Learning and development professionals in the customer service and retail industry are experiencing an evolution in how they engage their employees in ongoing job training.

Hours of sitting through slide presentations are becoming increasingly obsolete as top name brand stores are exploring how they can utilize Immersive Learning to ensure their customer-facing employees are prepared to handle a variety of challenges on any given day.

Immersive Learning utilizes the power of experience through Virtual Reality (VR) to simulate a modern working environment. This allows employees to interact with the training material in a safe and engaging environment that helps them to practice critical skills on demand.

What may be most surprising about Immersive Learning is that it is not a new idea. It’s an advanced approach to learning that is based on decades of neuroscience research. This learning modality operates under the notion that the brain treats learning experiences in VR the same as it would in the real world. This is what makes VR training more memorable and realistic than other less interactive learning techniques. An employee training built in a VR environment gives learning and development professionals a clear indication of how their employees will perform once they come into contact with real customers.

Measure the Success of Soft Skills Training with VR

Soft skills are the very core of the customer service industry. These are the most critical, yet intangible skills that often make the biggest difference in whether or not the customer has a positive experience. This can include the employee’s approach to teamwork, communication, punctuality, attitude, motivation, manners, and more.

Research shows that companies are facing a growing gap in soft skills training. Employers are increasingly frustrated with employees who spend more time staring into their phones rather than focusing on customer service. They want employees who are able to take direction from supervisors and work cooperatively with colleagues to achieve a goal. Yet, these skills are generally left off of the job description and are quite difficult to assess from looking at an applicant’s resume alone. So how is VR being used to train store employees?

Walmart has been able to create their own data around the use of empathy for their customer service associates in its beKIND training program. The program was designed to infuse more kindness into associate training as a way to help de-escalate recurring issues on the retail floor. Associates find that they are able to grow their confidence levels while being given constructive feedback about their performance in each training scenario.

One of the biggest challenges of any learning and development professional is measuring how much trainees are learning. VR can help make this task easier by tracking:

• Demonstrated proficiency in completing a task in the simulated environment
• Number of interactions in the training module
• Training frequency and completion

Build Company Culture with immersion

As a retail manager, there may be times when you experience a conflict between needing people to serve customers on the retail floor and spending time in training activities. Both are critical to the success of any retail outlet. However, how does a company minimize the time spent in training while maximizing the opportunity for new employees to embody the values of the company?

What is most promising about training customer service employees using VR is the opportunity to standardize the learning experience while also creating a personalized learning event. Each training experience is an immersive experience that allows employees to feel the emotions of working through complex tasks. As trainees become active participants in each learning session, they are able to internalize the key concepts related to company culture while becoming comfortable with how to apply the knowledge in real life situations.

Natural and organic grocery store chain, Sprouts, experienced a hiring spike due to the pandemic. This necessitated an efficient training system to teach new employees company core values and customer service techniques. Immersive Learning was key to developing onboarding that was scalable, standardized, and impactful for all. It also helped reduce time spent training by 81% without sacrificing effectiveness. New hires could get to work faster and feel more confident.

New team members who mastered job-specific competencies continually outperformed their peers in every key performance indicator using VR training. Existing employees were also able to benefit from VR training through a refresher course that helped them improve upon skills that may have been missed during new hire orientation.

How Can You Utilize Immersive Learning and VR for Your Training?

What data points are missing from your customer service training outcomes? What do you need to know in order to improve the customer experience? Immersive Learning is a game-changer for the customer service and retail industry because it allows companies to measure intangible outcomes that contribute to a store’s bottom line. No matter your line of service, VR can help your employees to be more confident and self-aware communicators who are excited to contribute to the improvement of company culture.

Some exciting trends are emerging in the world of Mixed Reality (MR) that could have a major impact on the online customer experience of the future.

MR encompasses a range of technologies that combine the digital and natural worlds. Augmented Reality (AR) functions in a real-world environment and overlays computer graphics you can see and manipulate using smartphones or glasses, while Virtual Reality (VR) creates a digital, simulated environment you can explore and interact with using a headset.

