The metaverse will allow people to engage with each other remotely.
You’re not alone in asking what the metaverse is. Nobody can give you a thorough response since it hasn’t been completely invented yet; it’s still in the works. Its final configuration is unknown.
We do know that it is a virtual, immersive environment. It’s similar to your online experience, but better. It’s three-dimensional, unlike your computer screen, and much more engrossing and sensory. You’ll be able to interact with people in a more natural way.
You might be wondering why everyone is talking about it because it isn’t widely known.
Because huge investments are being made, there’s a good chance that something real, fresh, and distinct will emerge.
So what does the Metaverse mean for the future of retail?
For the time being, brands are experimenting. They use the early metaverse to cultivate awareness, engagement, loyalty, and learning.
NFTs are used by luxury brands such as Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Hermes, and Gucci to stimulate attention.
(If you’re unfamiliar with NFTs, they’re electronic receipts that prove ownership.) The NFT verifies the asset associated with the receipt as the original, which is commonly digital photographs these days.
Because it isn’t generally recognized, you might be wondering why everyone is talking about it. Because such large sums of money are being invested, there’s a significant probability that something genuine, new, and unique will emerge.
The NFT-connected photographs are treated as original art, and a select few have sold for extremely high sums. To improve the distinctiveness and interest in the products, some businesses have packaged them with limited edition products.
NFTs can be linked to any asset, including physical assets, and their digital nature enables the referenced asset to be sold and transferred electronically without the use of a middleman.)
The gaming world is the closest existent approximation to what the metaverse will be. The future metaverse is theoretically similar to how games like Fortnite and Roblox generate virtual worlds for users to participate in when they cooperate or compete.
Immersive virtual reality headsets (like the one depicted above) are also used in games to provide the user a more 3D experience, which is extremely metaverse-like.
However, headsets and the metaverse aren’t just for gaming; they may also be used to support one-on-one or group encounters with people from all over the world. The problem is that no commercially viable technology for transmitting facial emotions via a headset exists yet.
People are now portrayed as avatars in metaverse meetings, usually cartoon-like characters, which is too basic to convey face expressions even as well as a zoom call.
Once the technology improves, the potential for retail in the metaverse is to make online buying more entertaining and helpful.
Consumers would be able to explore and discover more than they can currently, bringing online purchasing closer to what they can do in stores without ever leaving their homes.
If that happens, the process of turning visitors into customers, which is currently significantly less effective online than in-store, might transform online retail into a far more viable and lucrative business. It would also have a huge impact on the viability of a lot of physical things.
The metaverse will become the next social network, according to Nancy Berger, SVP at Hearst Media and Publisher of Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Men’s Health, and other publications.
It’s how people will communicate with one another in ways that social media now cannot. When that happens, it will most certainly supplant existing forms of social media, which is why Facebook is investing so much in the metaverse: they don’t want to lose their revenue stream to another metaverse company.
What the metaverse in the future of retail isn’t?
There’s a lot of chatter about avatars in the metaverse wearing digital fashion merchandise. However, there are a couple issues with avatar fashion that I haven’t heard anyone mention.
For starters, the metaverse currently lacks compatibility. That is to say, something purchased in one metaverse environment is not transferable to another. That may change in the future, but for the time being, each “garment” or “accessory” purchased for an avatar can only be utilized in one metaverse area, limiting its utility.
Second, for most clothing or accessories, the cost of production is the most important factor in determining the price.
Because a virtual garment has a marginal cost of about zero, the pricing will most likely be pennies compared to real-world garment prices.
As a result, the tens of billions of dollars reported for metaverse fashion are likely exaggerated.
Only if high-end or luxury brands created virtual things for the metaverse would this be an exception.
If they did, prices for super-luxury labels may skyrocket, but it’s unclear whether people will want the same brands in the metaverse as they do in the real world.
Also, because the metaverse is still forming, people’s investment in how they show themselves in the metaverse may be greater than I assume.
The metaverse and NFTs are frequently mixed up in discussions. However, not every NFT is valuable; in fact, only a small percentage of them are.
