Amazon Prime Day differentiates its sale using virtual reality

Demo stores are the new trend in offline retail shops and Amazon India’s hopped on the bandwagon with Prime Day closing in around the corner. Rather than going the conventional way of letting people experience devices physically, Amazon is taking the virtual reality path instead.

And, that actually kind of makes sense considering their extensive inventory.

Simplistically called the ‘Amazon Prime Day Experience Zones’, their centers will be set up across five Indian metropolitan cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata - for 36 hours between noon on 16 July till 17 July midnight.


These zones will allow users to test out tech brands like OnePlus and Sennheiser and clothing lines like GAP and Marks & Spencer. Even edible items like Nestle NesPlus are on the roster. The 200 products the company plans on launching on Prime Day will also be a part of this venture.

How does it work?

Though virtual reality still has a long way to go in comparison to real life experiences, users in the virtual reality environment can still see potential purchases in their life-size forms with a 360-degree view.

According to the company, users can even simulate the environment where they’d most likely use a particular product in. So when you’re looking at a microwave, you can place on the kitchen counter to see if it ‘looks good’.

Even Amazon Prime Video is part of the company’s approach. They’re going to be using virtual reality to stream the trailers of seven new video titles that they’re adding to their prime selection. This includes recent releases like Raazi and Amazon Prime Original series Comicstaan.

There’s no charge and these zones are going to be spread out over popular malls and atriums across the city. The efficiency of this venture is still uncertain considering that most people use Amazon because they won’t have to leave their house and battle the crowds at the mall.