Online retailers want to shift to virtual reality. (Photo : Getty Images)
China's e-commerce giant, Alibaba, will be coming up with payments through virtual reality and with the use of a headset and a nod of a head.
Lin Feng, head of Ant Financial's F Lab, said, "It is very boring to have to take off your goggles for payment. With this, you will never need to take out your phone."
Alibaba also attempted to use facial recognition for online payments, and tagged it as "payment with a selfie."
Jeff Booth, the cofounder of BuildDirect, said, "Ultimately, these technologies come together to solve a fundamental challenge in e-commerce: integrating feeling--both physical and emotional--into the buying experience. In retail terms, it's a case of back to the future, with next generation online sellers finding ways to restore old-school touch-and-try charm."
Alibaba's initiative to develop VR payments is to enable users to pay without removing their heads and as Feng said, "staring at a point on virtual display for longer than 15 seconds."
Meanwhile, eBay launched the first virtual reality department store in partnership with Australian retailer, Myer.
Steve Brennen, senior director of marketing and retail innovation at eBay, said, "Does virtual reality mean you will shop for longer - will customers browse for longer? Is this the next future of the retail experience? We're kind of believing now that it could be."
With the use of sight search, customers can browse through the items with eye movements and look through details of a product in seconds.
Brennen said, "Your eyes can move so quickly. It became pretty obvious. Sight Search in a VR world of retail feels very sensible. How much customers use it, do they love it, is where we'll get to next."
