Category: Virtual Store Spotlight

Dyson, the British technology company known for its innovative vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, and other home appliances, recently launched a new virtual store using the Obsess virtual store platform. 

The interactive 360 product experience allows users to browse Dyson products in a fully interactive, immersive and educational way. The virtual flagship features the brand’s Hero Collection, containing the brand’s most popular products, including their cult-favorite cordless vacuum cleaner, the viral Dyson Airwrap, and the Pure Cool Link air purifier. In the experience, users can shop the products, learn about their features and watch videos of them in action. 

More than just an interactive shopping destination, the virtual store is a convenient way for users to learn about Dyson’s products and find the right ones for their needs—empowering shoppers to make informed decisions. Dyson’s 360 product experience highlights their iconic engineering and provides users with more color around their innovative products such as how they are designed and their unique features. Users can get an inside look of the products, breaking down the individual parts and how they function. 

With extensive product information and the use of VR and AR technology, shoppers can better visualize the behind-the-scenes functionality of each item and explore them in a modern and interactive way. For example, users can see how the Dyson V11 Absolute vacuum cleaner uses cyclone technology to remove dirt and dust from carpets and hard floors. And how the viral Dyson Airwrap styler uses ionic technology to style hair without heat damage.

Immersive experiences are a powerful educational tool for products as they allow users to interact with the products in a realistic and engaging way. The Obsess virtual store platform enabled Dyson to convey their complex engineering process to shoppers in a memorable and digestible way. 

To learn more about how Obsess virtual stores can serve as an immersive educational tool, contact our team at contact@obsessVR.com or book a demo. 

Obsess Partners with Crocs to Launch New Jibbitz Virtual Store and First-Ever 3D Customizer

Obsess recently collaborated with longtime partner Crocs, the world leader in casual footwear, to unveil a new virtual shopping experience known as the Crocs Jibbitz Experience. This innovative venture is centered around self-expression, personalization, gamification, and education—providing a platform to showcase Crocs’ iconic Jibbitz™ charms. The highlight of this immersive experience is the groundbreaking 3D Jibbitz Customizer, a feature engineered by Obsess that allows consumers to create their own unique pair of Crocs adorned with Jibbitz™ charms, which can be directly purchased within the virtual environment.

The partnership between Obsess and Crocs has flourished over the past year, fostering a shared commitment to innovation and the exploration of virtual technologies. The introduction of the Jibbitz Customizer exemplifies the successful collaboration, offering customers unparalleled creative freedom to personalize their Crocs like never before. Jibbitz™ charms have always been a gateway to self-expression through style, and the advanced virtual customization technology developed by Obsess takes this experience to new heights, making it accessible and infinitely imaginative.

The Jibbitz Experience is the result of Crocs’ third virtual store collaboration with Obsess. This virtual wonderland encompasses five distinct departments, each dedicated to a unique assortment of Jibbitz. From Letters to Food, Animals, and more, there is a realm to cater to every charm lover’s desires. While exploring the experience, visitors can partake in an engaging arcade-style claw machine game, allowing them to collect virtual Jibbitz and even win physical ones for only a penny.

Embedded within the entire experience is a seamless link to the Jibbitz Customizer. This interactive tool showcases lifelike 3D replicas of Jibbitz™ charms and Crocs in various sizes for both men and women. With the ability to add up to 26 different 3D charms to their selected clog model, customers can curate a truly personalized design. Once the perfect creation is achieved, a straightforward purchasing process enables customers to acquire their customized product. The Jibbitz Customizer plays a pivotal role in educating consumers about the extensive range of Jibbitz™ charms available for purchase, while simultaneously showcasing how to apply and style them on Crocs’ renowned clog product.

Accessible via mobile and desktop web platforms, the Jibbitz Experience beckons fashion enthusiasts and Crocs fans alike. Step into a world where fashion seamlessly intertwines with technology, as Obsess and Crocs redefine self-expression, elevate personal style, and offer an extraordinary shopping adventure.

American Girl, a beloved toy brand renowned for its iconic dolls and immersive storytelling, has created one of the most engaged and loyal digital fan bases through its Obsess-powered virtual store. This innovative experience allows enthusiasts of all ages to embark on a captivating journey through history, exploring the brand’s rich heritage and fostering imagination. The American Girl virtual museum presents a realm of exciting possibilities for both fans and brands looking to make a splash amongst a new generation of brand loyalists and consumers. 

