2020 IEEE 7th International Conference on Engineering Technologies and Applied Sciences (ICETAS)

Impact of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in

the Transformation of Virtual Customer
Relationship Management Sector
Hamid Raza Malik
Department of Computer Science
Umm Al-Qura University
Al-Qunfida, KSA
hrmalik@uqu.edu.sa
Naeem A Nawaz Musab Bassam Al-Zghoul
Department of Computer Science Department of Computer Science
Umm Al-Qura University Umm Al-Qura University
Makkah Almukarmah, KSA Al-Qunfida, KSA
nanawaz@uqu.edu.sa mbzghool@uqu.edu.sa

Abstract— The integration of virtual reality and artificial Several researchers have explored the benefits associated
intelligence into the business environment takes human- with VR in the business world [2][3]. AI and VR together
machine interaction to an advanced level. The inception of bring enhanced interaction with the real world. VR brings the
these technologies along with deep learning approaches has chance to shape the future of a business from a marketing
transformed the business environment completely, especially perspective resulting in a higher adoption rate of this
customer relationship management. Additionally, augmented technology. Also, VR helps to engage customers by
reality has changed the business production environment with providing them the latest interactive techniques and designs.
interactive designs and machines learning approaches.
Additionally, this technology has had an impact on the
Augmented reality is expected to grow by $814.7B in 2025
production sector through which the production of goods,
which will bring a huge transformation in the businesses.
Though leveraging technologies have been introduced to
designs, development, and testing can be carried out. VR
transform customer experience, with an ever-accelerating tidal technology helps revolutionize the business environment
wave of advancing technology, the adoption rate of these from a paper-based methodology to an interactive
technologies in business is not satisfactory. This is because of technology driven approach. Example is given in Fig. 1.
unawareness of the experience transformation rate of
augmented reality on business. Many applications related to
Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality experience were
found but no success rate was observed because of
unfamiliarity with the key features to the technology. There is
a need to introduce the power of technology by engaging with
it. A systematic approach to identify the key aspects of
augmented reality and virtual reality for the successful
adoption of business in customer relationship management
sector has been used for the present study. A case study of
Amazon is considered to analyze the impact of the
implementation of Virtual Reality on product sales.

Keywords— Virtual Customer Relationship Management (V-
CRM), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Neural
Learning
I. INTRODUCTION
Virtual Reality (VR) is an emerging technology that
infiltrates business and disrupts business operations. This is a
stimulating technology that can vary or be completely like
real objects around the world. The tremendous growth in VR
technology leads to enhancement in core business functions
and leads to the increment of revenue of the business. VR is
expected to grow $814.7B in 2025 . With the integration of
this technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI), several
other technologies such as speech recognition, language
detection, reading and interpreting human expressions and
machine-machine communication are also enabled [1]. The
merging of these technologies builds effective customer
experience.
Fig. 1. Make up virtual experience by Loreal
With the inception of neural learning in AI, the era of
machine learning, visualization methods, and voice
recognition have been improved enormously [4]. In the
production sector, visual environments are provided which
help in achieving more accurate results. The carbon footprint
expenses have also been decreased to enhanced level.
No business can survive without customers, therefore,
VR and AR (together) are boosting customer experience to a
new interactive level. Customers are engaged with products
using avatar experience at events and product showcase
which provides a highly engaging environment [5]. In e-
commerce, the virtualized environment for the business is
provided to the customers that enhances the level of
interaction with the products, thereby resulting in a higher
number of sales. With the commencement of visual analysis
in neural learning and deep learning approaches, a massive
transformation has been observed in the production as well

