InContext Solutions, a global leader in virtual reality (VR) solutions for retailers and manufacturers, today announces the integration of VR headsets into their flagship ShopperMX™ platform. By incorporating head-mounted displays, retailers and brands can more easily view, present and collaborate on new retail concepts in fully immersive VR through the ShopperMX™ HIVE (Hi-Immersion Virtual Experience).

 

 

In 2016, InContext Solutions successfully closed a $15.2 million round of funding led by Intel Capital and Beringea. The company has raised about $40 million to date. Previous investors include Plymouth Venture Partners and Hyde Park Venture Partners.

“Leveraging VR headsets makes our ShopperMX platform even more immersive and cost effective, for faster and intuitive collaboration between retailers and brands.”

Retailers and manufacturers use ShopperMX, a cloud-based enterprise SaaS platform, to build, visualize and test in-store concepts within hyper-realistic retail simulations. The integration with VR headsets allow internal, brand, and retail teams to evaluate concepts within ShopperMX, and then visualize that data in a fully immersive VR environment through the ShopperMX™ HIVE using either the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.

Head-mounted displays also facilitate immersive external collaboration between retailers and brands. For example, a CPG manufacturer looking to gain buy-in on a new arrangement could present the concept to the retailer through a VR headset on the ShopperMX platform – providing a more immersive, tangible experience that allows the retailer to visualize the data in a completely new way, and understand how a concept would fair in the real world by seeing it as a customer would see it.

“This first-of-a-kind capability opens a brand new door to retail innovation and disruption,” said Mark Hardy, Chief Executive Officer of InContext Solutions. “Leveraging VR headsets makes our ShopperMX platform even more immersive and cost effective, for faster and intuitive collaboration between retailers and brands.”

The addition of VR head-mounted displays further enriches the core capabilities of ShopperMX providing:

• More meaningful collaboration on new in-store concepts.
• The most lifelike environment available to view new retail concepts, without the cost and hassle of building out in real life.
• Even more engaging virtual reality simulations for planning and presentations.
• A competitive advantage that helps further reduce costs and speed up processes associated with planning, design and implementation.

“As an advocate for constantly challenging the status quo of in-store shopping experiences, InContext Solutions’ integration of fully-immersive VR into the ShopperMX platform gives brands and retailers the opportunity to experience a retail concept from the shopper’s perspective. It allows us to completely rethink the way we collaborate and present new retail concepts,” said Bob Mariano, founder of Mariano’s grocery chain and InContext Solutions board member.

To learn more about InContext Solutions, visit www.incontextsolutions.com.

About InContext Solutions

InContext Solutions is the global leader in enterprise virtual reality (VR) shopping and retail solutions, allowing manufacturers and retailers to simulate real in-store shopping situations to ideate, evaluate and activate all types of merchandising, display, layout and other in-store shopping experiences within a VR store environment. Use of InContext’s ShopperMX™ platform delivers substantial cost savings and reduces capital expenditures by allowing clients to test and evaluate ideas in the VR store environment—as opposed to doing so in physical stores—while reducing competitive visibility. For more information on InContext Solutions, visit www.incontextsolutions.com.