Extended Reality Technology Spurs Consumers to Commit to Purchases

Thursday, July 4, 2019 - 20:35 by Mike Price

People are more likely to buy products made available via safe shopping online or at bricks-and-mortar outlets if they are exposed to extended reality (XR) solutions.

This is according to a report from SYZYGY in which analysts looked at the effectiveness of this emerging technology and found it to be particularly persuasive when it comes to convincing consumers to part ways with their cash.

53 per cent of respondents to the report said that XR was likely to hold sway over whether or not they snapped up a particular product or service, since it can deliver a more in-depth preview and allow them to get a better sense as to whether or not their money would be well spent.

36 per cent of under-35s said that they had already come into contact with XR in one form or another, while for the over-55s this proportion falls to just five per cent. There is clearly a generational gap that retailers will need to overcome, as well as a challenge associated with the sheer cost of XR-related hardware.

Virtual reality headsets are seen as overly expensive by a quarter of Brits, while a little over a tenth said that they were simply over the age at which this technology is attractive as a proposition.

Other divides exist, with Londoners being far more interested in adopting XR for their shopping needs than those in other parts of the UK. Scotland in particular is home to far more scepticism surrounding this technology than anywhere else, with just 16 per cent of respondents from north of the border saying they see such solutions as being primed for a national takeover.

XR can be used in a variety of ways, both in-store and online, yet it seems retailers still have some work to do to convince consumers that it is worth their time.