978-0-7381-0504-8/20/$31.00 ©2020 IEEE

as the marketing sectors. Customer data is managed using
big data processing through which the data is processed for
post-purchase customer relationship management
experience. Examples are given in Fig. 2 and 3.
Fig. 2. Virtual and AI based customized shoes experience
Fig. 3. amazon augmented reality based shopping
Apart from the associated benefits of AR in business, a
gap has been identified in the adoption of AR in business that
is covered in this study by introducing the key factors of AR
in a business. The present research consists of four parts. The
first section initiates with the background of VR in the
business world. Section 2 describes the methodology for the
research. Section 3 provides the systematic analysis of key
factor of AR in the business that helps the business to
achieve success. Section 4 describes analysis of the case of
Amazon for VR experience transformation. This study
provides a beneficial approach to research for the
transformation of conventional Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) to Virtual Customer Relationship
Management (V-CRM).
II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To make the research reproducible, rational and
transparent, a systematic approach has been used. The
systematic approach provided by Watson and Kitchenham,
[6] has been adopted for this study. The process commenced
with the collection of data from authenticated scientific
journals such as IEEE, Springer, and ACM. These articles
have been run through a screening process and the articles
chosen are in accordance to the research objectives. The
collective aim is to conduct a secondary analysis and
implement key findings on the case study of Amazon.
A. Search Strings
For this purpose, we tried to search using automatic
search and manual search methods to find quality material.
The Table 1 will show our search strings followed to find
relevant articles.
TABLE 1. SEARCH STRINGS
Digital
Search String
Library
(Program* AR OR Augmented reality*)
AND (VR OR Virtual reality) OR (Transform of
IEEE Xplore
vitual customer OR Virtual customer
management)
(Program* AR OR Augmented reality*)
AND (VR OR Virtual reality) OR (Transform of
SpringerLink
vitual customer OR Virtual customer
management)
(Program* AR OR Augmented reality*)
AND (VR OR Virtual reality) OR (Transform of
ACM
vitual customer OR Virtual customer
management)
(Program* AR OR Augmented reality*)
AND (VR OR Virtual reality) OR (Transform of
Google Scholar
vitual customer OR Virtual customer
Relationship)
B. Inclusion/ Exclusion criteria
Several search strings have been applied to the present
research to achieve validated and verified empirical articles.
Since AR and neural learning in CRM is a new area in the
business, therefore, a limited number of research papers
have been identified during the search process. An inclusion
and exclusion criteria has been adopted as well for the
research which is described in Tables 2 and 3.
TABLE 2. INCLUSION CRITERIA
Inclusion Criteria
Implementation of augmented reality regarding customer
relationship management is considered for this research.
Articles containing search strings in the abstract are selected.
Most recent journals have been selected.
Only research articles in the English language have been selected.
TABLE 3. EXCLUSION CRITERIA
Exclusion Criteria
Studies from authenticated online sources have been selected, rest
of the studies from other sources are excluded from this research.
Websites and blogs have been excluded from this study.
Grey literature like unpublished papers, presentations etc.
Duplicated articles
Non English
C. Assesment Criteria and Analysis
Fig. 4. Assessment criteria for study selection
 TABLE 4. RESULT ANALYSIS
Abstract
Filtered Removing base Text Final
Documents Duplicate Screening Screening Paper
1223 928 234 45 16
Fig. 5. Assessment criteria
