Virtual techniques in the Retail Industry: VDC-Whitepaper

© Competence Centre for Virtual Reality and Cooperative Engineering w. V. – Virtual Dimension Center (VDC)
Whitepaper
Virtual Techniques in the Retail Industry
Areas of applications – Examples – Potentials
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Kfm. Christoph Runde
Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) Fellbach
Auberlenstr. 13
70736 Fellbach
www.vdc-fellbach.de

Online 3D Product Presentations SummaryIntroduction Digital Showroom MissionDigital Signage MissionVirtual Store WearablesTraining
Studies
regarding this
topic
2
Retail Tomorrow, Today. Five
trends shaping the retail industry
in 2018 and beyond. Oracle,
Redwood Shores/USA, 2018
Introduction

Studies
regarding this
topic
3
Retail Tomorrow, Today. Five
trends shaping the retail industry
in 2018 and beyond. Oracle,
Redwood Shores/USA, 2018
Introduction

Challenges
4
Chances
 Competitive pressure
 Large retail chains
 Huge online marketplaces
 Individualization, mass customization,
exploding number of variants
 Acceleration product change
 Increased expectations of consumers/
customers regarding
o Information needs
o Presentation and visualization
 Possibly global markets
 New simulation and visualization
methods
 Virtual reality (VR) and
augmented reality (AR) as mass
platforms on mobile devices
 VR as a bridge between online
and offline trading
 Digital development process
chains as data suppliers
 New methods of 3D capture by
photography (photogrammetry)
or laser scanning
Introduction

Virtual techniques in the retail industry – Application fields
Online 3D product presentations
 3D-capable web shops
 3D scans of goods, photogrammetry,
automated product photography
 Interactive scheduling using AR
 Virtual sell-in for collection sales and
marketing to wholesaler/ middleman
 3D configurators for creating customer-
specific variants and 3D result visualization
Digital signage
 Digital (3D) advertising in malls, airports, etc.
 Brand stores as a digital showroom
 Stationary shop with only a few physical
products
 3D configurators
 Order via webshop
5
Virtual Store
 Shops and shopping malls as a 3D model:
evaluation of shop design (virtual prototyping of
the shop, technical equipment, etc.)
 Evaluation packaging design
 Evaluation sales support measures
Virtual training of
 Personnel in trading
Wearables and / or AR in logistics
 Picking with Smart Glasses and AR
Introduction

 3D models of the products
 Views and section freely selectable for
customers
 Labels, imprints detectable in a legible quality;
thus reduction of the accompanying text
 Automated scanner systems
 Providers offer hosting with required
bandwidths
Image: alfaloc media
Detailed view on
product in browser
6
Image: alfaloc media
Screenshot of
webshop example
with 3D models
(drugstore)
3D scanner with
evaluation softwareImage: Packshot Creator
Online 3D Product Presentations

 AR function for smartphones and tablets
through AR platforms (ARKit, ARCore)
 Integrated in shopping app or standalone
application
 Scan the environment and present the
product in original size in real context
 Advantage: easy check for accuracy of fit
(space, color, etc.) of furniture and other
products prior to the purchase
7
Image: IKEA
AR app based on a
AR platform
Image: Wurzel Medien
Fade-in coffee machine
on marker
Image: edmunds
Examination of
space requirement
for vehicle

Virtual Sell-In
 Sell-in: collection sales, marketing to
wholesale/ middleman
 Produce entire collection as sample parts: too
expensive
 Useful, if there are many variants or models
with customers or within the company to vote
 Staging
 Combination with new outfits
Image: adidas
Image: adidas
Image: adidas
3D visualization
shoe collection
3D representation
collection in shop
Different outfit
visualizations
8
Online 3D-ProduktpräsentationenOnline 3D Product Presentations

3D configurators
 Interactive product configurators
 Independent selection and configuration
 Configurator logic configures only possible
and deliverable products
 Access can be restricted to specific user
groups: exclusivity
 Possibly integration with order system
(delivery capability, delivery time) Image: DS 3DXcite
Automotive:
position, form and
color of seams
9
Image: bitmanagement
Fashion:
web 3D configurator
Image: Tacton
3D elevator configurator:
selection masks

3D configurators
 Virtual customer dialogue
 3D web platforms or virtual worlds
 Statistical evaluation on preferences
(market research)
 Earlier: dialogue through avatars
which are controlled by employees
(e.g. Second Life)
Image: Tacton
Image: Mercedes-Benz
Configured variant of a
bus in 3D
Mercedes Benz branch in
Second Life (closed´in
2008)
10
Image: Palette CAD
Virtual showroom with
configuration possibilities

Exemplary
configurations of
Daimler commercial
vehicles. Modern 3D
configurators rely on
variant management
systems that can
manage product
diversity with a huge
combinatorics.Image: Tacton
11
3D configurators
Online 3D-ProduktpräsentationenOnline 3D Product Presentations

Digital Signage
 Viewing static or dynamic content on digital
ads in the store or outside (such as airports)
 Use of autostereoscopic 3D displays or light
field displays: extension of the duration of
attention
 New 3D displays with 8k resolution
12
Image: Interactive Design Café
PoS 3D displays (without
glasses)
Image: Tridelity
Airport displays (without
glasses)
Digital Signage

