Is touch really that important?

: an analysis of the business opportunity of haptic technology in online shopping

Abstract

Commerce and consumer experience have entered a new reality with the rise of the Internet and the digital age. People are becoming dependent of online shopping due to the convenience of shopping while sitting at home, which saves both time and money. The online environment lacks the sense of touch and this might pose a challenge to online shoppers. The rise of haptic technology could be the answer for lack of touch within online consumer experience. Sensorial technology can give to our digital lives a more realistic experience. This exploratory study aims to analyse the opportunities that haptic technology could generate in online shopping. Therefore, the research problem was examined from two different perspectives. Firstly, from the e-commerce side, in which the purpose was to gain insights about the current state of online business, and the main obstacles that consumers face when shopping online. Secondly, from haptic experts’ side, understand what the current status of haptic technology development is and if the haptic technology can improve online business. Findings reveal that haptic technology is going to play an important role in the gaming industry, medical training, education, and other industries within the next years, but for e-commerce purposes, not in the short time. Findings also report that there are a few other challenges in online shopping and touch is not consider as a priority. The development and implementation of this technology are also considered a brick-wall to implement in a short time.

Date of Award	13 Oct 2020
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Gonçalo de Oliveira Vieira Dinis Saraiva (Supervisor)