Early VR gaming headsets appeared in the 1990s and the technology has taken leaps and bounds since then. The first commercial application of AR occurred in 2008 in the form of a BMW magazine ad readers could augment using a computer camera. With 5G speeds driving the growth of new MR products, the global AR/VR market is forecast to reach $18.8 billion in 2020.

Businesses are now creating applications in a wide range of areas, often with the assistance of software development companies like BairesDev. In fact, 87% of respondents to a Harvard Business survey reported that they’re exploring, piloting, or currently deploying MR.

Here are some of the MR trends you can expect to see in the next few years.

Better Navigation

You probably already use Google and Apple map services to guide outdoor navigation, but did you know that AR technology can assist your indoor navigation? AR smartphone apps can help you find your way around complex locations like airports, hospitals, malls, and office buildings, saving you time and effort. For example, Gatwick Airport in London offers AR apps to help travelers get to the right terminals and gates, and find baggage carousels, check-in desks, and restaurants.

Advancing outdoor navigation, Google is beta testing AR walking directions for Google Maps on AR-compatible mobile devices, allowing you to see overlaid information about things around you in real-time. Automobile manufacturers are using AR cameras and dashboard displays to help you navigate around safety hazards and receive information about nearby attractions.

Improved Wearables

The primary wearable device used for AR is currently “smart glasses” (though you can also access the technology through mobile devices and desktops). VR is typically experienced through headsets. These wearables are getting smaller and lighter, making them more comfortable to use.

Prices will continue to drop, expanding access to even more consumers, while processing power and battery life will increase. Your VR experiences will be more satisfying with higher quality, wireless headsets that display higher resolution graphics. VR headsets out now include Oculus Quest, Valve Index, and Vive Cosmos.

Enhanced Online Shopping

No matter how convenient, online shopping has always lacked the hands-on benefits of interacting with objects in a retail store. Companies are now using AR technology to allow you to engage with products in virtual showrooms, or place them virtually in your home, to help you better imagine using them before buying.

Take IKEA’s Place app for example. This app lets you point your phone at spaces to see what furniture would look like in your home. Makeup companies offer AR technology that adapts to at-home lighting conditions to provide you with personalized product recommendations without leaving your house. Additional online shopping applications include:

• 3D room design for kitchens, bathrooms, and home goods
• 3D visualization to enable remote interior design services
• AR apps to browse products

More Exciting Games

Online gaming is where MR got its start, and developments continue in this arena. The expansion of 5G will allow more advanced mobile gaming, such as multi-user experiences with hundreds of users viewing and changing 3D content in real-time without lag. You can also expect to find smarter, AI-driven opponents when you play. Innovative VR games coming in 2020 include:

• “Half-Life Alyx,” a prequel to Half-Life 2 about a hacker about to start a revolution against an alien force, was built from the ground up specifically for VR.

• “Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners,” an open-world choose-your-own-path adventure, uses a new VR physics system that allows visceral hand-to-hand combat you can physically feel.

Targeted Marketing

You should start seeing more businesses use MR technology in marketing efforts, which will help you understand advertised products more thoroughly, often through virtual “hands-on” experiences. Two industries in particular, real estate and tourism, are effectively utilizing this technology.

Real Estate

Visualize yourself in various homes or apartments through virtual tours and immersive 360-degree videos.

• Explore properties for sale anywhere in the world without physically traveling there.
• Place virtual furniture throughout properties, to better imagine living there, using an AR home staging app like the one Sotheby’s offers.

Tourism

• Experience potential travel destinations through VR to help you decide where to take a trip.
• Re-experience your trips through VR after you return.

In Summary

As prices come down and technology continues to improve, you can expect to see MR expanding into more areas of life. Keep an eye out for new opportunities to use AR and VR to shop online more efficiently, quickly navigate airports and malls, and choose with confidence where to take your next big trip.

About the Author

Malcom Ridgers is a tech expert at BairesDev specializing in the software outsourcing industry. He has access to the latest market news and has a keen eye for innovation and what’s next for technology businesses.