Improving the customer experience with virtual and augmented reality

Not so long ago, the perception of immersive technologies was limited to science fiction. In recent years it has been associated with gaming. Today, many companies recognize the significant benefits of using augmented and virtual reality to improve their operations. AR and VR are now used for everything from prototyping and design to marketing, customer service, training and productivity.

While brands and companies seek to strengthen and grow the relationship between their services or products and their customers, immersive technologies such as AR and VR provide practical, emotional and creative routes to enrich these relationships while building brand loyalty and increasing sales. Immersive technologies have the potential to provide practical support and deliver an emotional blow with their people-centric design approach.

Technology has become advanced enough to make AR and VR mainstream, allowing them to be used to create a more user-friendly, realistic, accessible and affordable customer experience.

Key Differences Between Virtual and Augmented Reality

To get the most out of VR and AR, business owners need to understand the difference between the two and know what each is capable of.

The main difference between virtual and augmented reality is that virtual reality is designed to take users away from their physical space. Augmented reality, on the other hand, combines physical space with virtual space by overlapping parts and bits of the real world with imagined bits of digital content. So while virtual reality completely removes the user from reality, augmented reality blurs the line between reality and the imagined world.

Virtual reality

Virtual reality content can vary greatly, offering everything from computer-generated, interactive content to passive experiences such as 360-degree views of real-life places. The user must use specific equipment such as a headset in combination with hand controllers to access the most realistic VR content. With the required hardware, users can see, hear, and sometimes even use the experience. While this equipment provides access to the most realistic VR experiences, there are plenty of VR experiences such as virtual stores that don’t require headsets or additional accessories.

VR is an excellent tool for companies to build deep, lasting connections with customers and potential customers. The immersive nature of VR is key to attracting attention and evoking a sense of empathy in users.

Augmented Reality

Snapchat filters and the popular game Pokémon GO are some of the earliest and most well-known examples of augmented reality. AR is generally easier to access than VR because it can be viewed and used on a smartphone or tablet without the need for specific equipment (although there is equipment available for high-quality AR experiences). While it doesn’t have the emotional power that VR experiences can deliver, its accessibility makes it a great tool to appeal to a mass market. Businesses can use AR to enable users to easily access and share content across any medium, on the go or at home, making the sky the limit.

Since a single entity does not own the internet, each site becomes its own kind of island. Suppose you imagine users traveling between the islands of news, social media, online collaboration, banking, etc. In that case, the purpose of the metaverse becomes clear: create real-life environments where your audience can 3D customer experiencesuch as an interactive shopping journey, which will increase your engagement and sales rate while keeping customers connected to your brand.

Today, most people still experience the Internet through tablets, phones, and laptops rather than hanging out with friends as avatars, doing things like going to virtual events and exploring virtual shopping experiences. Since you are probably viewing the internet through a flat screen rather than existing in it, you are connected to the metaverse, but not yet submerged in the. However, more and more ways are becoming available every day to experience the metaverse as it is meant to be experienced.

AR, VR and the metaverse are being used today to transform sales and marketing processes and present products and collections like never before.

Retail and e-commerce play an important role in expanding the metaverse. Through AR and VR, companies can immerse their audiences in an identical virtual online store of their flagship location. They can also enhance their e-commerce offerings by turning their flat online store into an immersive, shopable environment.

Retailers, manufacturers and wholesalers can deliver a superior, wall-to-wall experience that will delight their customers in an environment that eases decision making and creates a memorable brand connection. Things such as dynamic countertops, floor assortments, changing walls, living furniture and home accessories can be viewed and used from any screen at any time.

Fashion retailers and wholesalers can also be part of the unfolding metaverse by leveraging the tools and technologies that shape retail, leaving all options open even when the doors to the physical world of retail are closed.

As the metaverse becomes a reality, companies that already have plans to deliver a metaverse customer experience will gain the upper hand. With 82% of companies trying AR and VR reporting that the benefits met or exceeded expectations, companies are clearly more open to the metavers.

As the metaverse becomes more of a reality, companies that have launched plans to deliver an immersive AR/VR customer experience will gain the upper hand. As it stands, 82% of companies that have tried AR and VR report that the benefits met or exceeded their expectations.

How VR and AR improve the customer experience

Consumers are increasingly dependent on digital tools to make purchasing decisions, complete the purchase process, and use post-purchase customer support. VR and AR provide the innovative tools a business needs to support and improve its customer experience strategy. Here are some of the top reasons why companies are using AR and VR today.

Informed decision making

Realistic and interactive immersive content is useful for customers who want to try things before buying, which most customers do today. Companies in every industry, from cosmetics to cars, use AR to give their customers the opportunity to make informed purchases.

Less buyer regret

Most consumers rely on a combination of emotion and logic when deciding whether to buy a product or service. AR visualization capabilities can help shoppers clear up doubts about a service or product. They will feel more confident in their purchase and regret it less later.

Improved customer service

Immersive technology can provide practical support throughout the customer journey. From making product instructions more accessible for customers to making it easier for customers to connect to support for a product or service, AR and VR come with many practical tools to improve the customer experience quickly and efficiently.

Completely immersive

AR and VR combine to provide customers with a fully immersive experience where they can introduce themselves with their purchase. With 360-degree views and customizable options, they get an experience that cannot be replicated in a physical location. When customers can personalize their products, they are generally happier and more likely to make (and spend) a purchase up to 10% more).

Stronger relationship with customers

Immersive technology empowers companies to inform and delight their customers by building a range of immersive content in customer experience centers. These connections help improve customer experience and help build brand loyalty.

Ease

Wandering through a store in search of specific products is an inconvenience that many shoppers don’t want to deal with anymore. One of the best things about AR technology is that it can help customers navigate the largest stores in seconds, easily find the products they are looking for, and then deliver them right to their door.

Customer experience today is key to the survival of a business. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of human interaction and relationships is looking less temporary every day. Immersive technologies like AR and VR are quickly becoming the answers to creating vital customer links as a business.

These technologies have the power to make your customers feel valued, empowered and unique by your brand, which is what most customer experience strategies need to help the business build a solid foundation for growth.

Eran Galil is the CTO and co-founder of ByondXR.