Gartner: 100 million consumers buy their Augmented Reality by 2020

Market research firm Gartner predicted in a new report that the number of consumers using AR technology – online or in-store – would reach about 100 million by 2020.

"Enhanced Reality AR and Virtual Reality VR have the potential to transform the customer experience by customizing retailers' offerings and allowing them to view products in different contexts," the company said in a blog.

"Retailers are under increasing pressure to explain the purpose of physical stores and to control the process of returning and returning to implementation across channels," said Hanna Karaki, Senior Research Analyst at Gartner. "At the same time, consumers are gradually recognizing the value of the experiences they receive from retailers, and because of these pressures, retailers are using augmented reality and virtual reality to provide customers with a retail experience. unified in and out of the retail chain. "

A study by Gartner in 2018 indicated that by 2020, 46% of retailers plan to deploy augmented reality and virtual reality solutions to meet the demands of the customer service experience. In addition, the technologies behind these solutions have increased from 15% to 30% in the Gartner Hype cycle over the past 12 months.

"The impact of augmented reality and virtual reality in retail can be a change." Retailers can use augmented reality to complement the brand experience to engage customers in environments immersive and increase their revenue.For example, the IKEA Place app allows customers to place IKEA products in their space.In addition, augmented reality off-store can be used to increase customer satisfaction and improve loyalty. "

Gartner believes that with virtual reality interfaces, immersive retailers can create important skills or reduce the costs associated with designing new products. They can also improve the understanding of information through advanced visualization and graphical modeling techniques. Experimental examples and implementation examples include Alibaba's virtual reality shopping experience in China, Tesco's virtual reality tours and Adidas' virtual videos promoting the group. outdoor clothing.

The company also believes that 5G technology is an opportunity to accelerate the adoption of improved reality and virtual reality in stores. Gartner's latest fifth-generation network survey shows that augmented reality and virtual reality applications of fifth-generation networks generate the highest expectations for generating new revenue, in all cases of use and at home. the responders.

"Gartner predicts that the implementation of fifth generation networks, virtual reality and improved store realities will not only prevent customer participation, but also the entire brand management cycle," said Sylvan Faber, director of research at Gartner. "5G networks can improve warehouse resources, improve traffic analysis of stores and enable customer signals."