If anyone doubts that 3D configurators, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are the next dominant trends in technology, they are likely to spend too much time “in real life” and not online.
Because only those who are truly unplugged could have missed the global madness created by Pokemon Go. In just a few weeks, the AR game, in which players chase virtual creatures from the popular Japanese franchise in real environments, has become the most popular mobile game of all time.
According to Goldman Sachs, the global VR and AR market will reach $110 billion by 2020. While much of the attention that the gaming industry has attracted so far, there are also companies from other industries that are keeping an eye on the technologies. The Alibaba Group sees great potential for eCommerce in particular and last year began to position itself in a market that is expected to reach 8.5 billion dollars in China in 4 years. On Friday, the company took another step when its virtual store “Buy+” celebrated its premiere at the Taobao Maker Festival in Shanghai.
“While users continue to engage with the platform in a more meaningful way, we are promoting next generation consumer features, such as VR, to transced the overall user experience,” said Chris Tung, Chief Marketing Officer of Alibaba, in a statement.
Buy+ allows consumers to shop in a virtual environment with 360-degree views via a VR headset and two handset controls. They can browse products ranging from bags to shoes to lingerie and even virtually present clothing and accessories on a catwalk. Customers can then browse through various features that provide more detailed product information and the ability to add or purchase an item in the shopping cart. However, Buy+ is still in beta and Alibaba has not announced a release date.
While the forecasts for PR in China are high, the industry there is still in its infancy. According to Beijing-based research firm Analysis International Enfodesk, the total market including AR last year was only $28.9 million, although it has quadrupled since 2014. The market is forecast to grow by 372 percent to $136.5 this year, well below the billion dollars expected for 2014. But that has not stopped Alibaba from pushing its VR strategy further.
At the beginning of the year, Alibaba led an investment round in the US mixed reality company Magic Leap. The Mixed Reality far only marginal differences to the AR. Where VR is a completely digital environment, AR overlays digital content in the real world. Mixed reality, however, allows digital content to interact with the real world. For example, a sun created for a Mixed Reality environment can cast light and create shadows from different real objects in that environment.
During a keynote presentation at the Taobao Maker Festival, Magic Leap CMO Brian Wallace shows a mixed reality environment with a mother-to-be seeking lamps for a bathroom. The mother placed various children’s theme lights on an office to see what they looked like before selecting one and buying it via the MR software. The detail with which the digital objects in the environment are rendered will, according to Wallace, provide a better shopping experience for consumers on Alibaba’s retail platforms.
“It’s as real as a physical object“, says Wallace.
Brands that sell products through Alibaba have already begun using VR to improve the user experience. In May, US consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble launched a VR campaign around holiday 5/20.
The date in Chinese sounds like “I love you”, prompting P&G to create a virtual environment where consumers can interact with a virtual friend. Chinese actors Yang Yang and Dilireba played the roles by serving consumers breakfast in bed and giving them products such as Rejoice Shampoo, Crest toothpaste and Pampers diapers. The Swiss food company Nestle carried out a similar VR marketing campaign, in which consumers in a vans lead through the so-called “Planets of Wonders”, where they could also interact with the company’s products.
To further facilitate virtual shopping at its locations, Alibaba opened its own VR research facility at its headquarters in Hangzhou, China, in March. In a letter to the media during the Taobao Maker Festival, Alibaba said that the GnomeMagic Lab will develop both VR and AR capabilities to complement its existing online retailers. The VR team has already completed hundreds of models for various products sold on its platforms. Alibaba also plans to develop standardized tools to allow brands and retailers to create their own 3D inventories.
“The long-term goal is to enable companies to set up VR stores as quickly and easily as a website,” Alibaba said.