VR in Retail: Will virtual reality make you buy more? Retailers are betting on it via CNET

VR in Retail advisory

Retail may well benefit from virtual reality, but those offering development services need to understand that this is a new paradigm for coding and experience design and delivery. Here are a few key principals Serious Insights believes content providers need to keep in mind as they deliver VR experiences in retail:

• VR as a marketing gimmick is going to be short-lived, so build experiences that actually offer on-going value.
• Poorly executed VR experiences aren’t going to do any favors for retailers or consumers (or developers) – create great, differentiated experiences or don’t get started. Avoid:
  • Low frame rates
  • Low-resolution video
  • Poor editing – fast transitions and a lot of unnecessary movement
  • Basic headsets that don’t include positional tracking
• One of the main values of VR in retail is delivering experiences someplace other. In retail, that means not just putting VR into retail shops, but delivering new remote retail experiences to consumer so they can engage wherever he or she may be.
• Use positional tracking. Don’t keep experiences at “arms length.” Let consumers using VR in retail engage and wander, select and examine.
• Build learning and rapid response into the development model. If you start hearing negative comments, or a number of suggestions, don’t be dismissive or defensive. Listen, learn, react, update and keep listening. If you hear a service provider for a VR experience saying, “just wait, they will eventually get what we are doing,” it’s time to get another developer who can deliver immediate value and then incorporate learning to keep the experience evolving.

Build to the highest quality possible. “It’s just the start,” said Matt Lewis, manager of SapientNitro’s Second Story group. “We’re trying to tell our customers that this is the next wave of technology.”

Read the full story at CNET