What is Virtual Shopping? AI Try-On, Benefits and 2026 Trends

Virtual shopping now blends artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and live-video commerce into one immersive experience. Shoppers can use AI to see clothes on their own body, preview furniture in their space, or join a livestream before making a purchase. It’s also becoming tightly connected to clienteling, where associates use unified data to deliver personalized service.

For some omnichannel retailers, this shift can feel overwhelming, but it's a practical opportunity—especially when ecommerce and point of sale (POS) work on a single commerce platform. 

This guide dives deeper into how virtual shopping works, the technologies that make it possible, how clienteling fits in, and how to pilot them step by step. By the end, you’ll understand not just what virtual shopping is, but how to build it into your own business—whether you sell apparel, beauty products, furniture, or anything in between.

What is virtual shopping?

Virtual shopping is a digital service where customers can browse and shop for products online as they would in a brick-and-mortar retail store. Done well, it creates an immersive shopping experience that connects online and in-store journeys. 

An associate working in-store, at home, or at the head office can instantly connect with online customers via text, chat, or video. Through this real-time connection, shoppers can browse the online catalog while also:

• Asking questions
• Virtually trying on products
• Receiving personalized recommendations from a product expert

Every virtual try-on, augmented reality (AR) view, and live chat helps retailers understand what customers engage with most—insights that feed directly into merchandising, inventory, and marketing decisions. Whether you sell apparel, beauty products, or home furnishings, virtual shopping turns browsing into measurable behavior that can inform smarter business moves.

Virtual shopping vs. virtual stores: What’s the difference?

Virtual stores are a subset of virtual shopping. They’re 3D, immersive shopping environments that customers virtually “walk” through using their browser or a headset. Using this technology, retailers don’t need a physical store location with employees—they can build one virtually and have customers around the globe visit. 

You’ll need CGI or 360-degree photography to build a virtual store. This makes the up-front build expensive, but for some brands, the investment pays dividends. 

Virtual retail spaces:

• Are more cost effective than virtual shopping, which still requires a physical store—and the costs associated with one: employees, rent, insurance, etc
• Can serve people all over the world, not just within proximity to a physical location
• Support international expansion with the option to translate copy on your virtual store into other languages

Fenty Beauty is leveraging this through Shopify’s partnership with Roblox. Virtual shoppers can buy an exclusive version of their iconic Gloss Bomb within the Roblox metaverse.

“We wanted to keep it fun and rooted in community, and to build on what our fans loved most,” said Nanette Wong, VP of global marketing and brand strategy at Fenty Beauty, in a Glossy interview. “They can explore, play, talk to our team and buy if they want to—all from inside the game.”

What is clienteling in retail?

Where virtual shopping focuses on how customers discover and interact with products, clienteling is the human layer that turns those interactions into lasting relationships.

Retail clienteling is the practice of building one-to-one relationships with shoppers, using data, personalization, and consistent communication to make every interaction feel like it’s with a trusted advisor, online or in-store. It’s the modern counterpart to remembering a regular’s favorite order or preferred style, only now powered by integrated data and AI.

Customer service vs. clienteling

Customer service and clienteling share the same goal—happy, loyal customers—but approach it differently. 

Retail customer service is often reactive, resolving issues after they happen. Clienteling is proactive, anticipating needs before the customer even asks. This difference matters more in a virtual shopping environment, where many interactions start online and brands need to decide whether they’ll simply respond to questions or actively build relationships.

Here’s a closer look at some of the distinctions:

The shift from reactive support to proactive virtual clienteling depends on having a single, accurate view of each customer. When order, product, and customer data are unified, every associate can see the full context of every interaction and tailor their outreach accordingly. 

Shopify assists by building a single customer view each time someone shares their email address or phone number with your business. Any supplementary data—whether collected online or in-store; through a native Shopify feature or integrated third-party app—feeds back to this profile for a 360-degree view of every customer. 

