In recent years, online retail has become the mainstream format of the global retail industry. However, how to overcome the natural barrier of product accessibility in online retail has not been effectively solved. Emerging sensory empowerment technologies (such as virtual reality technology) have great potential in solving this common problem of online sensory marketing. Unfortunately, few studies have focused on the impact and implementation strategies of virtual reality technology empowering consumers’ tactile perception of products. Based on the embodied perception theory and the situated focus theory, this paper focuses on the important tactile attribute of products — weight, with a particular emphasis on the impact of virtual reality technology on consumer perception of product weight and product evaluation. The study delves into its psychological mechanisms and explores the moderating effect of product types. The results of seven virtual reality scenario simulation experiments find that sense of control in virtual reality has a negative impact on consumer perception of product weight, while consumer perception of product weight has a positive impact on product evaluation, and sense of power plays a mediating role in this process. For products with negative weight attributes, a high sense of control will generate better product evaluation, while for products with positive weight attributes, a low sense of control is more conducive to forming good product evaluation. The conclusions not only expand the weight research in the field of tactile compensation, but also provide valuable countermeasures and suggestions for retail enterprises to implement virtual reality marketing.