Virtual Reality Software for Retail at Groceryshop 2022

This year's show featured a new virtual reality shopping technology for retailers and brands to enhance consumer experiences.

The Groceryshop conference in Las Vegas is a leading event for CPG brands, supermarkets, c-stores, drug stores, discount stores, warehouse clubs and other grocery retailers. This year’s Groceryshop Vegas was held at Mandalay Bay on September 19-22. The event features hundreds of industry leaders with speaking sessions and solution company exhibits.

Executives at CPGs and retailers were able to attend conferences and roam the exhibit hall to experience the latest trends in the grocery industry. Technology is always a hot topic at Groceryshop, with new uses for AR and VR taking some spotlight.

One solution for virtual reality (VR) in retail garnered a lot of attention. ReadySet is a provider of VR software for retail. They offer brands and retailers an all-in-one solution for creating 3D planograms and conducting eye-tracking market research. Their booth encouraged attendees to put on a headset and be transported into an interactive VR retail store.

Top brands work with ReadySet VR for 3D modeling to create digital twins of their products or physical stores. They can then start creating planograms using the high-quality product models within life-size retail environments.

ReadySet showcased this 3D planogram software on the Groceryshop exhibit floor. There were numerous participants putting on the headset to navigate virtual environments and pick up 3D products. “Wow, this is so cool” and “I feel like I am actually in the store right now” were some of the comments coming from the ReadySet booth during these demo experiences.

 

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ReadySet’s solution also includes a virtual reality marketing research feature for uncovering consumer behaviors. The VR headset collects movements and retinol eye tracking data in real-time as participants walk around the store and look at aisle merchandising.

Individuals are able to reach out to shelves and pick up products as they would in real life. The products have a high-quality, 4K clarity that allows shoppers to read packaging and nutritional information. Shoppers can then decide to purchase the product or put it back on the shelf.

These VR shopper research studies collect in-depth information on products noticed, average fixation counts, attention durations, purchase percentages, number of revisits and more. All aisle eye-tracking and path movement data is compiled and displayed into easy to understand heatmap composites.

The current use for this technology is retail planning and testing, but this relationship between virtual reality and retail will continue to grow. As these virtual experiences become more lifelike and heavily adopted, a future with metaverse v-commerce appears as though it will be the next evolution of grocery shopping.