Chinese Alibaba launched a new platform called Buy+ to allow customers to shop in virtual reality and inspect items in 360 degrees.
No major VR plans yet
It also uses models to demonstrate fashion items on a catwalk. Customers can then click the items in virtual reality and get additional information and the option to add them to their shopping cart.
“VR technology will help customers have a vivid experience”, an engineer at GnomeMagic Lab, Alibaba’s VR-focused research group, said. “In the near future, customers could be experiencing shopping on Fifth Avenue in New York while sitting at home.”
Alibaba is still not sure how it will employ virtual reality as of yet, as it is still very much a technology in full development. Only when all the major VR brands have settled, will Alibaba decide how it will deal with VR as a technology.
