E-shopper experience to go high-tech with Buy+

With urban Chinese shopping online for everything from food to clothes to vehicles, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is raising customer experience to the next level by using virtual reality or VR technology.

In late July, Alibaba unveiled the futuristic shopping experience by offering a preview of its "Buy+" virtual store at the Taobao Maker Festival in Shanghai.

"As users continue to engage with the platform in more meaningful ways, we are fostering next-generation consumption features, such as virtual reality, to transcend the overall user experience," said Chris Tung, Alibaba's chief marketing officer, in a statement.