What to consider for Virtual Reality Tours

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Virtual Reality is a great way to keep your business up and running even when your premises are closed, and since exploring the "benefits of implementing Virtual Reality Tours into your store, we will now look into what you should consider when choosing a company to implement VR Tours by answering the following questions: What are the purposes of implementing Virtual Reality Property Tours? And What should you look for in a company when considering a Virtual Reality Property Tour? Keep reading to make the right purchase decision with Virtual Reality Tours to help you #ONEUPYOURBUSINESS!

WHAT ARE THE PURPOSES OF IMPLEMENTING VIRTUAL REALITY TOURS INTO YOUR STORE?

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You've noted that a Virtual Reality (VR) Tour for Retail would provide your business with several benefits, now it's time to decide what your main goal is for implementing a Virtual Reality tour. Determining what you want to get out of a Virtual Reality Tour (which could be multiple reasons) will help you narrow down your options when choosing the best solution for you. And so below, we have compiled a list outlining three purposes of adopting Virtual Reality (VR) Tours into your store:

1. ENHANCING YOUR CUSTOMERS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

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Implementing VR Tours can take the customers shopping experience to the next level as it's like an extension of online shopping. Customers can virtually visit the store, explore, and interact with the products and not just see them before deciding to purchase. Shopping can be perceived as a dull experience for some people, and VR offers something new and exciting. The personal experience makes shopping less like a chore as they view and engage with your products and services in a whole new way. Virtual Reality can create a whole fun and exciting environment, modernising the shopping experience and offering something unique compared to your competitors.

2. OPERATING OUTSIDE OF BUSINESS HOURS

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A great way to future-proof your business is with Virtual Reality technology. If you are looking to make potential sales during opening and closed working hours, VR Tours make it possible for you to do that.

Your store can continue to stay open even during a lockdown as VR allows customers to have accessibility and flexibility to virtual shop at your store safely at any time, anywhere, enabling you never to have to miss out on a sale again.

3. MARKETING AND PLANNING PURPOSES

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Virtual Reality Tours can go beyond just enhancing a customers experience. It can also help you understand your customers better with marketing psychology and planning your layout accordingly.

When it comes to displaying goods or rearranging the store layout, for instance, you can do a trial run using VR before actually committing to plans eliminating the guesswork, allowing you to see how your customers interact with your brand.

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR IN A COMPANY WHEN CONSIDERING A VIRTUAL REALITY TOUR FOR RETAIL?

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Since uncovering why you want to implement a Virtual Tour into your business, hiring the right company to produce a highly immersive VR Tour is next on the list. And because we understand the importance of technology, we've compiled a list of things you should consider before hiring:

PROFESSIONAL AND FULLY INSURED

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It's important to hire professionals who are fully insured and have permission to be handling various equipment. A company can provide you with proof of Public Liability coverage which we believe should be a minimum of £5 million. You can also get a grasp of the companies previous work, which may be viewable on their website, for you to get an idea of what they can offer, the standards they deliver, and how experienced the company is.

SOFTWARE

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We advise researching what software a company will be using for your VR Tours so you can weigh out the pros and cons.
Most companies use Matterport. However, Matterport comes with many downsides such as additional licensing costs and no rights to owning your VR Tours. And so, to get suitable VR Tours for you, we have listed a few things you should be aware of:

• If you can incorporate your own branding: With Matterport software usually use their logo as a watermark promoting their brand on your VR Tours and so it may be a good idea for you to consider if you can incorporate your branding and use your logo
  The intellectual property owner: Get clear on who has ownership of the VR Tours produced for your business. If you want to obtain ownership, then it's best to avoid hiring a company that uses Matterport as they keep all the rights, and you can be opted into a licence just to keep the VR Tours they own up and running
• Additional costs: No one wants to have sprung on them unwarranted additional charges that they weren't expecting, so before any work is conducted and anything is signed, it's essential to make sure all the costs are declared from the get-go, so you don't get hit with any additional fees, hidden charges, or a monthly subscription fee to keep your VR Tours hosted

EQUIPMENT

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Moving on from software, you don't need to be an expert or knowledgeable in how the equipment works, but it can be useful to look into what equipment the company uses to deliver high standards and the quality you want to ensure you're not hiring amateurs.

Notably, industry-specific, high-definition 360-degree cameras, for instance, can offer your business a fully enriched user experience and 2D and 3D capabilities, and it's great to look into if the company can provide more additional elements, for example:

• The embedding of further additional information: If you want to add data like videos, external links, images etc., into your VR Tours, then look out for companies that can offer a range of data services to give your customers a data-rich experience
• Sound: Background sound is an incredible way to enhance a customers user experience when interacting with a VR Tour. For example, in the Retail Industry, in-person shopping experiences include music in the background, and you can bring that experience over to the virtual shopping world by adding additional 360-degree spatial sound
• Extracting floor plans: Floor plans are great for helping customers to navigate around your shop as it allows them to understand the space and layout of the store

DOES YOUR STORE NEED TO BE EMPTY?

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Conducting VR Tours is a lot more effective when the premise is closed and empty of people. However, the company providing you with the VR Tours will be able to advise what's best when conducting VR Tours, if the premise needs to be empty or if it's okay to have people around.

Now with all these considerations in mind, you can narrow down the company that best suits your needs, enabling you to make the best decision possible.

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