The combination of Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence in brick and mortar retail could be just what retailers are looking for. Consumers, especially millennials, are expecting more and more lately from their in-store shopping experiences. Smart and savvy brick and mortar retailers will supercharge their buyer environments by implementing the in-store convenience and real time insights that AR and VR enables. Technologies like AR and VR are only getting better at delivering truly immersive customer experiences. In turn, AI is becoming increasingly better at predicting demand, determining what consumers want, and how they want it – when they want it. Embedding these cutting edge technologies in physical shopping settings could be just the thing brick and mortar retailers need to give digital and online commerce a run for its money. Literally.
Analysts predict that consumer-based augmented and virtual reality will not take off until 2022. Yet for retailers, there’s no time like the present to start leveraging the tech to create engaging in-store experiences. “Retail IoT,” encompassing such technologies as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), is fast becoming a key tactic for retailers in the battle for customers’ attention—and therefore, their business.
