Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
HANGZHOU, China — Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. wants to use virtual reality to enhance the shopping experience for its 400 million users and has set up a lab to research a technology it expects to become as common as television.
The Chinese e-commerce emporium is exploring how virtual reality technology can be applied to its other services, including online games and video streaming, according to an e-mailed statement from the company on Thursday.
Alibaba is revealing for the first time its foray into the emerging market, which included leading a round of fundraising for U.S.-based Magic Leap Inc. The virtual reality and augmented reality hardware industry is expected to reach $110 billion by 2025, Alibaba cited Goldman Sachs Group Inc. research as saying.
The e-commerce company’s GnomeMagic Lab will work closely with its other units and affiliates, including video streaming site Youku Tudou Inc. and Alibaba Pictures Group, the company said.
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Alibaba will work on creating music and video and help promote VR-hardware manufacturers on its e-commerce platforms, it said. The company has already created three-dimensional visuals for hundreds of products and will issue standards for merchants to create VR-enabled shopping options.
By Lulu Yilun Chen; editors: Robert Fenner and Edwin Chan.
