Augmented & Virtual Reality: the Future of Online Shopping?

Last November, e-commerce giant Amazon launched its Virtual Holiday Shop - a VR-augmented online shop using immersive 3D technology to offer an enhanced shopping experience. Customers could navigate the 3D store on their phones or cumputers, and click on products to get more information on them. Many other brands now use virtual or augmented reality in their online shopping offers, from Sephora, which uses augmented reality virtual try-on technology for makeup, to IKEA, where customers can design and visualise their own space.

Results from a recent Consumer Insights survey show that enthusiasm for VR and AR-enhanced online shopping isn't shared by all. While 41 percent of the people surveyed in India said they were excited about using VR and AR technology while online shopping, this view was only shared by 8 percent of Japanese respondents. In the U.S., less than two out of ten people (19 percent) claimed to be excited about VR/AR-enhanced online shopping, the same share as respondents as in the UK.