Consider the quantity of photographs that arrive in your inbox at random each day. Almost none of those photographs are worth anything in their original form.
NARS and Clinique have experimented with NFTs, but the beauty industry’s ability to create products for the metaverse is equivocal at best.
The beauty business appears to be able to use the metaverse for promotion and brand building at the moment, but there hasn’t been a beauty product made for the metaverse yet, and it’s unclear whether there will be.
Although the gaming environment is now the most metaverse-like, there is currently no game that can connect you to a retail environment.
That will undoubtedly change, but how it will function and whether it will be effective remains to be seen.
The metaverse will primarily remain a conversation until technology advances. To be effective, the metaverse requires technology that is less cumbersome to wear and less expensive than present models, as well as software that can convey individual face emotions.
These are tremendous challenges, but they are exactly the type of thing that investment and research can conquer. However, no one can predict when this will occur.
Gamers are most likely to be early adopters of the metaverse since they are used to the completely immersive, three-dimensional visual and audio experience that the metaverse provides.
It will be most natural for people who are youngsters now and whose entertainment experience, beginning with Roblox now, is most similar to what the metaverse will be. They will be at ease in the metaverse.
Early adaptation to the metaverse will be natural in the toy sector. “The metaverse has a lot of potential to be enjoyable, interesting, and informative,” James Zahn, senior editor at The Toy Insider, told me, “because the way a kid perceives the world around them is radically different than adults.”
No one knows how many non-gamers will use the metaverse. Like internet and online shopping adoption, it will depend on how easy it is to use and how beneficial it becomes. At the moment, it’s gimmicky and a novelty.
Experts I speak with tell me that almost no one will live their life in the metaverse. For retailers and brands, it will be one more channel for selling, not the only channel.
Like TikTok and Instagram today, it will be important but it will be just as important to be in multiple channels to reach consumers in all the places and times you can catch their attention.
For the metaverse to work, it has to make your physical life better, cheaper, faster and more connected. When you think about it, that’s what the internet did for us, the metaverse is just the next step in the process and like the internet, it will present opportunities and risks for all retailers and brands.
Brands and Metaverse
Brands are becoming increasingly interested in the metaverse. Walmart filed trademark applications last month, indicating that the business is planning to launch its own NFTs and cryptocurrency, as well as virtual electronics, toys, appliances, and home decor. In fact, a virtual mall is being built by a real estate metaverse seller.
Retailers increasingly see the metaverse as a significant opportunity to revolutionize how customers interact with their products and businesses while also improving their marketing efforts.
According to data, 77.24 percent of shoppers abandon their shopping carts after clicking ‘add to basket’. The metaverse’s immersive character is critical to how this experience might be improved.
Better shopping experience
Since 2016, when eBay introduced the first virtual store, virtual showrooms and stores have come a long way. Consumers benefit from virtual stores since they save time and money, while sellers benefit from lower returns and increased client base.
Customers will be able to discover things more quickly, and personalization will be significantly better than in traditional stores. The metaverse provides the visualization and involvement that online buying does not. Many of the features are specifically designed for retailers.
Customers can test out several models and examine different features, increasing the time spent in stores (a sales statistic).
Customers may try out products and incorporate them into their homes before purchasing them thanks to the immersive experience.
IKEA has released an augmented reality catalog app that allows customers to view how a light might look in their home before purchasing it. According to Obsess’ ‘Metaverse Mindset: Consumer Shopping Insights,’ 70 percent of shoppers who visited a virtual store ended up purchasing something.
Attracts young customer base
The metaverse is an excellent fit for Gen Z because they are highly accustomed with the virtual experience.
According to the survey, 40 percent of Gen-Z and 40 percent of millennials, or one-third of all respondents, want to buy virtual things. Retailers have realized that going where the customers are rather than trying to attract them to physical stores is the preferable approach. Furthermore, virtual networking has increased globally.
According to a Snap and Deloitte report, AR will be used by roughly 75 percent of the world’s social app users by 2025.