Types of virtual shopping experiences retailers use today

• 1:1 video shopping appointments
• Assisted shopping through live chat and messaging
• Livestream shopping events
• AR try-on and product visualization
• Virtual reality for immersive stores
• 3D and 360 virtual showrooms

One-to-one video shopping appointments

Not every customer visits your online store knowing exactly what they want to buy. If you don’t have a physical location for them to visit, one-to-one video shopping appointments help bridge the gap. They’re private video calls between a sales associate and the customer, giving the premium personal shopping experience in digital form. 

One-to-one video-shopping appointments are great if you’re selling high-consideration products. Video calls give you a chance to answer deep-dive questions that’d be difficult to cover through text-based live chat. You can also upsell and cross-sell related items to increase average order value (AOV). 

How to start:

1. Choose an appointment-booking app that integrates with Shopify. 
2. Train your team on how to deliver one-to-one virtual shopping consultations. Teach them how to welcome guests, upsell products, and answer objections on the call. 
3. Invite customers to book a personal shopping appointment. Display the option online (website banners, product pages, popup boxes) and in-store (retail signage, point-of-purchase displays) for future reference. 

Assisted shopping via live chat and messaging

Live chat allows retailers to provide sales floor expertise at the exact moment an online shopper is hesitating over a shopping cart. For example, if a customer says, "I'm looking for a sustainable summer dress in blue,” you can immediately send direct links to three specific SKUs that match their criteria.

There are multiple channels for these virtual conversations to take place:

• Live chat on your ecommerce website 
• Social media direct messages
• Messaging apps like WhatsApp

AI in retail is changing this type of clienteling. Instead of waiting for a complaint, predictive tools flag when a high-value customer might need a reorder, restock alert, or style suggestion. Associates can then act first with a personalized message that feels human, not templated.

How to start:

1. Choose a live chat app, like Shopify Inbox, and integrate it with your commerce platform.
2. Give access to the live chat function at every customer touchpoint. It should be visible on product pages, contact pages, and social media accounts.
3. Train your retail team on how to answer common questions.

Livestream shopping (one-to-many)

Livestream commerce is a real-time, shoppable broadcast in which a single host (or small hosting team) presents products to a large audience at once. In a live shopping stream, viewers can chat, react, and purchase directly from the stream via pinned products, in-video carts, and inventory callouts. It turns a product page into a live event—part demo, part Q&A, part drop.

Livestreams bring discovery, evaluation, and purchase together in one session. They add human interaction back into digital shopping and can increase engagement and accelerate time to purchase. They also generate rich behavioral data, like watch time, chat volume, clicks on pinned products, add-to-cart, and conversion per stream.

You can host live commerce events through your website with app integrations like Bambuser or Channelize. Platforms like TikTok also have their own livestream shopping features that link streams to listings on TikTok Shop. TikTok estimates users will spend $77 billion through these broadcasts by 2027. 

How to start:

1. Pick a platform (TikTok Shop is popular) and theme—think “new arrivals try-on” or “gift picks under $50.” Script a 20–30-minute segment.
2. Make it shoppable by connecting your catalog to your livestream or TikTok Shop integration and preloading pinned products. On Shopify, this means using your existing product and inventory data rather than managing separate lists. This keeps inventory callouts and low-stock alerts accurate in real time during the stream.
3. Make it measurable by tracking viewers, chat interactions, product clicks, conversions, and replay sales after the event. Use insights learned from your livestream to refine future streams—testing different time slots, formats, and product mixes.

AR try-on and product visualization

Augmented reality shopping brings more of the in-store experience into a shopper’s space. It allows customers to “place” products into their environment using a phone camera, removing guesswork about size, scale, or color. A shopper can project a sofa into their living room, try on jewelry virtually, or test makeup shades, all without visiting a store.

Virtual try-on (VTO) tools let shoppers preview how products look on themselves, while generative AI models simulate how fabrics drape, fabric movement, and realistic lighting across a range of body types. This realism directly affects buyer confidence. Shoppers who can see how jeans fit their own proportions or how glasses frame their face are less likely to abandon carts or return products. 

