly dedicated to entertainment (games, virtual tours, etc.). But we are also witnessing very successful experiments in the fields of pedagogy (scientific visualization, historical reconstruction, etc.), health (reeducation of cognitive functions, immersion therapies, surgical training, etc.) and training.
V-commerce, what reality?
V-commerce therefore refers to commerce using virtual reality (VR) and/or augmented reality (AR) to make online sales.
Based on sensory experiences (limited today only to the senses of sight, hearing and sometimes touch, thanks to the use of special gloves), V-commerce tends to provide the consumer with an optimized digital journey . This route reproduces that of traditional commerce by erasing as much as possible the absence of physical contact (showrooming).
The travel constraints linked to the pandemic have not only boosted e-commerce activity but also certainly reinforced brands' interest in this technology. It is indeed highly immersive and allows you to evaluate products or services without having to travel.
With the help of technological developments, V-commerce has become a reality in 2021.
The applications are multiple: sales support, creation of events and generation of in-store traffic, showrooming, new approach to merchandising, training, etc.
A few examples
The Visilab company has developed a virtual glasses try-on area. This space allows the Internet user to have help with their choice when making their purchase. The principle is to use the camera of your smartphone or PC screen to map the glasses models onto the photo of your face.
The IKEA brand has developed a application allowing its customers to move around a kitchen, and interact with certain elements that make it up. Retail VR, offers retailers the opportunity to improve their sales processes using a 3D commercial space design tool or to create immersive shopping experiences.
Benefits for brands
Apart from the obviously very attractive side, that is to say bringing a new dimension to the Internet user's journey, even addictive through its loyalty-building edutainment approach close to gaming, linked to the implementation of these new technologies, the One of the objectives is to make the customer experience even more immersive and interactive.
The challenge: creating a better proximity between the Internet user and the brand, difficult to achieve when building a traditional digital strategy. Allowing customers to test products remotely can significantly increase the conversion rate. In 2020, L'Oréal, for example, increased the number of visits fivefold (versus 2019) on its site (source CNews.fr). And this, thanks to its augmented reality application allowing you to test lipsticks.
An augmented reality proposition is real added value for a brand. It constitutes a very strong element of differentiation vis-à-vis its competitors. By allowing a concrete projection and with less effort, augmented reality responds to two strong customer trends: being reassured about a product and purchasing it more easily.
If we see the obvious interest of augmented reality in the online shopping experience, physical points of sale are not left out either. Virtual reality also contributes to a significant improvement in conversion and recommendation rates. For example, Decathlon has, since 2017, made VR headsets available in stores, intended to test the practicality of Quechua tents.
Metaverse, the commerce of tomorrow?
Beyond these technological developments oscillating between augmented reality and virtual reality, the technology giants are already thinking further with the metaverse. This is a concept developed by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in 1992 in The Virtual Samurai. Its name is a portmanteau for meta-universes. And in which the Internet user can create an avatar that can move and act in an immersive environment.
A little forgotten at the end of the 2000s, the metaverse is now experiencing renewed interest. Particularly because it is supported by platforms like Facebook. Indeed, its CEO has just created a new division dedicated to the development of this technology, the Facebook Reality Lab (FRL). It is based, among other things, on the use of Oculus-type VR headsets, owned by the brand since 2014.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the metaverse is the “Grail of social interactions and the successor to the mobile Internet” (the Express – 07/28/2021).
The Second Life case
Second life, although a little forgotten due to the limitations imposed by technology and the appearance of social networks, allows the Internet user (especially their avatar!) to travel in a totally immersive world through diverse and varied thematic universes such as collaborative spaces, shops, cinemas, seminars. The concept also allows transactions to be carried out using a virtual currency, the Linden Dollar.
But let's be realistic, it will take some time to overcome technical and financial constraints in order to build these new digital spaces.
In conclusion, the “virtuality” market is therefore a real opportunity. And this even if it requires real know-how, technology and a lot of education with the customer.
However, this new technological approach should not make us forget the importance of human contact. For the moment, it only represents a complementary tool for a good understanding of the brand.