American Girl has long been celebrated for its commitment to representing different historical eras through its doll collections. With the virtual museum, the brand preserved and showcased these historical narratives in a highly relevant and immersive digital format. By digitizing artifacts, photographs, and interactive exhibits, American Girl offers a unique opportunity for all ages to explore the past with ease and convenience.

Upon entering the virtual museum, visitors are greeted with an immersive and visually captivating environment. The virtual space is designed to resemble a physical museum, complete with beautifully curated exhibits showcasing the dolls, accessories, and stories that have captured the hearts of millions. With a simple click of the floor navigation arrows, visitors can navigate through different eras, uncovering the stories and experiences that shaped each character’s world.

What sets American Girl’s virtual museum apart is its commitment to interactive exhibits and engaging storytelling. Visitors can delve deeper into each historical period, immersing themselves in the lives of the characters and the cultural contexts of their times. Through virtual displays, videos, and interactive games, visitors can gain a deeper understanding of the challenges, triumphs, and social issues faced by girls throughout history. The content and features in the virtual experience serve to provide engaging education for the American Girl consumer base, building long-term engagement and a strengthened brand connection. 

Possibly the greatest contributing factor to the virtual store’s success is the abundance of games throughout the store. A plethora of games is incorporated throughout the store in a variety of ways to inspire more immersion in the experience. Games like the puppy scavenger hunt, for instance, challenge store visitors to find all the missing puppies hidden throughout the store encouraging more store exploration and interactivity. The different types of games all contributed to the store’s higher time spent add to cart rate—visitors spent 1000% more time in the virtual experience than American Girl’s traditional e-commerce site and demonstrated a 25% higher add to cart ratio after visiting the experience.

Want to create a unique and engaging digital experience that builds brand affinity while delivering rich content your consumers will love? Visit our website to learn more and book a demo to discover our virtual store platform: https://obsessar.com/book-a-demo/

Ralph Lauren is one of the longest-running partners of Obsess, with over 24 virtual experiences built to date. Ralph Lauren’s virtual store experiences take customers on a digital journey, blurring the lines between the physical and digital realms. In partnership with Obsess, the brand has created a digital experience that allows shoppers to explore the store from the comfort of their homes. With just a few clicks, customers can step into a virtual boutique that replicates the ambiance, layout, and aesthetics of a physical store—extending the reach of Ralph Lauren’s existing physical brand presence. 

Once inside the virtual store, customers can navigate through different sections and browse a wide range of products just as they would in a physical store. The virtual photographed environment incorporates all the intricate details of Ralph Lauren’s physical stores, creating a truly immersive experience. Shoppers can interact with digital mannequins, inspect product hotspots for a closer look, and visualize how different garments might look IRL before making a purchase.

Ralph Lauren’s virtual store experience seamlessly integrates technology into the shopping process, enhancing convenience and accessibility. Customers can make purchases directly through the virtual store that is integrated with the brand’s e-commerce site. The brand has successfully combined the best of online and in-person shopping.

Some of the virtual stores in the RL Virtual Experiences are the only way to shop online for a particular collection of clothing. Polo Factory Stores (PFS) are outlet stores that can be found around the United States and Canada, but cannot be shopped for via Ralph Lauren’s traditional e-commerce channels. The virtual store brings the in-store shopping experience to the web with a shoppable, 360-degree photographed experience that’s just like the real thing. Ralph Lauren enables any of its consumers to shop the PFS collection as its meant to be experienced—in a discovery-driven and visually-interactive way. 

Ralph Lauren’s virtual store experience is a testament to the limitless possibilities of virtual stores in the fashion industry. As the e-commerce landscape continues to evolve, other brands should embrace virtual stores which have been shown to enhance the online shopping experience for customers and brands alike. The convenience, personalization, and immersive nature of virtual stores are revolutionizing the retail landscape, creating a new era of consumer engagement.

Want to create a virtual experience for your fashion brand? Visit our website to learn more and book a demo to discover our virtual store platform: https://obsessar.com/book-a-demo/

A New Way to Shop Skincare

Laneige, the trailblazing Korean beauty brand celebrated globally for its pioneering water science technology and cult-favorite skincare products like the Lip Sleeping Mask, continues to push the boundaries of innovation. First launched in early 2023, the Laneige Virtual World is a dreamy 360 cloudscape, which enables shoppers to explore Laneige’s products and brand story in a fully immersive context.

