Moving Virtual Retail into Reality: Examining Metaverse and Augmented Reality in the Online Shopping Experience

Online retailing has proven to be advantageous to retailers in terms of revenue building. Consumers are spending time and money on retailer e-commerce sites, and now, m-commerce sites. In fact, Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, is exceeding revenue goals previously sought on Black Friday (Internet Retailer 2011). However, the online shopping experience has not kept pace with the offline experience. Brick and mortar allows for more experiential shopping that creates engagement, brand experience, as well as excitement. Catalog and television shopping affords the comfort of shopping at home. Now, many shoppers are turning to their tablet computers for online shopping. However, the shopping experience on tablets must compete with other online activities, including games and other interesting applications. Retailers should respond to needs of the consumer by developing a more robust online shopping experience. This can also enhance the experiences of shoppers in both electronic commerce and mobile commerce.