Furniture retailers like Arhaus, for example, pair AR visualization with generative design, letting users rearrange entire rooms and shop the results instantly. 

“We really want our customers to truly invest in Arhaus and invest in these pieces,” says Steve Bauer, vice president of ecommerce and digital at Arhaus. “We want to instill as much confidence as possible into the customer before they purchase with our solutions and website capabilities.”

How to start:

1. Upload 3D or USDZ/GLB assets for your top-selling items. Or, install a VTO app from your commerce platform’s app store and upload 3D product images you already use for AR or detailed product views.
2. Add an AR viewer to product detail pages within your unified commerce platform. When AR experiences pull from a unified set of product and inventory data, shoppers see accurate options in real time and staff know interest aligns with what’s actually in stock.
3. Track usage metrics and conversion lift in your dashboard. Use those insights to inform merchandising decisions, and to decide which products to feature next in virtual environments like VR showrooms.

Tip: When product and customer data are connected across online and in-store channels with Shopify’s unified data model, recommendations stay accurate no matter where a shopper browses or buys. These types of data-driven experiences not only reduce friction but also generate insight into what styles, sizes, and colors drive engagement.

Virtual reality for immersive stores and showrooms

VR takes immersion a step further by creating navigable, three-dimensional stores or showrooms that customers can explore via a headset (such as Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest) or through web-based VR (like WebXR). 

Unlike AR, which layers products onto the real world, VR offers a fully immersive experience where shoppers can “walk” through virtual aisles, attend brand events, or interact with digital sales associates.

Major platforms have adapted VR for commerce: Apple Vision Pro now supports retail environments, Meta Quest hosts branded popup stores, and WebXR enables lightweight browser-based VR for small businesses. 

For categories such as furniture, appliances, or automotive accessories, where size, design, and configuration matter, VR gives customers the context they might be missing online.

For smaller businesses, full-scale worlds aren’t required. You can repurpose your 3D models from AR to create a single-room virtual showroom, host it online, and invite customers to explore new collections or limited editions. Even a lightweight VR experience can help you test demand for new assortments or layouts before making in-store changes.

How to start:

1. Convert your existing 3D assets into a small virtual showroom using a web-based VR platform.
2. Invite customers or influencers to private walkthroughs and track visit duration, wishlist activity, and appointment requests.

3D/360 virtual stores and showrooms

Virtual showrooms move online shoppers away from a flat, 2D grid of product squares and into a curated world that looks and feels like a real boutique. They help retailers overcome the limitations of their physical footprint and reach customers who can’t visit in person. 

For example, an out-of-state customer can virtually walk through the store using their mouse or phone. When they see something they like on a shelf, they click to see the price, description, and an "Add to cart" button they can use for seamless checkout.

If you do have physical retail stores, enhance it with this type of virtual showroom. If you’re a furniture boutique, for instance, you might only have space for two sofas in-store, while your 3D showroom features 20. Customers can explore the virtual showroom on a tablet while standing in the physical store, with assistance from a sales associate throughout. 

Key technologies driving virtual shopping in 2026

The tools powering virtual shopping heading into 2026 go far beyond simple chat or video calls. Modern technologies transform how customers shop online, bringing more of the in-store experience online and helping customers move from discovery to purchase.

Product catalog data

Clean product data as the infrastructure that supports virtual shopping. Any integration you use—whether for AR experiences or virtual products in the metaverse—pulls data from this catalog. Issues here roll out to other touchpoints. You could wind up showing customers items that are out of stock, the wrong price, or physically impossible to buy. 

Shopify solves this problem by natively unifying order, inventory, and customer data on the same platform. It’s the only platform to build POS and ecommerce on the same infrastructure. You get one “business brain” that powers every sales channel without complex middleware or patchy integrations—and the rising costs that come with both. 