The virtual store features a variety of rooms, each dedicated to a different Laneige product line. Shoppers can interact with products in multiple ways, from viewing them in 3D to learning about their ingredients and applications through interactive media and tutorials. This immersive setup offers a unique and engaging way to explore Laneige’s offerings while deepening the customer’s connection with the brand.

Notable Features

The Laneige Virtual World uses a combination of custom and out-of-the box features from the Obsess virtual store platform, including:

Guided Navigation

Consumers can click through the store map of this cotton candy-colored virtual experience to discover Laneige skincare products for everyday use, and uncover exclusive media content. 

Gamification

The store features a scavenger hunt style game, which encourages users to click through multiple rooms and view points in order  to find a friendly face of the brand, Walter, after which,  they are rewarded with a gift.

Photorealism and 360 Video

From the subtle waves of water, to the 360-degree motion of a Lip Sleeping Mask carousel — the Laneige virtual store is punctuated with animations and 360-degree videos that make digital shopping akin to an IRL experience.

Seamless Add To Cart

Obsess integrated with the brand’s e-commerce platform, Shopify, so that shoppers can easily add products to cart and purchase them without having to leave the virtual world.

Marketing Campaign Content

Videos from actress and Laneige campaign ambassador Sydney Sweeney can be found lining the walls of the experience with her own personal testimonials of the products—a treat for fans turned Laneige evangelists.

Seasonal Updates

Since its launch, the Laneige Virtual World has continuously evolved to reflect the brand’s seasonal offerings and new product releases. For Holiday 2023, the virtual store was updated with festive elements, introducing limited-edition collections, new flavors of the iconic Lip Sleeping Mask, and a revamped scavenger hunt game.

In early 2024, the experience was further enhanced with a redesign of key sections like Waterbank World and Sleeping Mask Slumberland, along with the introduction of new features. These updates included a personalized product recommendation quiz, “Find the Moisturizer for Your Skin Type,” which helps users discover their perfect match and shop it instantly. Additionally, a matching game invites users to pair Laneige products, rewarding them with a prize while boosting product knowledge and brand recall. With these continuous updates, Laneige ensures that both new and returning customers always have something fresh and exciting to explore.

The Ultimate Customer Engagement Tool

The Laneige Virtual World marries a cult-favorite beauty brand’s whimsical heritage with technological innovation. The result? An always-on brand storytelling channel — designed to increase time spent, interactions and brand loyalty above all else.

“The virtual store is a powerful customer engagement tool that will allow shoppers to dive into Laneige’s unique scientific expertise and entertaining digital content, while also helping them select the right product for their skin needs,” said Julien Bouzitat, Chief Marketing Officer of parent company AmorePacific U.S.

Read more about how Obsess helps beauty brands deepen connections with consumers through virtual stores here: https://obsessar.com/virtual-beauty-stores/.

To learn more about Obsess-powered virtual experiences, email us at contact@obsessvr.com or book a demo.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital launched a cozy, cheerful, donation-driven virtual holiday experience through the Obsess virtual store platform. The St. Jude Winter Village proved to be an ideal illustration of how Obsess can power a virtual hub for mission-centric messaging and consumer-led donations using virtual reality technology and emotional, immersive storytelling capabilities.

Charitable organizations launch some of their biggest donation campaigns during the holidays, but the need for mission-driven marketing persists all year round. With 18% of annual donations happening in December—the holidays, in particular, present brands with the chance to embrace impactful innovation, which drives fundraising and encourages giving (Blackbaud Institute, 2022). The fundraising formula is ripe for modernization as new digital initiatives are popularized for differentiating campaigns during the holidays and beyond. 

Explore the intricacies of St. Jude’s Virtual Winter Village, and see how the brand powered donation efforts by creating an accessible donor journey, discovery-driven navigation and an immersive gift shopping experience.

Donation Through Exploration

The St. Jude Virtual Winter Village allows visitors to virtually explore a cozy and festive 3D environment including the Ice Shop, the Ferris Wheel of Hope and the Donation Station. Visitors can use the map to easily travel from one area of the experience to another. Similarly, users can follow the branded signs within the store for a guided, discovery-driven trek through the snow.

