The UK鈥檚 retail market could be boosted by as much as 拢1 billion a year if retailers invested in technology that allowed consumers to virtually place products in their own homes.
Virtual and augmented reality platforms are widely tipped to be the standout technologies of 2017 after success was achieved in those areas by Sony, Google and Pokemon Go last year.
Now independent research commissioned by DigitalBridge, which 老九品茶Cloud visited to view its technology in action late last year,聽found that millions of customers would be more likely to make costly purchases if they could preview products in a virtual setting first.
It found that more than a third of consumers may have walked away from making purchases in the last 12 months because they could not imagine what products such as furniture, wallpaper and new flooring would look like in their homes.
鈥淲ith so much uncertainty already swirling around about the future of UK retail, businesses need every advantage they can get to remain competitive, especially those competing for attention online,” said CEO David Levine.
鈥淲ith as much as 拢1bn of revenue up for grabs in the home d茅cor market alone, retailers can no longer overlook the value of virtual and augmented reality as a commercial tool.
鈥淢ore than half of the consumers who took part in this survey said they would be more likely to make a purchase after using this technology.
鈥淐ustomers want to see how a product will look in their own home – both for style and to understand scale.
鈥淭here is a gap at this point in the customer journey at the moment and it is one that visualisation tools will fill in the near future, helping a considered purchase to feel less complex.鈥