After the pandemic and the following two years of rapid changes, companies still have to adapt to the changed shopping behavior and new emerged retail channels. Customers haven’t given up on expectations of quality, choice, and service, both in-store and online.
Omnichannel retail is more important then ever to satisfy the demands of the hybrid lifestyles of today’s consumers. With omnichannel retailers have started engaging with and offering virtual reality and augmented reality shopping experiences on new and known channels.
Reactive Reality’s main goal is to make online and offline shopping a fun, engaging, innovative and an exciting costumer experience offering a virtual fashion try-on solution called PICTOFiT.
Consumers in an age of disruption
During the pandemic and subsequent lock downs, more than 60% of respondents have reported to have increased their online shopping. With that come challenges for online retailers to overcome to provide an engaging and exciting shopping experience shows the Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey conducted by PwC.
The study shows that over 40% of consumers still work in a hybrid way, switching between working remotely and in office, which also leads to a fluidity in their consumer behavior. Resulting to them switching between offline and online shopping to compare and find what they need in the quality and time they want.
Looking at the consumer behavior over the last six months online shopping is still increasing as well as shopping at retailers that provide an efficient delivery or collection service. 75% of respondents are planning to increase current spendings across all categories. According to PwC at the same time, a growing number of consumers expect to spend less on non-essential items such as fashion, health and beauty and consumer electronics. Therefor retailers should find ways to make the shopping process different and more exciting to draw in customers. This is where the use of omnichannel and virtual reality come into play.
Advances in VR and creative design in what’s known as the metaverse are changing the way of how omnichannel has been used and defined. With the high use of omnichannel the pandemic brought with it the rise in popularity and mainstream of virtual reality especially Virtual Try-On (VTO).
More than 80% of respondents reported shopping across at least three channels over the last six months, with one in three saying they’d used a virtual reality (VR) channel. When asked how they used VR, a surprising number reported using it to buy retail products and luxury goods.
PwC, Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey
Companies’ adaption to Virtual Try-On
The World Economic Forum highlighted Reactive Reality and the area where we are specialized in – Personalized avatars and virtual fashion try-on.
Our end-to-end solution PICTOFiT lets customers create realistic versions of themselves created from a 180° selfie and a few body measurements to try on millions of outfit combinations and allow for the right size recommendation and fit check, all without getting off the couch. With the 3D fitting room solution shoppers are able to check out every crucial little detail of a garment and how items look layered on top of each other. “We want to help retailers keep up with the demands of consumers who are looking for new and exciting ways to shop online.” states Stefan Hauswiesner, CEO and Co-Founder of Reactive Reality.
With big-name high-street brands creating snap chat filters, and companies such as Hugo Boss already having implemented PICTOFiT allowing people to virtually see clothes on themselves and the first Metaverse fashion show, it is safe to say that the reach of VR channels leaves little room to delay, and retailers are being urged to act on the rising demand.
