Impact of virtual vs physical trial on customer purchase intention of eyeglasses

Abstract

The purchase intention of a customer across physical and virtual trial is different. Taking the example of an accessory like eyeglasses, this report employs statistical methods to establish the significance of difference in purchase intention of a customer when trying glasses ‘physically in a store’ vs via a ‘virtual try-on mode through an app’ like Lenskart’s 3D try-on feature. To establish the results, a survey has been conducted among youngsters, mainly in the age group of 20-30 years and living in Tier I and II cities, potential users of such apps. Influence of the current pandemic on customer’s decision making has been accounted for. Further, the report identifies the major factor explaining this difference as the shopkeeper intervention. Customers seek human intervention and view personal touch in service delivery favorably. Presence of the shopkeeper is seen to positively impact customer’s purchase decision in the physical trial mode. On the other hand, the lack of one is seen working against virtual trial apps. To address this issue, apps like that of Lenskart have tried to include features that enable customers to seek help from an expert over chat recently. But issues like delays in responses, inaccurate responses, or poor user-interfaces, have been identified to cripple such efforts at bridging this gap, through a UX audit conducted by the team. The report goes on to suggest that companies can invest in better virtual chat bots for enhanced customer experience. Advancements in AI offer intelligent chat bots today that help customers find frames suitable to their facial features using face recognition, offer advance filter options and add a personal touch to the conversation keeping the customer better engaged. Alternatively, a human style assistant can be introduced to co-ordinate with the customer on request for more personalization. As trends emerge, it is essential to constantly adapt and change, to remain in the competition.