Go shopping in a virtual reality department store thanks to eBay and Myer

SHOPPING has become even easier thanks to eBay and Myer who have teamed up to launch the “world’s first virtual reality department store”.

ONLINE and traditional retail giants eBay and Myer have teamed up to launch what they are calling the “world’s first virtual reality department store”.

Shoppers can use either their Android or Apple smartphone and a free virtual reality headset to browse the store, navigating through 12,500 products and buy items just by glancing at them in a virtual reality space.

eBay Senior Director Marketing and Retail Innovation Steve Brennen called the launch “a glimpse into the future of retailing”.

“If you want to connect with customers, you’ve got to do it in the real world and the virtual world,” Mr Brennen said.

Shoppers can use either their Android or Apple smartphone and a free virtual reality headset to browse the store, navigating through 12,500 products. Picture: Supplied

“It’s a completely new way to browse. The fact that you can visually see tens of thousands of products within a couple of seconds within a store is a completely unique way versus online where you’ve got to search.”

Mr Brennen called virtual reality commerce the “fourth channel of retail”, along with physical stores, eCommerce and mobile commerce.

The virtual reality Myer store has more than 12,500 products, with most displayed as two-dimensional images and the top 100 products represented in 3D models that shoppers can turn, twist and even travel inside to see details.

Mr Brennan called today’s launch “stage one” of virtual reality shopping and predicted future features in VR stores would allow friends who lived in different countries to meet up with their digital avatars and go on a shopping spree together.

“It’s a game changer for retail,” he said.

“It will get to the point where we think the virtual store will know you better than you know yourself. It will know your leg measurements, your foot measurements, it will be able to add products on to you and see how those jeans fit or those shoes fit.

Thelma, sculpture restorer and quill artist from Broome tests out shopping in the virtual reality world. Picture: Supplied

“It will create the most personalised shopping experience ever.”

Myer chief digital and data officer Mark Cripsey said the use of 3D images in a virtual reality space transformed the shopping experience in a way that online shopping on a computer or tablet could not match.

“It will be interesting to see how that resonates with our customers. Will it, for example, drive more sales into fashion which currently under indexes online with most companies?” he said.

“You’ll certainly have a much more deeper experience in a VR experience than you would do on a regular smartphone.”

To access the virtual reality store, people can go to eBay.com.au/VR and download either the Android or iOS app.

With the app loaded onto your smartphone, you put the phone into a VR headset, such as a Samsung Gear VR or a free cardboard VR viewer available from eBay.

When you enter the virtual reality store, you personalise the department store by choosing three categories you’re interested in browsing. If you look at an item in the VR space, you can see details of it including price, availability and shipping details. To add it to a cart, you look at the “add to basket” icon next to the item.

Shoppers then exit the VR space to finish their transaction through the eBay app.