Image: Audi
Audi City London:
material samples
complement 3D
visualization
Digital Showroom
 Use of 3D, VR and AR in stationary trading
 Only a few physical products, but all variants
virtually representable
 Mutual understanding between buyer and seller
 Customer designs his specific product: product
configurators using the expert version of the
configurator
 Interactive presentation of the product, simple
demonstration of variants, provide detailed
insights
 Show product virtually in operation
 Increase information density, esp. understandable
presentation, even of complex relationships
Image: Audi
13
Audi City London:
Digital Showroom
Image: DS 3DXcite
Screen in shop context
Digital Showroom

Digital Showroom
 AR installations in use at Toys "R" Us
 Animated LEGO model will appear on the sales
packaging
 Customer puts model into the desired
perspective
Prototypical:
 Magic Mirror, AR Mirror, Virtual Mirror
 Virtual fitting of clothes, shoes with AR is
content of research projects
 Gesture recognition for the interaction
Image: LEGO
Image: Cisco
Interactive LEGO box
at Toys‘R‘Us: use
of Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality:
vision „Magic Mirror“
14
Image: Adidas
Magic Mirror
for shoe fitting
Digital Showroom

Virtual Store
 Evaluation shop design in VR
 1:1 simulation of PoS scene
 Cheaper than field tests
 More flexible, faster: swift change of scenarios
 Variations of boundary conditions at runtime
o Shelf full / half full / empty
o Product placed on top / center / bottom
o Market full / half full / empty
 Stronger control: all environment variables
controllable: weather, light, competitor activities,
supply bottlenecks, ...
 New test option: efficiency of marketing within the
store, comparison possibilities
Image: Kimberly-Clark
Presentation of a
supermarket model
15
Image: Vision Critical
Supermarket
simulation
Image: SCA Packaging
Supermarket
simulation
Virtual Store

Virtual Store
 Design of packaging, labels, etc. using VR techniques
 Test in 3D environments (market research), gaze
analyses possible
 Secret testing of new products, hidden from
competitors, failed approaches remain confidential
 Variation and evaluation of the packaging design at
runtime
 Some systems use a shopping cart to navigate in 3D
scenes
 Wall Street Journal: 50% reduction of product testing
time
 Research on navigation and interaction methods for VR
online shops
Image: Wurzel-Medien
Image: SensoMotoric Instruments
Label design of a water
bottle
Stereo 3D glasses with
integrated eye tracking
16
Image: DFKI
Navigation in VR online
shop
Virtual Store

Virtual training of personnel
 Training of sales personnel
 Use of serious games techniques
 Interactive simulation of scenes
 Variable dialogue [avatar reacts
accordingly to answers]
 Objective success control
 Variables freely changeable
 Possibility for integration of gestures and
facial expressions
Image: blog.venuegen.com
Image: Zone2Connect
Image: Zone2Connect
Scene
3D sales talk
Scene 3D sales talk for
Vodafone
Logic modeling
Dialoog
17
Training

 Simulation of sales environments:
replicating architecture, roles, processes
and tools
 Simulation of new processes and future
scenarios of potential customer journeys
 Derivation of recommended actions
Image: Solid White
18
Virtual Retail Lab of
Mercedes-Benz-
Consulting: virtual
sales and consulting
scenarios
Training
Virtual training of personnel

Wearables in logistics
 Pick & Place applications with smart glasses /
watches / gloves / smartphone / tablet PC, etc.
o Hands-free via smart glasses
o Smart gloves replace barcode guns
 Identification of articles reduces incorrect picking
 Localization of articles is supported
 Navigation support for order pickers
19
Image: www.hiavr.com
HUD concept of
navigation on a
forklift: using video
telephony
Image: Picavi
Barcode detection by
means of smart glasses
Image: AbsoluteReality
Logistic status
information when
looking through a tablet
PC: looking for articles
with the destination
country Germany
Wearables

Summary
 Versatile applications of virtual techniques in the retail industry
 Commerce is very heterogeneous: technology used depends on business focus
 Combining stationary and online commerce is becoming increasingly important for the competitiveness of
retail companies
 Virtual Reality is well suited for the presentation of complex products with a high creative and emotional
ambition
 Use of AR and VR on mobile devices (Cardboard VR, ARCore, ARKit) offers potential for reaching a large
number of customers
20
Sources
 Augmented Reality Monitor 2018. Repräsentative Befragung zur Bekanntheit, Nutzungsbereitschaft und
Potentialen von Augmented Reality im Einzelhandel, Splendid Research, Hamburg, 2018
 Retail Tomorrow, Today. Five trends shaping the retail industry in 2018 and beyond. Oracle, Redwood
Shores/USA, 2018
 Trends und Entwicklungen im Handel: Konsumenten-Trends. Ergebnis einer Umfrage unter 132
Führungskräften deutscher Handelsunternehmen. Clavigo Partners, Management Forum, Verlagsgruppe
Handelsblatt: 2017
 The Use of Virtual Store Simulations in Marketing Research and Beyond. In-Store Marketing Institute, 2009
Summary

VDC members and partners regarding this topic
21
Summary

© Competence Centre for Virtual Reality and Cooperative Engineering w. V. – Virtual Dimension Center (VDC)
Thank you very much for your interest!
You are interested in this topic and you are looking for contact persons/ implementation
partners? Please contact us.
Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) Fellbach
Auberlenstraße 13
70736 Fellbach
www.vdc-fellbach.de

Virtual techniques in the Retail Industry: VDC-Whitepaper

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