Does Immersive VR Really Upgrade Your Online Shopping?

Online shopping has changed our world, but for industries like fashion, it has always missed a certain something. Clicking through static images on a website can't replicate the feeling of walking through a store, examining the texture of a handbag, or getting a true sense of its size and shape. This gap between the digital and the physical has left retailers searching for the next big thing to make e-commerce more engaging. A recent study by Marina Ricci et al. [1] explores whether Virtual Reality (VR) is the answer, specifically asking: Is a fully immersive VR experience better than a desktop-based one?

The Virtual Shopping Challenge

To find answers, the researchers designed a within-subject experiment involving 60 participants. This means every person tried shopping in two different virtual environments. The first was a Desktop Virtual Reality (DVR) setup, where they navigated a virtual fashion store on a standard computer monitor using a mouse and keyboard. The second was an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) setup, where they wore an Oculus Quest 2 headset and used controllers to move and interact within the same store while seated. Their task was simple: find a specific handbag, explore its features like color options and product details, and then add it to their virtual shopping cart. By comparing these two experiences, the study aimed to measure which was more effective and enjoyable.

Immersion Makes All the Difference

The results were compelling. Participants spent significantly more time in the IVR store than in the DVR version. This wasn't because it was more difficult to use, but because they were more immersed and engaged, with some even expressing a desire to stay in the virtual shop longer. The IVR experience was not just longer; it was also rated as being richer. It delivered higher scores on both hedonic and utilitarian values. In simple terms, this means the immersive headset experience was not only more fun, exciting, and emotionally engaging (hedonic) but was also seen as more useful and effective for the practical task of evaluating a product (utilitarian).

A key concern with new technology is that it can be mentally taxing to learn. However, the study found that the cognitive load, the amount of mental effort required to complete the shopping task, was comparable between both the familiar desktop setup and the immersive VR environment. This suggests that a well-designed IVR experience can be intuitive and doesn't overwhelm the user. Unsurprisingly, the overall user experience was rated much higher in IVR, which participants found to be more attractive, stimulating, and novel than its desktop counterpart.

The core takeaways from this research, that a higher degree of immersion and intuitive interaction can create a more valuable and engaging experience without increasing mental strain, have powerful implications for designing accessible technology for people with partial visual impairments. For this user group, the goal is not to replace vision, but to augment it. VR's immersive environment can be adapted with high-contrast modes, scalable user interfaces, and visual highlighting of key product features. The study's finding that IVR helps users better understand product characteristics is particularly relevant here. A partially sighted user could virtually magnify a handbag to an unprecedented scale, rotating it in 3D to examine fine details like stitching or clasps that are imperceptible in a flat website photo. This visual exploration can be supplemented with other senses; for instance, haptic feedback in the controllers could confirm the texture of the material, and spatial audio could read out product specifications on demand. By leveraging VR's unique capabilities, designers can create a shopping experience that enhances remaining vision, reduces the cognitive load often associated with navigating visually cluttered websites, and offers a more empowering and informative way to shop online.

Reference

1. Ricci, M., Evangelista, A., Di Roma, A. and Fiorentino, M., 2023. Immersive and desktop virtual reality in virtual fashion stores: a comparison between shopping experiences. Virtual Reality, 27(3), pp.2281-2296.