Innovative marketing
The retail industry’s push into the metaverse was pioneered by fashion brands. Nike, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, and Forever 21 have all used metaverse marketing in their campaigns.
A few people have made significant investments in the metaverse’s windfall. Nike has filed many patent applications, including one for a Metaverse Studio, one for opening Nikeland on Roblox, and one for purchasing RTFKT, a virtual fashion firm that makes virtual shoes and collectibles.
Aside from developing a video game for a new collection and collaborating with Fortnite on virtual clothes, luxury companies like Balenciaga intend to build a metaverse unit. Gucci is far ahead in this sector.
A Roblox purse sold for over USD 4,000, while a movie sold for USD 25,000 on Christie’s as a non-functional toy.
Samsung has created its own metaverse to market its products on Decentraland, a platform based on the Ethereum blockchain. The platform sold NFTs for USD 71.8 million in one week by providing a virtual experience of their New York store. The company is now selling smart TVs that come with the NFT Platform software, which allows purchasers to browse and trade digital art.
As markets that sell NFTs, nascent metaverse and gaming platforms already contain a retail component.
NFTs are another important part of the metaverse that retailers should not overlook. Brands, like Samsung, can employ NFTs to improve a user’s buying experience.
They can be used as receipts, special admission passes for product debuts to attract attention, or to create new digital items. In other words, brands can use NFTs to earn revenue in a variety of ways.
However, change does not only occur in one way. A week after changing its name to Meta, Facebook announced that it will build physical storefronts to display its virtual reality headgear.
According to experts, the metaverse will not inevitably result in the extinction of physical stores. Instead, they might form a symbiotic relationship.
Adidas, L’Oreal, and even Martha Stewart are among the brands that have already entered the metaverse. Retailers perceive “metaverse” and are transported back to the dawn of e-commerce twenty years ago.
They would rather not be the ones that build their initial HTML site while their competitors launch their ecommerce platform.
The metaverse introduces a new platform, currency, opportunities, and failure mechanisms. Here’s how businesses can prepare for the metaverse and ride the wave before it sweeps them away.
Grow from your physical store
The metaverse currently feels intangible, much like a website did in the 1990s – and we all know how that ended.
Ecommerce became the gold standard, and an entire industry of technology and consultants built up to support it, opening the door for D2C retailers to leave traditional channels entirely.
Retailers who have differentiated their experiences through physical sites have struggled to translate this to the digital world. Sears is one of the most well-known examples of this.
Sears, a once-dominant department store that anchored malls across the country, failed to shift to omnichannel and was defeated by department stores such as Nordstrom and Kohls.
These retailers who know how to create experiences and foster community in the real world may have an advantage in the metaverse.
Why? Instead of leading with digital, retailers could expand their physical storefronts into the metaverse.
Because we are physical beings, physical spaces operate. The idea that how we experience things as we move through real, tangible life matters inspires entire teams of merchandisers and designers.
As a consumer, it makes me feel something, encourages me to buy more, and encourages me to return — and in the metaverse, I can do all of this without ever leaving my couch.
In the digital metaverse realm, shops should rely on their experience. Many shops will fall into the trap of forming their metaverse experience plan with their engineering teams.
Don’t try to duplicate your website in the metaverse; instead, use it to enhance the consumer experience.
Five years from now, there will almost certainly be teams of consultants and developers ready to assist with the development of the metaverse experience.
For the time being, lean on the expertise of those on your team who know how to transfer brand values and a feeling of community into real venues to aid in the creation of the metaverse. People are more important than ever; don’t neglect the knowledge and experience of those who create in-person experiences.
Metaverse and the Consumer
It’s crucial to create with intention. The three important pillars that merchants construct into their metaverse: community, experience, and engagement must all be driven by intention.
It’s not difficult to create a one-off VR game (like I said earlier, a lot of that has already been done). Concentrate efforts on creating a metaverse that encourages community, enhances customers’ brand experiences, and engages shoppers to increase loyalty.