An independent research firm found the value in this approach. It discovered that retailers using Shopify POS experience:

• Up to 37% lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
• 20% faster implementation time 
• 89% lower annual third-party support costs

3D files

If you want customers to rotate a product or see it in their room, you need 3D models. There are two file types to choose from:

• GLB: An open-source format that bundles the 3D mesh (the shape), textures (the skin), and lighting. It’s best for integrating AR into product pages—you can create GLB files with tools like Adobe Photoshop, Blender, and Autodesk Maya, then upload them directly to Shopify.
• USDZ: Developed by Apple and Pixar to display AR content. These 3D models integrate with Apple products, including ARKit, Safari, and Quick Look. It’s the better option if you want “view in my room” AR features or similar. 

Tip: Don't 3D-model your entire product catalog. Start by converting hero products or bestsellers into GLB/USDZ assets first to test the conversion lift before investing in the rest.

Staff education

Your retail team is your biggest competitive advantage. However, if they aren't trained, virtual shopping technology can feel like a barrier rather than a tool.

Develop a staff training program that covers:

• Virtual consultation best practices: Good lighting and camera angles hugely impact a customer’s virtual shopping experience on the other side of the screen.
• Text-based communication: It’s easy for words to give the wrong impression when you’re communicating through text only. Staff need to learn how to use emojis, photos, and voice notes to build rapport quickly through a screen.
• Live shopping role-play: Staff must learn to read a scrolling chat, answer questions verbally, and show products simultaneously—all while maintaining high energy. Teach them how to do this in a “safe” environment by role-playing a live shopping event. 
• Product knowledge training: Retail associates can know how to use the tech, but if they can’t back that up with detailed product expertise, virtual shopping falls flat. Give regular training so they know how your products work, the problems they solve, and the customer most likely to get value from them. 
• POS training: Your POS is the brain of your retail business. It houses inventory, order, and customer data—all of which your team will need to offer virtual shopping.

Tip: Your choice of POS system influences how easy it is for staff to learn. Pet food retailer Tomlinson’s, for example, reduced time spent training new hires on POS operations by 32% with Shopify, because all POS activities take place in a single unified platform.

Benefits of virtual shopping and virtual clienteling

Virtual shopping has grown from a sales experiment into one of retail’s most strategic growth drivers. By combining AI, AR, VR, and clienteling, retailers can now offer high-touch service at digital scale, creating richer experiences, better data, and more loyal customers. 

Human connection as your competitive advantage

Big-box marketplaces may win on price, but small retailers still win on relationships. Virtual clienteling tools let associates send personal recommendations, host live events, and follow up with tailored messages, all without losing the human touch.

For example, UNTUCKit is known for their highly knowledgeable team of store associates who give shoppers expert recommendations on style and fit. And thanks to UNTUCKit’s use of virtual clienteling, their online customers can now enjoy the same level of service. 

More personalized experiences that lift sales and order value

Clienteling keeps customers coming back through proactive, data-driven outreach. Predictive AI prompts associates to reengage at the right moment—before a product runs out or a new collection launches. 

AI-driven recommendations and live consultations now replace the old “customers also bought” widgets with dynamic, data-informed suggestions. Customers are encouraged to spend more when they see relevant items in real time.

Plus, because all interactions feed the same customer profile, staff can pick up conversations seamlessly across channels. This builds on the human connection associates create and elevates customer experiences for more shoppers, which becomes especially important when stores need to operate with reduced capacity. 

Gosha Khuchua, CMO of The Detox Market, shares his experience with virtual shopping: "Having our retail associates manage customer interactions both digitally and in-person with virtual shopping tools is something we’d been dreaming about but hadn’t had the bandwidth to execute until recently. Everyone—customers and associates—have said to me, ‘We hope this stays.'"

New retail roles and revenue streams

Virtual shopping creates new opportunities for associates to become stylists, livestream hosts, or online community managers, diversification that increases engagement and skill development. These roles can also unlock new revenue streams, from paid styling sessions to exclusive virtual drops.

Today’s retail associates use AI and clienteling apps to blend creativity with efficiency, producing video demos, building customer lists, and tracking performance autonomously. Empowerment leads to stronger retention and career satisfaction. For smaller teams, this can reduce manual work and give associates more ownership over results.

