Virtual Reality (VR) is not a new concept in retail and commerce as many companies are innovating in the space.  However, the applications of VR to retail back-office to improve the soct side of the business is not a common these, although it bears a lot of potential because it can help in many different ways.

One of the earlierst applications of VR in retail operations is the store design and layout including merchandise displays and testing.  In this interview I speak with Mark Hardy, CEO of InContext which has developed a VR framework to help retailers improve costly operational work.   We discussed many important points including:

- How a simulated store design works and can help retailers reduce the cost of implementing different layouts and displays and learn faster (within a 90% rate of accuracy) what works best.

- Difference between PC-based and head-mounted, full immersion systems.

- Revenue model and implementation options.

- What is going to make VR headsets more mainstream.

- What happens to comemrce when geography is not an impediment.

- Future of banner ads and impact of Virtual Reality on advertising and ad formats.

- How a VR experience could improve conversions.

- Role of Retail store management in pace of innivation.

- How critical is Change Management for retailers in staying relevant and current with the consumer tech capabilities.

- The age gap in accepting and adopting technology in retail stores.

And on the topic of working with Intel Capital and the new Intel AI there is a lot of valuable points towards the end of the interview.