1. Be intentional with community
Brands like Peleton and REI have given a hybrid world a sense of connection and community. In the guise of trainers and store staff, they connect the “ordinary consumer” with likable and approachable professionals.
Set the intention for creating another customer experience before you start another VR game.
Lululemon, which has been creating community through in-store courses and a shared love of yoga, may already have clear aspirations for what they want their community to be. Pharmacies and grocery chains, for example, will have to dig a little further. Here’s a list of questions to get the discussion started.
Before starting to spin up their new world, retailers could utilize these questions to help define the intention behind the community:
What kind of environment do I want my customers to enter? Consider everything that goes into building your actual (or virtual) store; how does it smell?
What places do people congregate? Are there any salespeople on hand? Am I greeting customers in a showroom or on the production floor?
How does the metaverse improve my consumers’ experience? If customers love livestream shopping events, how am I enhancing that experience with the metaverse? Rather than checking a box or delivering the same service on another platform? Is it possible that I’m inventing a new way for enthusiasts and casual browsers to connect?
Why create a community in the first place? Is it to keep existing customers? Boost the average order value Is it solely to delight customers?
2. Be intentional with experience
In the metaverse, retail provides a unique chance to acquire and visualize things in ways that were previously unavailable.
When you put on VR goggles, you can not only see what your space would look like if you got that pink velvet couch from CB2, but you can also sit in it and see how everything fits together.
Customers can test actual things in the virtual world, even recreating virtual replicas of their backyard, house, automobile, or body to receive a more immersive experience before purchasing art, furniture, or apparel, thanks to the metaverse.
When it comes to creating the metaverse experience, retailers must avoid the “laundry list” attitude. Be deliberate once more. In the metaverse, one size does not fit all.
Porsche and Kia, for example, both want to sell automobiles. However, the purpose of the experience will alter depending on the type of customer they have.
Porsche fanatics who follow online vehicle auctions religiously and know the engine details for the 2006 911 will want to discover how Guards Red paint is manufactured. That information may not pique the curiosity of Kia buyers.
The number of questions that retailers must answer is substantially shorter than that of community building. “How does the metaverse improve customer service?” Retailers are wasting their resources if it’s an add-on or a copy of something that already exists on Instagram Live or YouTube.
Customers can have a more personalized experience in the metaverse by attending a live-stream shopping event where they can sit next to a brand ambassador and then walk into a virtual dressing room to try on clothes, add them to their basket, and check out.
Figuring out how to incorporate business channels, which should be governed by the sort of experience being designed, will be a big part of experience building. It’s time to think about how money flows in once retailers have a clear vision of their universe’s mood.
3. Be intentional with engagement
What now for the brands that have created a location that enriches the consumer experience and puts thought into the formation of a virtual community (and hopefully have a VR room full of shoppers)?
There are two major developments that retailers should take advantage of.
Welcome to the non fungible token universe.
Building community and guiding clients through an intentional experience is excellent — and perhaps one of the most appealing aspects of a business — but it doesn’t translate into profits.
This creates a significant barrier to entry for users unfamiliar with cryptocurrencies, non fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital wallets.
Consumers must be able to understand and set up their Web 3.0 presence with ease. Customers should be guided from the traditional e-commerce site to the new 3D cryptoverse by using commerce platform expertise to help create the experience.
Different brands have used NFTs in different ways. For example, Martha Stewart recently launched Martha Stewart Mint, which allows you to click on the digital record you want to purchase and be sent to a product description and FAQs about how it all works.
L’Oreal recently announced their first NFT series, which was inspired by a lipstick collection based on female empowerment and created by top female, digitally-native artists.
The road to OpenSea, where most auctions take place, isn’t as straightforward as Martha’s. It may be too confusing for a crypto novice to explore.
Consider the basic aim that was formed around community and experience when adding NFTs as a purchase channel.
Retailers should think about how to connect their digital and physical platforms. Consider combining an NFT purchase with a physical goods drop. Adidas accomplished this with their December drop, promoting the approaching sale on Twitter and Discord. They can effortlessly cross both channels by supplying NFTs and a tangible product.