Plus, with digital interactions tracked in real time, managers can measure effectiveness by engagement and outcome, not just transactions. Key metrics include assisted conversion, chat-to-sale ratio, and average response time. Review performance dashboards weekly to coach associates on what messages and formats yield the highest conversions.

Associates as creators and brand ambassadors

Virtual shopping has turned many associates into content creators and micro-influencers. Livestreams, shoppable reels, and social Q&As let staff showcase products authentically, deepening customer trust. 

Encourage this trend by offering training in on-camera presentation and content planning. When product information flows consistently into social and livestream tools, associates can focus on storytelling while the system handles details.

Greater operational flexibility for omnichannel retail 

Virtual shopping links ecommerce, in-store, and mobile experiences. A shopper can discover products online, confirm fit through VTO, and buy in-store—or the reverse—without friction. This unified approach, sometimes called showrooming and webrooming, strengthens brand consistency. Shoppers see the same pricing, promotions, and availability everywhere.

Plus, when customers explore products virtually, you can showcase extended assortments without keeping excess stock onsite. Retailers can lean on virtual showrooms and ship directly from warehouses. Connected inventory data makes it easier to see where stock sits and route orders from the best location.

For small and midsize retailers, this makes limited merchandising space work harder—both online and in-store. Less secure footage doesn’t equal fewer opportunities to showcase your inventory. Smaller teams can still support customers even when the physical store is closed.

Examples of virtual shopping and clienteling in retail

Virtual shopping looks different for every brand, but the goal is the same: connect with customers more personally, wherever they are. These examples show how virtual shopping solves different buying barriers and how retailers of all sizes can adapt the same ideas.

Gunner Kennels uses AR to reduce product returns

Gunner Kennels sells premium dog crates, but their returns data proved it was difficult for online shoppers to buy the right size if they didn’t see it in person. 

To solve this problem, Gunner Kennels worked with Shopify AR to develop 3D models of each dog crate. They uploaded these models to each product page for online shoppers to view a life-size version of each crate next to their dog. 

The impact was immediate:

• Cart conversion rate rose by 3%.
• Return rates dropped by 5%.
• Order conversion rate increased by 40%.

“3D models have served as a tool to further bridge the gap between a retail experience and online,” explains Gunner Kennels’ VP of marketing Macey Benton. “As we see higher adoption rates with the models, we are also seeing lower return and exchange rates.”

Brand takeaway: Even small specialty retailers can deploy AR tools to guide shoppers toward personalized product recommendations—and track conversion and satisfaction rates for every digital consultation.

Made By Mitchell’s livestream broke TikTok records 

British cosmetics brand Made By Mitchell hosted a 24-hour livestream broadcast across their TikTok. The goal: to generate $500,000 in sales.

Each product featured in the live commerce event was linked to a TikTok shop listing, making every look instantly shoppable. The event had wide global reach and drew engaged shoppers from around the world. The live stream sales doubled their initial targets. 

Now, Made by Mitchell estimates TikTok Live will drive $50 million in annual sales, with themed events on a regular basis—illustrating how live commerce merges storytelling with conversion.

🧠Brand takeaway: Livestreams humanize digital storefronts. Smaller brands can host product demos or Q&A sessions, capturing valuable metrics like viewer count, chat interactions, and replay sales to refine future shows.

Diane von Fursternburg blends in-store try-ons with data-rich digital experiences

Luxury fashion brand Diane von Furstenberg uses technology to connect online and in-store shopping. Shoppers can see products online, then visit stores to try items in person with help from associates who have access to the same product and customer information.

“If we weren’t using Shopify POS, I think our team would have a harder time building rapport with our customers and staying in touch with them,” says Joanna Puccio, assistant store manager at Diane von Furstenberg. 

“With Shopify, my staff can log customer information in one place and refer to it whenever they need. They can reach out to clients for things they’ll actually be interested in, which makes our customer experience feel so much more curated and personal.”

Brand takeaway: You don’t have to choose between digital and in-person experiences. By connecting what shoppers see online with how associates support them in store, retailers can reduce returns, improve fit confidence, and build longer-term loyalty.

