With in-store shopping experiences being limited, shoppers are looking for ways to recreate them and retailers are seizing the opportunity to reconnect with shoppers.
Sam’s Club recreated the Griswold House from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation into a VR shopping experience. The explorable and shoppable house is decorated with Sam’s Club toys, food, gifts and decor–but all in the lovable spirit of the movie.
Another brand leaning into VR is Charlotte Tilbury Beauty. It has created a holiday-themed interactive VR shop. The shop allows users to explore virtual rooms and be guided by a video avatar of the brand chairman and CCO Charlotte Tilbury.
COVID is fast-tracking technology that shoppers may have been hesitant to try. In fact, 48% of British respondents stated that viewing a product without visiting a physical store is their top motivation for using immersive technologies.
VR technology may currently allow for the most immersive virtual shopping experience we can create. However, it remains to be seen if virtual spaces can rival physical spaces in the near future. What is certain, is that while physical store visits remain limited, customers will continue to look for better shopping experiences through channels, such as, traditional e-commerce, AR and social commerce.
Contributed By: Michael Krog, Insight & Strategy, London
Image Source: Unsplash