Digital Experiences in Retail
Ecommerce businesses should broaden digital experiences to concierge-like services where customers may engage with other specialty groups and brand ambassadors where suitable.
Some of this labor is done by AI-powered chatbots in ecommerce since they are less expensive to staff than people, they are effective if they work, and they are there to provide a one-on-one personal concierge experience.
Because such a feature isn’t (yet) available in the metaverse, marketers should think about limiting content or events depending on customer behavior on other platforms, such as the website and social media.
On ecommerce platforms, most reputable businesses are already gathering customer signals. They are aware of customer preferences, price thresholds, and purchasing patterns. Retailers can use ecommerce signals to create gated experiences for specific shopper groups.
Digital merchandisers play a crucial role in this by creating promotions for popular products that grant customers access to gated material in the metaverse in exchange for a purchase. Retailers should think about incorporating the metaverse into their omnichannel experience as a new selling, marketing, and engagement channel.
The retail metaverse: Retail in 3D
In the metaverse, the convergence of distinctive brand experiences and smart adaptive technology will reach new heights. “People first,” retailers should remember if they remember nothing else.
When it comes to retreating into 2D and 3D worlds behind a screen, it may sound like an oxymoron, but the success of the three pillars I mentioned above — community, experience, and engagement — all rest on a brand’s ability to bring actual, human customers along for the ride.
A rising number of companies and stores are following suit. While the potential of the metaverse for retail is intriguing (shopping experiences seamlessly linked throughout immersive digital worlds), the technology to support it is still in its infancy.
What’s driving interest in the metaverse among brands and retailers?
Fear of missing out (FOMO) has been a major driver of brand participation. While there are various conflicting views of how the metaverse can manifest, a rising number of brands have taken a stand in support of the concept.
The rebranding of Facebook to Meta in October 2021 sparked a tsunami of expectation and enthusiasm, piqued great interest among brands, and sparked some reaction.
The very real potential for AR/VR to profoundly revolutionize how customers interact with businesses and shop, both online and in person, is at the heart of all the hype.
Product Groupings US Internet Users Want to Try AR/VR Before Making a Purchase in February 2021 ( percent of respondents)
Because these digitally native generations are growing up engaged in online experiences—largely through gaming—and spending money on virtual goods and services within these spaces, the possibilities will become more important when Gen Z and Gen Alpha customers reach adulthood.
Metaverse Opportunities and Use Cases for Retail in 2022
Gaming and embryonic metaverse platforms, both of which are markets for a range of virtual items, already have a retail component.
These can range from low-cost digital skins to tens of thousands of dollars for a single nonfungible token (NFT). These virtual goods have a near-zero marginal cost, and NFTs can appreciate in value.
In terms of metaverse participation, fashion brands have grabbed the lead. This makes sense, given how important avatars are in gaming and metaverse interactions, where players dress up their digital doppelgängers to express a unique sense of style. In 2021, the market for skins in games alone was predicted to be worth $40 billion.
A growing number of fashion brands are collaborating with gaming and metaverse platforms. Nike, Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Balenciaga, Burberry, Gucci, Vans, Zara, and Forever 21 are among the well-known brands.
While most have taken a trial-and-error approach—think one-off campaigns that are more about marketing than sales—some are claiming to be metaverse pioneers in “direct-to-avatar” commerce.
Nike stands out as the largest company to fully embrace a virtual future. Nike has been busy pursuing patent and trademark applications relating to the metaverse, establishing a Metaverse Studio, launching Nikeland on Roblox, and acquiring the virtual fashion business RTFKT.
Luxury labels are also making a strong showing. Balenciaga announced intentions to develop a metaverse business unit in 2020, which would expand the brand’s digital endeavors, including a video game showcasing its Fall 2021 collection.
The fashion house also teamed with Fortnite on virtual and actual gear in September 2021.
Gucci is proving that there is real money to be made in virtual goods. The Italian fashion house has offered a wide range of digital items for sale in 2021, from $13 virtual sneakers to a unique Roblox handbag that resold for more than $4,000 and a video NFT auctioned by Christie’s for $25,000.
