In the last decade, advancements in technology have reshaped how retail companies do business. Following COVID-19, new and immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR) and mixed reality (MR) are changing consumer behavior, employee expectations and the shopping experience. Retail is migrating to the metaverse.
Years ago, these immersive technologies were seen only in science fiction books and movies. Then they made inroads into the gaming industry. But today, we’re seeing immersive technologies — which power the metaverse — impacting business operations across big and small retail companies. According to a 2022 Raydiant consumer behavior study, 56.6% of survey respondents prefer to shop online rather than in person — almost a 10% increase from 2020. In another study by PwC, about 32% of VR users shopped on VR platforms in the first half of 2022.
