Immersive learning revolutionizes retail training
Faced with the challenge of training thousands of employees around the world on the nuances of US store layout and product placement, global food and beverage (F&B) leaders have set out to achieve more than operational efficiency. Face-to-face visits are no longer feasible, creating an urgent need for scalable, realistic, and highly impactful virtual training. This case study explores how organizations partner with EI to launch an immersive virtual store tour program that redefines employee engagement, performance, and knowledge transfer.
Client Overview: The Great Power of the Global Food and Beverage Industry
Our clients are the Fortune 500 food and drink giants with a globally recognized portfolio of brands with snacks, drinks and wellness-centric products. With operations ranging from over 200 countries and a workforce of over hundreds of thousands, the company has a strong footprint in both mature and emerging markets. A focus on innovation, sustainability and operational excellence drives ongoing global success.
Business Requirements: Region-wide Scalable Retail Training
To ensure consistent training in urban and remote areas, clients needed a digital learning solution that could effectively simulate in-store experiences. Traditional in-person training, including international travel, was often costly and unsustainable. The business sought immersive training solutions that were prepared for the future to enhance store layout knowledge, promote field effectiveness and improve market adjustments.
Solution Strategy: Virtual Store Tour Using Immersive Learning Technology
To bridge the training gaps, the organization worked with EI to design a VR-enabled immersive learning programme entitled “Virtual Store Tours.” This scalable training solution uses 360-degree visuals, guided navigation and interactive content to simulate real-world store visits.
Important Solution Features and Learning Design
1. 360 Degree Store Exploration: High resolution 360° images were sewn together to create a seamless, interactive environment that mimics the physical store experience. Employees can effectively walk down the store aisles and observe the layout and product placement in real time.
2. Introductory Video: The journey begins with an overview of the video and sets the tone and expectations of an immersive experience.
3. AI-generated avatars: Intelligent avatars guide employees, enhance personalization and maintain engagement through training.
4. User-Friendly Navigation Support: The intuitive help screen provides tips for exploring virtual environments, making it easy for first-time users to navigate.
5. Store layout and Golden Pass: Learners introduce the store layout via detailed visual maps. Golden Pass, which accounts for 70% of actual shopper traffic, passes through key zones with strategic product placement.
6. Interactive navigation arrows: Golden arrows guide learners through predefined training paths followed by a free exploration with purple arrows.
7. Layered Learning Content: Tours feature additional insights with video descriptions and clickable text hotspots, allowing content context to be embedded and easily retained.
Implementation Timeline: Behavior of the Agile Craft Framework
This project followed EI’s agile craft model (consultation, refinement, aggregation, form, testing) to allow efficient collaboration and rapid execution. The complete solution was delivered in just 4.5 months.
Results and Measurable Business Impact
The Virtual Store Tours programme was in line with client expectations and business goals. We have strengthened remote and field employees the tools needed to succeed in highly competitive market conditions.
Tangible benefits increase understanding of product placement and preserve familiarity. Stronger field team preparation and cross market consistency. Improved emotional connection and organizational integrity. 90% of learners in Performance Metrics rated 4.47 out of a 5.30% increase in training participation through virtual accessibility. 25% improvement in layout understanding between employees. 15% growth in sales performance after program completion.
Conclusion: ROI and ROE through immersive learning
Immersive learning strategies such as virtual store tours go beyond traditional training. They promote tangible business outcomes while providing an engaging, highly retained learning experience. By combining immersive technology with meaningful content and intuitive design, the program provided measurable improvements in performance, return on learning investment (ROI), and learner effectiveness (ROE).
At EI, we are proud to be recognized by the e-learning industry as the leading immersive learning content provider. Our solutions are built to empower modern businesses with scalable, attractive and shocking training.
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Note: All images provided by EI.
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EI is an emotionally intelligent learning experience design company that partners with customers on a digital transformation journey.
Originally published on www.eidesign.net
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