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We’ve seen how the lines between online shopping and visits to brick-and-mortar stores are being blurred, whether by a virtual reality shop through eBay Australia or using smart glasses to let online customers explore physical stores, and now, in Indonesia, one platform is using virtual outlets to make starting a business accessible to more budding entrepreneurs.

Alfamind utilizes the MindStore platform developed by Slingshot, a virtual store that enables anyone to develop custom AR/VR experiences for online stores. In collaboration with nationwide retailer Alfamart, Alfamind’s business model has individuals (or partners) acting as mobile retailers, taking their customized stores to others’ homes and letting customers browse their AR stores through a smart device, placing orders with cash that are then shipped through Alfamart’s logistics. After an initial partnership fee, partners receive a large proportion of sales, with 2-percent going to MindStore and the rest to Alfamart, who benefit by penetrating close-knit communities, as partners often sell to friends and neighbors, increasing brand loyalty in areas Alfamart couldn’t necessarily reach in to. With a projected 150,000 users by the final quarter of 2017, Slingshot is targeting other retail partners globally, with eventual plans to enable users to sell their own-made goods through their virtual stores.

With a wide variety of industries using AR/VR to improve user experiences, from buying custom furniture to designing operating theatres, in what other ways can the technology impact users’ lives?