How AR and VR revolutionizing customer experiences
Brand loyalty has always been of paramount importance to any industry, and being able to offer customer experiences that foster a sense of trust and reliability is the cornerstone of every successful company. Is yours going the extra mile to provide them?
It’s an emotional connection as much as a transactional one, and VR and AR are quickly becoming the de facto tool for building long-lasting customer relationships through their ability to create immersive, engaging, and personalized experiences that bring customers back for more time and time again. When customers feel connected, they feel valued, and that’s a priceless commodity for any business entity, irrespective of industry.
Is customer service evolving?
Very much so. As our migration to a digital marketplace takes precedence over more traditional pre-pandemic models, so too have the needs of customers evolved. This means a greater focus on delivering the fundamental values of good customer service in a digital context.
E-commerce is now a global and highly sought-after sector, bringing an ever greater responsibility to businesses operating across international borders to provide customer service solutions that span time and distance with efficiency.
But this applies to pre-sales too, and the advent of mixed reality has opened new avenues for a ‘try before buying’ opportunity for customers who want the invaluable additional peace of mind when buying something they can’t physically touch or see in real-world environments.
How Virtual Reality is Changing the face of customer service models
VR has the potential to revolutionize online shopping by bridging the gap between e-commerce sites and physical stores. Imagine customers trying on clothes from the comfort of their living room and seeing how well they fit.
Another area where VR is having a significant impact is training customer service representatives, and the ability to place agents in simulated environments can help them. VR customer service training is:
- Highly realistic
- Pivotal in employee engagement & retention
- Cost-efficient
- Better performance & skills analytics
- Fully scalable & customizable
This enhanced customer experience could soon become a reality thanks to VR technology. Furthermore, VR can transform customer service by allowing both the customer and the service representative to understand and troubleshoot issues visually, leading to faster and more effective solutions.
What can AR bring to your customer experience offerings?
By blending the real world with the digital world, AR allows customers to interact with digital representations of real-world objects as if they were right in front of them. This has had a tremendous effect on retail environments as well as other sectors, such as healthcare and construction. In fact, up to 63% of online buyers say that AR will improve their shopping experience and can boost conversion rates across any industry with an online catalog.
Better Decision-Making
Improving customer decision-making and providing an immersive and interactive experience empowers shoppers to make informed choices about products and reduce the likelihood of buyer’s remorse. AR also adds valuable information about a product, allowing consumers to understand better what they are buying.
‘Try Before You Buy’
AR enables customers to try products before making a purchase which is particularly useful for cosmetics, clothes, and furniture, as it allows customers to visualize how the product would look and fit in their home or office. Trying products virtually helps customers make easier buying decisions and avoid costly mistakes.
Interactive Packaging
Create interactive packaging that engages customers with QR codes that, when scanned, provide detailed information about the item. Customers can learn about dimensions, weight, ingredients, and more with just a few clicks, enhancing the interactive experience, customer engagement, and satisfaction.
Self-Service for Customers
AR facilitates customer self-service, reducing the need to contact customer support agents. With access to AR-powered data libraries, customers can find the answers they need independently. This frees up customer support representatives and empowers customers to take control of their own experience. Overall, AR leads to better product understanding and fewer customer inquiries.
Make your customer experience journey one to remember with Virtual and Augmented Reality
VR and AR technologies are revolutionizing customer experiences through immersive and interactive tools that build strong emotional connections between customers and businesses, nurturing brand loyalty and trust. With VR, online shopping can become more realistic and personalized, allowing customers to try on clothes and visualize products from the comfort of their homes.
On the other hand, AR brings many benefits, such as improving customer decision-making, enabling customers to ‘try before they buy,’ and facilitating self-service through interactive packaging and data libraries. By empowering themselves with these technologies, businesses can elevate customer experience offerings and build better, lasting customer relationships. Talk to us about what mixed reality can do for your organization.