Research by tech company Omnico has found that 97 per cent of Chinese theme-park visitors want to use futuristic technology when shopping.
Its survey shows that 54 per cent want to use virtual-reality (VR) headsets so they can see how they might look wearing clothing or other accessories, while 36 per cent want augmented reality software to bring products to life on their smartphones.
The figures are part of the second Omnico Theme Park Barometer, which covered 2000 consumers from China, Japan and Malaysia who had visited a park within the past two years.
“There is an amazing appetite in China for technology to make theme-park visits more convenient and exciting – particularly when it comes to shopping,” says Omnico CEO Mel Taylor. “While there are differences between the countries, there is definite demand for a more joined-up, unified experience that park operators need to act on.”
The results show that only 16 per cent of Japanese visitors and 31 per cent of Malaysians are interested in using VR to see what they look like in clothing or merchandise. The figures were also lower for the use of augmented reality on smartphones, with only 13 per cent of Japanese and 16 per cent of Malaysians saying they wanted to embrace this.
The futuristic retail technology most appealing to Japanese visitors was self-scan kiosks (33 per cent), while digital signs were most popular with Malaysians (38 per cent).
When asked what would make theme-park visits more convenient, 89 per cent of Chinese, 75 per cent of Japanese and 61 per cent of Malaysians said a personalised smartphone app itinerary was the answer, while for 71 per cent of Chinese, 62 per cent of Japanese and 55 per cent of Malaysians it was being able to pre-pay for food.
Queuing for rides emerged as the biggest bugbear among all three nationalities (an average 54 per cent).
When they were asked how they would like to receive real-time updates and book for rides (or restaurants), 70 per cent of Japanese respondents, 66 per cent of Chinese and 58 per cent of Malaysians said they want to use a park app on their own phone or tablet.
