The most influential Megatrends set to shape the world through 2030, identified by Euromonitor International, help businesses better anticipate market developments and lead change for their industries.
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Learn moreDec 2016
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2016 marks the return of virtual reality to the public sphere, alongside burgeoning augmented reality. Both technologies offer an entertaining escape from our everyday reality and as such, have generated a great deal of interest. Gaming is the main avenue, but many are predicting more widespread influence, including within retail. This report goes through the state of the new technology as of 2016, its potential impact on retail, and how brands might engage consumers in a new way.
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Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders. Track key industry trends, opportunities and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales and supply functions.
Despite the presence of low-end options and development buzz beforehand, 2016 will go down as the beginning of the consumer-facing virtual and augmented reality epoch. To take from an adjacent product, consider how much smartphones have changed since Apple released its very first iPhone in 2007. With plenty of time for innovation and competition, much will change in the coming years.
To justify an investment in a new technology, it is important to have the existential considerations figured out, otherwise initiatives are likely to fall at the first hurdle. Brands must be able to articulate the business purpose, determine if the corresponding consumer use cases are enough to bring about real adoption, and figure out if the technology is even sophisticated enough to deliver both of the above.
These technologies appear to have the following broad business purposes - traffic driving, traditional marketing, service enhancement, and translating the store into a virtual interpretation. All show some level of promise and current implementation, but traditional marketing and pre- and post-purchase services hold the most.
Some initiatives can survive by targeting the masses and hoping something sticks. This is an untenable strategy for virtual and augmented reality initiatives. Determining what sort of shopper this technology serves and convincing them that it is a good fit into their everyday lives and purchasing patterns will be of utmost importance.
Even rival virtual reality headset producers are giving each other access to their platforms for the time being to help promote consumer uptake. There is plenty to be done in figuring out what works with what. Retailers need not reinvent the wheel - iteration from current user behaviours with the help of tech experts is a good idea.
Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders. Track key industry trends, opportunities and threats. Inform your marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales and supply functions.