CES 2023: AR and VR Go Shopping; What Should Sellers Do?

There's no denying that the application of AR, VR, and mixed reality (MR) technologies in e-commerce is expanding.

Various companies, such as Meta, TikTok, and other tech firms are creating new gadgets, apps, and other techs to help brands attract more consumers.

Applications that allow you to try clothes and other products without physically touching them.

Meanwhile, some companies were able to create virtual stores; connecting the digital and real-life shopping experience.

With all the rising VR, MR, and AR technologies, should businesses really invest in them?

CES 2023: AR and VR Go Shopping

The CES 2023 "AR and VR Go Shopping" conference shared the insights of AR and e-commerce experts about the application of virtual and augmented reality techs in e-commerce.

Here are the speakers who attended the event:

Sonya Haskins (Head of Programming for Augmented World Expo)

• Interested in the metaverse, AR, VR, XR, wearables, Web3, etc.

Josh Shabtai (Lowe's Innovation Labs' Senior Director of Ecosystem)

• Interested in the metaverse, blockchain, AI, retailing/e-commerce, marketing, advertising, etc.

Pier Fawkes (Founder and CEO of PSFK)

• Interested in e-commerce/marketing, AR, VR, XR, cryptocurrencies, gaming, esports, advertising, etc.

Phil Sage (Pesco's Design and Innovation Hub Senior Director)

• Interested in XR, VR, AR, metaverse, sourcing, food tech, web3, etc.

The entire conference was a short and meaningful one. At first, Sonya was sharing how AR and VR gadgets encouraged her to enter the tech industry.

Although this is not connected to marketing or e-commerce, it just shows that virtual and augmented reality can be quite influential.

After that, other speakers also shared their experiences when using and working with AR/VR/XR technologies, although most of their comments are not related to the e-commerce market.

But, Piers decided to re-direct the conversation to the main goal of the conference, which is e-commerce/marketing.

The statements shared by Sonya and other speakers were quite surprising.

Haskins said that people who are using VR, AR, and XR gadgets to purchase products are still few. She also believes that not all business owners will create.
If this is the case, then where should sellers invest their money in?

What Sellers Should Invest In

Josh backed his opinion of Sonya regarding the limited number of AR and VR users in the e-commerce market.

He said that it is not practical to invest in the metaverse, AR, or VR if your budget is not that big.

Instead, Shabtai suggested that retailers should put their money into generative AIs. For those who are not familiar with these AI systems, they are software models that can create new content.

These include music, texts, images, etc. Generative AIs rely on machine learning algorithms and large datasets to create new content that sellers can use to promote their products.

Based on what Josh, Sonya, and other speakers shared, virtual reality and augmented reality technologies really have a long way to go before they can be considered the new e-commerce/marketing trend.