Once technologies such as AR and VR are supported by 5G, they will have a variety of uses

Market research firm Gartner recently said that by 2020, 100 million people will use AR to shop in stores and online, and people will be able to experience product visualization in different environments.

Once technologies like AR and VR are supported by 5G, they will enable a variety of uses, such as real-time rendering of immersive videos, faster download speeds and setup times, and the extension of brands and shopping experiences beyond stores.

“Retailers are facing increasing pressure to control fulfillment and returns processes across channels. At the same time, consumers are defining the value provided by the experience they receive from retailers,” said Hanna Karki, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Due to these pressures, retailers are turning to AR and VR to provide customers with a unified retail experience.”

A 2018 Gartner survey revealed that by 2020, 46% of retailers plan to deploy AR or VR solutions to meet customer service experience needs. It added that the technologies behind these solutions have grown further by 15% to 30% in the Gartner Hype Cycle over the past 12 months.

“5G can optimize warehouse resources, enhance store traffic analysis and enable beacons to communicate with shoppers’ smartphones,” said Sylvain Fabre, senior research director at Gartner.

Some brands are already using AR and VR technologies. For example, Swedish furniture giant IKEA Group allows people to virtually place IKEA products in their own spaces; Alibaba allows users to experience full VR shopping; retail giant Tesco provides users with VR tours, and companies such as Adidas use VR videos to promote its outdoor clothing series.