Initially, we started with 1233 papers, on the bases of
duplication we remove 928 papers, we removed 234 on the
base of abstract screening, on the base of text screening we
removed 45 papers. Since AR and neural learning in CRM is
a new area in the business, therefore, 16 limited research
papers have been identified during the search process.
Assesment criteria has shown in the Fig. 4 and Table 4 and
represented by graph in Fig. 5.
III. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
AR is influencing customer experience management at a
large scale, that boosts customer experience to an increased
level. Table 2 presents the key factors identified and the
research identified in the relevant field is given in Table 5.
The interactivity with the product is enhanced with the
product purchase intention.
Po, Laura, et al,[7] concluded that to enhance the
engagement of a product and bringing the product right in
front of the human eye on the focus area, big data
visualization techniques are adopted. In addition, the process
of neurology and ophthalmology is also controlled by big
data management that has deep roots in AR. Thus, AR helps
enhance customer experience with the product.
The e-store environment can judge customer behavior
and analyze the purchasing intention of the customer, which
helps to acquire knowledge about what the customer will
experience in the future. Based on the research conducted by
Babin, et al,[8], it is construed that the shopping atmosphere
influences customer shopping behavior. The customer
TABLE 5. KEY FACTORS AND RESEARCH FINDINGS
KEY FACTORS
Brand Awareness
Interactivity
Purchase intention
Engagement with the product
Online Product experience management
Post-Customer relationship Management
experience is inclined by the interactive game-based
terminal. The customer loyalty rate is influenced by product
perception and Post-purchase experience. Nowadays,
companies are paying larger attention to enhance the
familiarity of the product with the usage of technology, word
of mouth, e-marketing, online customer reviews, and also
VR.
Image recognition is the technology that uses intelligent
algorithms resulting in product identification. It helps to save
the time of the customer by QR scanning approach and
providing the right place of the product in the shopping mall
instead of wasting time on the searching of items. BYOD
(Bring your own device) applications have been developed
that enhance customer engagement and make customer
experience effective. Due to this, instead of waiting for a
long time for billing the customers can automatically
calculate the bill using business intelligence and can save
their time. In addition, there are AR based interactive online
stores which provides complete shopping experience and
complete transaction online.
Famous brands and Manufacturing companies provide
AR experience to provide customized material to enhance
customer engagement with the product and achieve customer
satisfaction level. Based on the research conducted by
Claudia Redaelli, et al,[9] it is concluded that companies try
to enhance customer experience by providing an Augmented
and Virtual Reality based floor that provides customized
shoes for the people. In addition, many other brands have
launched customized product manufacturing to enhance
customer experience for the product as shown in Fig. 6.
Thus, a larger number of customers are attracted to the
products and this helps the companies in getting a
competitive advantage.
Fig. 6. Augmented reality based shopping
RESEARCH FINDINGS
(E. Olshannikova, 2014) (Huang, 2019) (Javornik, 2016)
(Ingrid Poncin, 2014) (Hilken, 2017) (Rauschnabel, 2019)
(Javornik, 2016) (Carlos Flavián, 2019)
(Claudia Redaelli, 2015) (Yim, 2017) (Joachim Scholz, 2016)
(Andone, 2014) (Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro, 2019)
(Cao, 2018) (Rauschnabel, 2019)

