O2 virtual reality retail market research
O2 is the commercial brand of Telefónica and is a leading digital communications company with over 25 million customers. O2 piloted a new smart home product in 3 stores however awareness, footfall and sales were underperforming. Prior to launching their smart home proposition across the UK, O2 utilised VR POS tests to get accurate data to improve the in-store point of sale proposition. There were, however, three consumer research challenges:
Crowded retail environment with lots of messaging competing for standout in a limited space
Logistical issues recruiting enough respondents to a retail store for a robust qualitative study
Time and costs associated with physically mocking up and changing POS messages in-store
VR solution
Populus integrated our mobile VR technology into their online survey to deliver a qualitative respondent experience to a panel of 400 smart home non-rejectors. They clicked a link in Populus’ survey to be immersed in a real O2 store by using their mobile and a Google Cardboard VR headset. Respondents were split into five monadic cells with each cell exposed to a different in-store display. The physical in-store display had been digitally altered (using CGI) to produce 4 new point of sale fixtures.
360 video filmed in an O2 store to create a realistic in-store consumer experience
400 respondents immersed in O2 store using their mobile and Google Cardboard
4 new point of sale fixtures digitally created to test different in-store messages
Results
We provided respondents with a real world experience of an O2 store where they were immersed in the real world context of a busy store. It provided a more accurate portrayal compared to concepts tested in isolation, particularly for awareness and clarity, with VR more accurately reflecting real world sales data. It also showed that traditional research is over-claimed by 50%. Importantly, it gave O2 better data and a clear direction on the best performing in-store displays in order to improve awareness, footfall and sales.
68% increase in respondent engagement compared to a comparable quantitative study
Research data more in line with actual O2 sales data
“Best Data Solution 2017” by the Market Research Society
As clients and agencies I strongly believe we should have the confidence and bravery to push boundaries and try new things. The ability to combine the context of qualitative at the persuasive scale of quantitative is exciting and valuable.