The Winter Village’s map and signage both encourage exploration—ultimately leading to multiple calls to donate to St. Jude. Each call to donate is accompanied by immersive 3D visuals and powerful storytelling to illustrate the brand’s mission. The experience also makes it easy to donate thanks to the persistent donation button in the bottom navigation menu. No matter where a user travels within the virtual experience, they can always access the donation portal by clicking on the hand and heart icon.

Bringing Patient Stories to Life

Placed throughout the virtual experience are several pieces of artwork from real St. Jude patients. Each piece of artwork is clickable and unveils the artist’s unique story.

For example: when clicking on a giant, 3D replica of patient Coraliz’s art, you unlock the story of her journey with osteosarcoma. The story reveals how St. Jude helped Coraliz overcome the disease, and eventually regain strength and mobility in her leg. A separate artwork spotlights the story of a patient with a rare form of eye cancer, who practiced art to occupy himself while recovering from a life-saving surgery provided by St. Jude.

After reading these inspiring stories and viewing each patient’s artwork in virtual reality, users are prompted to donate art supplies or other gifts to children in the hospital. Adding context and content to the 3D visuals further immerses users in the stories of St. Jude patients, and makes brand interactions more purpose-driven and meaningful.

A Multilingual Experience

The St. Jude Winter Village was created through a lens of personalization for a diverse set of audiences.

The brand wanted to make the store accessible for multiple markets, beginning with both English and Spanish-speaking locales. The store’s translation feature can be found in the upper right-hand corner of the virtual experience.

At any point, the Winter Village can be translated from English to Spanish, or vice-versa. All donation buttons and virtual signage in the 3D environment are readily available in both languages, enabling a larger population to understand and support the St. Jude mission.

Accessibility for All

St. Jude ensured that their virtual store was easy to navigate for users of all abilities.

For instance: all donation buttons within the store are accompanied by descriptive text, which allows for users with screen readers to easily access the donation portal. Likewise, the full Winter Village experience can be accessed either via mouse click or keyboard on desktop. 

By increasing accessibility and navigation options, St. Jude embraced inclusivity, and in turn—increased overall donations from their virtual store.

Gamification and Livestreaming

Immersive giving takes on a whole new meaning in the Winter Village, with the addition of AI-powered gaming and livestream shopping.

On Giving Tuesday 2022, five different St. Jude celebrity ambassadors hosted a live stream via video chat directly from the virtual experience. The livestream functioned to raise additional awareness and support for the hospital.

The general public was able to join these live sessions through a unique URL, which transported them directly into the virtual showcase. Users were able to listen to ambassadors in real-time, while simultaneously exploring the Winter Village. Live chat for Q&A with each celebrity was open throughout the duration of the livestream, enabling real-time interactions for up-leveled brand engagements.

The Winter Village also employs always-on gamification features for increased interactivity. The experience features a massive Connect 4 board that users can play to unlock shipping discounts.

Integrating E-commerce

In addition to serving as a fundraising platform for direct donations, the virtual experience also functions as an extension of St. Jude’s e-commerce experience—doubling down on its donation power. Users can purchase merchandise and memorabilia that ultimately benefit the children of the hospital, helping fund future treatments and research. 

Just like the St. Jude e-commerce site, the gift shop within the Winter Village displays product details, sizing, and pricing for all of the brand’s not-for-profit merchandise.

Amplifying Brand Mission through Virtual

By creating an immersive, discovery-driven, fantastical, and highly accessible experience—St. Jude was able to create an interactive destination for donations and brand engagements.

St. Jude’s virtual store included a variety of features that any mission-based brand can add to their virtual campaign playbook. For instance, organizations taking a stance against climate change can leverage virtual storytelling and e-commerce integrations to build awareness for their cause and increase education on their sustainability efforts. The same is true for any other brand that wants to amplify its mission using the Obsess virtual store platform.

To learn more about how Obsess virtual stores can inspire more donations and bolster your brand’s mission, contact our team at contact@obsessVR.com. 

Citations

Longfield, C. (2018, February). Charitable Giving Report: How Fundraising Performed in 2017. Blackbaud Institute. www.institute.blackbaud.com