Some of the biggest eCommerce companies in the world — Amazon, Alibaba, JD.com — got that way by perfecting buying and selling in an online format. How quickly the world changes, though, that just about every major eCommerce player is keeping an eye toward the next paradigm change in retail.
As far as Alibaba is concerned, that shift will move everybody closer to virtual reality, whether they’re ready or not. To that end, Alibaba explained in a recent press briefing in Shanghai that it had begun developing VR technology for use browsing and buying from its digital catalog, Internet Retailer reported. Using a Vive VR headset developed by HTC, an Alibaba official demonstrated an early build of a consumer-facing interface that allows shoppers to interact with an automated store associate and select and research products in a 3D setting without leaving their homes.
“VR is a great way to demonstrate products or services, especially for some categories, like furniture and travel products,” Zhuang Zhuoran, senior director of mobile at Alibaba, said during the conference. “It also adds more fun to shopping.”
At the moment, cost is keeping Alibaba back from rolling out a VR system worldwide. Zhuang said that it costs about $50 to turn each individual product into a compatible VR avatar, and Alibaba is trying to reduce those costs to about $1. That would be an important milestone not only from a strict cost efficiency standpoint but also because Alibaba plans on giving out free VR gear to consumers in order to help them overcome the often expensive startup costs of getting into VR.
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