BareMinerals uses AR mirrors to let shoppers try on makeup—in-store and at home

The beauty brand bareMinerals continues to lead in augmented reality mobile try-on features that let shoppers preview makeup shades in real time. AR simulates lipstick, eyeshadow, and foundation tones to replicate the in-store buying experience at home.

🧠Brand takeaway: AR builds instant confidence. Independent boutiques can pilot touchless AR mirrors or 3D product viewers for jewelry, eyewear, and a wide array of other categories by starting with a handful of hero products and expanding as they see results.

David’s Bridal recreate endless product aisles with one-to-one shopping

Wedding dresses aren’t something shoppers buy off the cuff. David’s Bridal knows this—so they treat their retail stores as mini showrooms that showcase a single version of each SKU. 

Powering these experiences are digital touchscreens built with custom POS extensions built on Shopify APIs. Retail associates use them to load a bride’s profile and the information they’ve collected: styles they’ve viewed, colorways they like, etc.

“The bride could say ‘I like this dress but I want a different sleeve,’” explains president and CBO Elina Vilk. “We can make those adjustments and see them on the screen, then we likely have what she’s looking for, and if not in this store, we can ship it to her home.”

Brand takeaway: Virtual reality gives customers context they can’t get from flat photos and offers valuable data to retailers. Smaller brands don’t need full-store replicas to benefit—even a single-room virtual showroom can help test new assortments or layouts.

How to add virtual shopping and clienteling to your Shopify store

You don’t need enterprise budgets to bring virtual shopping and clienteling to life. Several accessible apps and integrations—including Shopify’s app ecosystem—make it easy to add real-time chat, personalized outreach, shoppable video, and AI-driven engagement, all with tools built for small and midsize retailers.

These tools work best when they use the same product and customer data from your Shopify store, so every interaction reflects up-to-date information.

Shopify Inbox

Shopify Inbox is the native chat app that connects your storefront, social channels, and customer messages in one dashboard. It allows you to chat with shoppers in real time, send product recommendations, and use saved replies or automated greetings to assist customers even when you’re offline.

How to set up Shopify Inbox:

1. Install Shopify Inbox from the Shopify App Store.
2. Activate the chat widget on your storefront.
3. Create three automated messages: Greeting, away, and follow-up.
4. Train staff to use product links and cart insights during conversations.
5. Track chat-to-sale conversion rates and average response times to see how virtual conversations influence sales.

Endear

Endear is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool designed for omnichannel brands. It helps store associates manage customer lists, send personalized outreach, and track conversions from every message. It integrates directly with Shopify POS, making it a top pick for retailers running a “click-and-mortar” strategy with both physical and online stores.

How to set it up:

1. Install Endear from the Shopify App Store.
2. Sync your customer list and POS data.
3. Segment customers by purchase frequency or category.
4. Send your first outreach campaign using dynamic product recommendations.
5. Track outreach-to-appointment rate and revenue per associate to refine future clienteling campaigns.

Tolstoy

Tolstoy brings shoppable video and interactive storytelling directly into your storefront. Merchants can upload product videos, embed them on product pages, or host live sessions where viewers click to purchase instantly. It’s a good pick for ecommerce brands experimenting with livestream commerce or video-based discovery.

How to set it up:

1. Install Tolstoy from the Shopify App Store.
2. Upload short, vertical videos for key products or categories.
3. Embed the player on product detail pages and your homepage.
4. Review analytics weekly to see which clips drive conversions.
5. Track video view-to-cart rate and revenue per engagement session.

Master virtual shopping with Shopify

Virtual shopping once sounded like a science fiction concept, but today’s consumers have proved it’s here to stay. The technology has become a tool that helps humanize the internet, while simultaneously giving in-store shoppers the digital experiences they’re asking for. 

But for virtual shopping to work effectively, channels must draw from the same product, customer, and inventory information. It ensures each touchpoint becomes more consistent and more valuable—and it’s easy to scale with Shopify.