Optimizing e-Commerce using Virtual Reality

Driven by the increasing digitalization of the economy, digital innovations such as VR will lead to a multitude of changes in companies. In concrete terms, for example, the increased use of digital elements in the entire sales and communication system is an obvious option. While large companies in the consumer and service sector as well as in the business sector are already using VR in the marketing and communication process, the majority of SMEs still have few points of contact in this area, according to the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber. The reasons for this are mainly to be found in the lack of knowledge in dealing with VR, but also in the fact that it is not yet quite clear whether VR actually plays such a major role in the sales and communication process as the hype is currently showing us. The goal of this project is the analysis of the optimal use of VR in comparison to classical online presentation forms in the sale of products. The focus is on the form of product presentation and the use of interactions in online VR applications and their effect on the purchase intention. Through an optimal presentation of the products by means of VR, it is possible for SMEs from the region to increasingly digitalize sales processes and to design them competitively. This project is an interdisciplinary research project at the University of Applied Sciences Salzburg between the study courses Business Administration, Wood Technology and Wood Construction, as well as MultiMediaTechnology.