Alibaba wants to apply virtual reality to eCommerce

Chinese Alibaba has created a special team to focus on possible eCommerce applications for virtual reality. It had already invested in an augmented reality company.

Shop anywhere in the world

The research team is called GnomeMagic Lab and will focus on investigating how customers can virtually shop abywhere in the world, even though they are in the comfort of their own home. It also wants to help retailers use VR to boost website sales, according to Tech Crunch. 

Alibaba has already invested in Magic Leap, an American company working on an augmented reality device. On top of that, it is currently in the process of acquiring Youku Tudou, a Chinese video platform which experimented with 360° videos.

The company also opened a store for VR hardware, so that VR companies can use their hardware to connect to Alibaba’s huge audience.