How might Virtual Reality (VR) enable a retailer like Kmart to transform the digital shopping experience of their customers, in response to new consumer shopping habits in a post-pandemic world?
Background/Context
Retail patterns of consumers have rapidly changed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, consumers often demand a contactless retail experience, checkout-free stores and autonomous delivery as part of their shopping journey. Thus, the need to drive social commerce to attract and engage with a younger generation of consumers is critical.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a very exciting and promising technology to respond to these trends. VR in shopping has already been demonstrated to be beneficial to both consumers and retailers. Online shopping permanently altered consumers’ expectations of a brick-and-mortar store, and now VR is revolutionising the online shopping experience and changing the retail industry landscape.
VR allows customers to get a full overview of an item, almost as if they were holding it in-store. Customers can also use VR to quickly customise items they are interested in and see these changes in real time. For example, imagine seeing a shirt and then changing the colour, graphics, and other product features, as you hold it in your (virtual) hand. This allows customers to buy exactly what they want. Kmart can deliver the exact product that every customer is looking for. The result is more sales, and reduction in returns and chargebacks.
Objective
Kmart would like to explore possibilities using VR technology, especially how VR can enhance their customer experience and add value to the business.
Solutions
Solution providers should fulfil the following requirements:
- The solution enables customers to create their very own digital avatar and undergo a virtual fitting journey similar to what consumers would have experienced in a physical store.
- It should replicate a specific section of the Kmart store into a virtual environment. This store consists of certain replicated products to be displayed in the virtual environment and is complete with the Kmart logo and other branding elements like taglines.
- Alpha and Beta customers should be able to navigate through the virtual store and view product descriptions, add products to a cart, and perform a self-checkout.
- Elements of the store, such as the measurements of its in-store furniture and stock-keeping units, will be provided, and the replication of these elements are required as part of the solution.
- The solution should be hosted on a mobile app or a desktop and should not utilise a VR headset.
- Ideally, the solution provider should already have a product in the market and be able to implement a pilot for Australian consumers within 6 months.
Reward
- Successful company will conduct a pilot project with Kmart spanning 3 to 6 months to validate the solution and immediately enter into a commercial deployment after incorporating all the learnings from the pilot phase.
- The pilot project will be supported by a SGD20,000 grant from Enterprise Singapore and close guidance from the Kmart team.
Resources
Kmart will provide store layout plans, images and videos required to build virtual assets.