Robert Triefus, Gucci’s executive vice president for brand and customer engagement, told The Business of Fashion, “We have proven to ourselves through these collaborations that the virtual world can create a very significant new revenue stream.”
Brands in other consumer sectors are experimenting with using virtual spaces to showcase their products.
While apparel, footwear, and accessories offer the most obvious use cases, others are exploring new ways of connecting with consumers online, even though the direct revenue opportunities are less evident.
The introduction of augmented reality (AR) technology, which allows users to see the real world overlaid with digital data, has the potential to change the retail business.
While consumer adoption of augmented reality has been slow, big tech’s continuous investment in the technology and the Metaverse concept demonstrate that the technology still has potential.
People are likely to initially experience the enterprise Metaverse in the retail stage, when augmented realities are primarily used for commercial goals and consumer engagement.
Almost every important technical innovation has its detractors. Smartphones and social media were no exception. The Metaverse, on the other hand, is unique in that it is the outcome of several innovations rather than a single one.
The Metaverse is a virtual world that combines social networking, online gaming, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and cryptocurrency.
Augmented reality overlays visual elements, music, and other sensory input onto real-world surroundings to improve the user experience. Virtual reality, on the other hand, is completely false and enhances fictitious experiences.
As the Metaverse grows, online places will emerge that enable more complex user interactions than current technology permits. Instead of just watching digital information, Metaverse users will be able to immerse themselves in an environment where the digital and real worlds intersect.
Thanks to a combination of technologies such as 5G, 3D, AR, VR, blockchain, bitcoin, and cloud computing, the idea of creating a network of 3D virtual worlds is now incredibly feasible. And this time, a large sum of money is on the line.
Every major tech company is involved, from Amazon to Microsoft, hinting that huge change is coming.
Not to mention Facebook’s high-profile makeover to Meta in 2021, which included a $10 billion spending plan and 10,000 new hires for its new Metaverse division.
But what does this mean for merchants and e-commerce businesses in today’s world?
While many people are still debating that topic, others are leaping right in, tapping into lucrative new markets and reaping the rewards of customer loyalty.
Fashion brands were the first to push into the Metaverse in the retail industry. Metaverse marketing has been employed in campaigns by Nike, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, and Forever 21.
Nike has filed numerous patent applications, including one for a Metaverse Studio, one for launching Nikeland on Roblox, and another for acquiring RTFKT, a virtual fashion company that creates virtual shoes and collectibles.
One of the earliest companies to embrace digital technologies was Sephora. The worldwide retailer helped pioneer virtual and augmented reality into the beauty industry with a cosmetics programme that uses face recognition to allow people to try on things from the comfort of their own homes.
Users of Meta’s virtual reality headsets will be able to star in their own cosmetic demonstrations, share their favorite items with friends, and try out the latest Sephora product launches without ever having to enter a Sephora store.
Because millions of people regularly enter into existing Metaverses, businesses targeting these demographics will get access to totally new markets and revenue sources.
As buyers become more accustomed to mixed reality, the next phase of e-commerce is already taking shape.
Despite the fact that the concept of the Metaverse is new, virtual connection in e-commerce is already well-established in consumer purchasing habits.
Virtual reality devices are becoming increasingly popular. According to a Snap and Deloitte study, by 2025, about 75 percent of the global population and virtually all social app users would be frequent augmented reality users.
Following the global health pandemic, AR and VR have become essential tools for goods like furniture that were previously more difficult and unsafe to buy online.
For many e-commerce shops, the ability to visualize and try things out in the comfort of one’s own home before making a purchase was a game-changer.
Although widespread VR acceptance is required to fully immerse oneself in the Metaverse, its introduction is universally accepted as a logical step forward.
The retail industry is fast changing, according to GlobalData, and stores that provide a true multichannel experience will be the victors in the near future. In this situation, augmented reality could be a useful tool for retailers, allowing them to combine the physical and virtual worlds and adapt to the new retail model.
