Virtual reality (VR) and chatbots will dominate customer-brand interactions by 2020

Over the next four years, about three-quarters of brands will move to a virtual reality and chatbot customer experience, according to Oracle research

The relationship between brands and their customers is about to undergo a technological revolution that will cause a significant decrease in the scope of human interactions (between person to person), according to a new study published by Oracle

An Oracle report titled "Can Virtual Experiences Replace Reality?" (Can Virtual Experiences Replace Reality? A model of 800 senior professionals in the field of marketing and sales in the Middle East and Africa region, and found that the use of developing technologies will soar by 2020. 78% of brands are expected to provide a customer experience based on virtual reality in the next four years, and 80% are expected to offer customer service via chatbots.

However, despite the eagerness to adopt new technologies, many brands still find it difficult to take advantage of the valuable data available to them on existing and potential customers, and currently 60% still do not include information from social networks or CRM (customer management) systems in the analytics analyzes they perform on customers.

The change in dynamics with the client

The dynamic between brands and customers is changing following the rise of social, digital and mobile platforms, which have led to a growing preference for self-service when it comes to interactions with the brand.

The study found that 40% of senior marketing and sales executives agree that customers do more independent research before contacting them about a potential purchase, and 35% stated that their customers prefer to make purchases or resolve a service issue without speaking directly to a customer service or sales staff member.

Virtual reality and chatbots are about to take off

In light of this, brands are interested in implementing new technologies that will allow their customers to continue interacting with the brand as they see fit. In the context of future investments in technology, the study found that:

• 78% of brands predict that by 2020 they will use virtual reality for the purpose of customer experience (CX); 34% have already implemented the technology to one degree or another.
• 80% of brands will use chatbots to interact with customers by 2020; 36% have already implemented this technology.
• 48% of brands have implemented automation technologies in sales, marketing and customer service, with another 40% intending to do so by 2020.

Data will continue to be a challenge

Despite the race for innovation, reality shows that many brands are still struggling to unify, organize and process the growing volume of customer data flowing into the business, and therefore sometimes have difficulty understanding the customer in depth and providing them with a personalized experience.

• 60% of brands do not currently include information from CRM systems or social networks in the analytics they do about their customers
• 41% agree that smarter analysis of customer data will create the greatest impact on the experience they provide to their customers
• 42% already collect a large amount of data from multiple sources, but do not know how to extract insights about customers from them.

Alberto Marenfeld, head of the SaaS department at Oracle Israel: "There are those who see virtual reality as a passing fad, but the commitment of some of the world's largest companies to develop VR products for consumers shows otherwise. Brands will always look to experiment with new technologies as part of their desire to provide new and unforgettable experiences to their customers."

"Brands are currently at a crossroads. The pioneers in them enjoy the advantage of experimenting and launching innovative services, while others are just waiting to see what happens, but you have to learn to walk before you start running. Reality proves that many brands still don't know how to get a complete picture of each customer, so their immediate priority should focus on organizing and extracting value from the information they already have. Customers will appreciate fast, efficient and personal interaction, regardless of how it is carried out, so there is still hope for us humans."