Cognitive Impact of Telepresence on Online Retail Environments

As web users become more sophisticated, online businesses are forced to find innovative ways to interact with their customers in order to capture and retain their interest long enough to actually complete an online sale. Savvy buyers have to be wooed with more than price comparisons, online rebates and to-your-door shipping. Visual Telepresence is becoming increasingly popular as a means of capturing and retaining audience interest by providing customers with a sense of "being there." In the offline world of bricks and mortar, both specialty shops and large retail chains have invested millions of dollars in the appearance and "feel" of the store, product displays, and product placement. By creating Visual Telepresence - a way to view products and retail spaces in real time-merchants can provide a sense of interactivity not previously possible in online shopping. The experience of purchasing anything or visiting tourist locations online, etc., becomes more "real," as web-based visual telepresence gives users a sense of being connected. Newly developed applications enable users to take control of their viewing experience by zooming in on and around a product to examine it closely with real time pictures. By providing online shopping enhanced by Visual Telepresence, merchants create a compelling user experience and increase the chance of completing an online sale. These technological developments provide a rich field of study for the human factors professional, as there is very little empirical research available to validate the effectiveness of telepresence in online Ecommerce.