The pandemic has given businesses the opportunity to see the potential of augmented reality. Giving clients the chance to picture items in their homes during lockdowns was a lifeline for businesses whose shops were shuttered. Retailers may use augmented reality to solve some of the problems they encounter today, from warehouses to e-commerce platforms and storefronts.
A fundamental principle in the coming years will be to develop highly engaging and buzz-worthy experiences that do not require physical presence.
The Metaverse, according to popular belief, will function as a parallel virtual world in which individuals will be able to do anything they can do online in 3D, including work, shopping, playing, and socializing.
Since their beginnings, virtual showrooms and shops have come a long way. Customers benefit from virtual stores since they are not only more efficient and save time, but they also help vendors reduce returns and expand their client base.
Customers will be able to find items faster, and personalisation will be far superior to that seen in traditional stores. The Metaverse delivers the imagery and participation that online shopping lacks. Many of the features were created with retailers in mind.
Customers may test drive multiple models and explore various features, resulting in an increase in time spent in stores, which is a sales indicator.
The Metaverse is an excellent fit for Gen Z because they are quite comfortable with virtual environments. Instead of seeking to bring customers to physical stores, retailers have discovered that going where the customers are is the best way.
Virtual networking has also grown in popularity around the world. For the foreseeable future, mobile will be the preferred device for consumers to access AR experiences. Outside of the consumer sector, several industries, particularly retail, are considering AR use cases.
Another major trend is consumers’ growing concern about environmental sustainability and their need for greater transparency and accountability in the production of their goods.
AR can be useful in this situation because it provides users with a more full picture of how consumer packaged goods are manufactured, allowing them to see data visualized beyond statistics and down to the smallest details of the production process.
This might be accomplished through the retailer’s shopping app or QR codes that link to progressive web app experiences at the brand or industry body level.
On a store level, computer vision may be used to allow shoppers to scan the entire aisle with their phone’s camera to see which is the most sustainable, giving them another factor to consider in addition to price and brand when making decisions.
Data design magic can help buyers understand the impact and value of the product they’re considering buying, which can lead to major changes in consumer behavior.
While we are still in the early stages, retailers now have the ability to promote and sell physical and virtual things to millions of active customers.
Business of Experience in Retail
Faced with the challenge of delighting consumers and, at the same time, achieving sustainable growth, companies in the U.S are needed to go beyond the Customer Experience (CX) philosophy.
This means that, more than delivering an exceptional experience, they focus on the continuous search to identify new needs of their customers. It’s what experts call Business of Experience (BX).
Organizations use CX to track customer touchpoints and serve them accordingly to get more benefits. No doubt CX has become beneficial for business, but it still has some challenges, such as rapidly changing customer expectations.
CX works only on touchpoints ( for eg. company websites, product catalog, pages and packing, kiosks, brick and mortar store, point of sales ). But, customers bring a purpose, problem, need, or question—along with expectations for how quickly or easily that outcome will be realized while interacting with the brand.
Therefore there is a need to move beyond the belief that touchpoints are where experiences start and end.
Now, there is a need to move beyond CX. The customers need more than just products and services; they demand more innovation and engaging experiences for immediate benefits.
Experience innovation is about solving problems in fundamentally new ways. And that requires rethinking your starting point for innovation as anchored to human needs.
Business of Experience (BX) as a renaissance is driving companies to push beyond the traditional CX philosophy and orient the whole business around the delivery of exceptional experiences.
These experiences must respond to customers’ new, often unmet, and frequently changing needs.
BX builds on CX’s foundations to offer organizations a more holistic approach to become customer obsessed and reignite growth.
Changing the mindset from CX to BX means thinking beyond the traditional methods of enhancing customer experiences to a holistic view including business and operating models, products and services, employee experiences, delivery models, purpose and value, and innovation.
Uncovering unmet SME retail gaps and business needs means thinking about how you make your customers happier and more loyal, identifying what they need.
Need a disruptive change to the human experience for your business or organization? Let’s talk