Based on the research conducted by Chin et al [10],
it is deduced that online shopping experience is providing
good revenue to music, video, and credit purchases, but is
less helpful for large items such as cars, furniture, etc.
Augmented and Virtual Reality are proposed solutions
that provide a superior engagement level to the people.
Widespread researches have been carried out to
investigate user behavior at an online purchasing center
[10],[5],[11]. The users can customize results for their
desired product. Many companies offer customized
shoes for users to enhance customer product engagement
(Fig 1, 2 and 3), even text can also be customized on
shoes, which is done through AR and neural learning
approaches. Famous hairstylist brands are offering AR
experiences for the different hairstyle options they have
for a customer. To introduce a product to the customers,
companies have introduced the respective AR
application such as online shopping sites providing a
real product experience using mobile application,
thereby helping the customers make a decision [10].
To make customer experience interactive along
with brand awareness, AR-based applications have been
developed that help in designing interactive
advertisements for a company’s products [5]. For
example, in physical stores, companies have arranged
AR-based games that have been designed based on
innovative ideas and provide customers shopping
coupons on winning the games. In this way, AR is
providing enhanced experience with the product and
also provides improved interaction with the customer.
Customer loyalty depends on the quality of the product
and the purchasing experience. Based on the research
conducted by Cao [12], it is concluded that the quality of
product and product delivery methods such as shipping,
tracking, and similar other things make the customer
post purchasing experience eminent. Augmented Reality
provides post-purchase experience effects such as
Augmented Reality based user manuals, cooking
tutorials, makeup tutorials etc. Thus, high product
involvement is achieved after a strong endorsement of
the product.
Customer attitude towards a brand is the key aspect
of brand loyalty that is arbitrated by hedonic benefits
and utilitarian benefits. Rauschnabel et al,[13] described
that especially AR based applications have been
developed that inspire customers and help change the
customer’s attitude towards a brand or a company.
Resonating with the ideas of Augmented Reality apps, it
was deduced by Joachim Scholz et al, [14] that
inspiration increases with emotional gratification. It
helps to engage a customer positively or negatively.
Thus, it is inferred by Yim, [15] that customer positive
feedback creates a positive perception in the mind of
people, whereas negative feedback creates a negative
perception about the brand. Overall, this brand
perception impacts positively on purchase intention.
Therefore, interactive approach for the feedback is
adopted by providing AR based feedback systems. Most
of these technologies are available after downloading the
specific company’s applications that are hosted on the
cloud.
The high augmented reality perception about
interactivity level leads to a positive influence on
purchasing intention. A high AR environment is one
which provides a situated experience where physical
reality and virtual content seamlessly merge [16]. All
these factors influence customer-driven experience of
shopping. A technology-mediated nature of brand
experience is provided to the customers to provide
maximum engagement and product experience.
IV. CASE STUDY
Amazon and other leading online selling brands and
companies provide an enhanced experience for their
customers. Amazon provides an engaging environment
for the business. It maintains customer experience by
balancing the customer’s interaction with the product
and the post-product experience. Amazon tries to make
the customer experience effective by providing an
excellent shopping experience through product
descriptions and reviews. Many augmented reality-based
shopping experiences are provided to the customers that
enhance product familiarity as well as reduce cost. The
business intelligence module is implemented by
Amazon that provides intelligent suggestions to the
customers.
Amazon implements all the above-mentioned key
features such as Brand Awareness through intelligent
algorithms which investigate the user requirements and
provide suggestion to the customer by judging their
requirements. To make effective customer product
experience, Amazon has provided Augmented Reality-
based design space. Many AR based gift cards are
offered to the customers. In addition, customers enjoy
the VR based greeting cards, gifs, and text through
which the customers can pass reviews. Thus, the
customer shopping experience through online platforms
is made efficacious. For this purpose, the neural learning
and deep learning algorithms have been implemented
that process the data at the computing end. The product
purchase intention in the online store is enhanced by
using Artificial Intelligence based algorithms. Different
language support is provided by using Natural Language
Processing Algorithms (NLPA). Some products support
complete VR based shopping centers that automate
customer experience management. It has also developed
specially hardware devices to provide customer
experience through voice commands. To improve the
delivery system, drone delivery system is under research
through which Amazon will make timely delivery using
a completely robotic system.
Amazon provides in-house shopping experience
which is automated by Artificial Intelligence such as
Amazon Go and Amazon Books. The complete
shopping center without human support is provided
where every activity is driven by using robotics. The
data is stored using a big data approach that is processed
using neural learning algorithms. Specially designed
sensors have automated the product purchase system.
Thus, using the intelligent business intelligence system,
Amazon has provided excellent in-house shopping
experience. By using AR, Amazon has achieved a high
level of customer satisfaction. In addition, the product
return rate has also been decreased. Overall, it shows the
positive implementation of Augmented Reality in the
 business world and it can be occluded that company
product revenue can be increased with the
implementation of Augmented Reality and Virtual
Reality in the business.
V. CONCLUSION
With automated technologies, the shopping
experience is completely transformed. The key factors
for effective customer relationship management have
been described in this study. The associated benefits can
be considered as the adoption factors in the business.
This research explores the beneficial impacts of using
Augmented Reality in the business for the
transformation of CRM to V-CRM. The customer data
is saved, and customer ratio is increased using intelligent
neural-learning based algorithms that process the data at
the computing end. Several customer relationship
management processes have been considered such as
brand awareness, interactivity with the product, product
engagement, online product experience management,
and post-product purchase experience. These key factors
have been explored by considering Amazon as a case
study, which provides the complete online and inhouse
shopping experience all over the world. Many leading
brands are applying augmented reality based shopping
experience for their customers to enhance engagement
and shape better customer experience.
VI. SUGGESTIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Currently, different applications are downloaded in
the system to run the Augmented Reality and Virtual
Reality interfaces. This research suggests that the web-
based system should be developed where the customers
can enjoy the AR based experience for the product in the
web-based system. This research can be further carried
to explore the security issues in AR and business
intelligence. The future researches can be done on
making the products including the home appliances used
in everyday activities. Research gaps that are found in
research that need to be catered are the embedment of
natural language processing and intelligence powered
voice recognition system in routine activities like login
activities and business department communication.
Emotions reading through artificial intelligence
appliances creating new room boards for effective
decision making processes. Furthermore, longitudinal
research can be conducted into potential increases in the
capacity of customers learning through virtual reality
interface which will be another interesting field of study
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