Retailers in their branded metaverse have many opportunities to seize in the move to the web3. Virtual stores are becoming a new way for retailers to engage with customers and improve their in-store experience, providing increased engagement and a 3D visual shopping experience. They provide a level of immersion that goes beyond the traditional online shopping experience. Those branded metaverses allow customers to navigate around a brand’s product range. They could have a great time “picking up” products as they walk around the virtual store, while they can also see product information and details on their device.
Meeting customers where they are, both in physical and digital spaces is a smart business move for brands to use. With the branded metaverse, retailers can get a more holistic view of customer needs in virtual spaces. Virtual stores aim at creating a bridge between online and offline retailing and align with a new era of commerce.
How can retailers get the best of branded metaverse
A branded metaverse can help a retailer create a variety of virtual shopping experiences that build brand love and connection with consumers in a way that in-store retailing cannot. The fact is that a virtual store is accessible anywhere, as long as the user has the right device and the Internet. Whether it’s attracting new customers through a discovery-based experience or increasing sales to existing customers and generating additional revenue, a designed virtual experience is the perfect move for a brand. Here are five ways for retailers to use their branded metaverse:
H&M virtual showroom
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From Physical to virtual branded stores
Retailing today is more than merely selling products. Virtual stores have given brands the tools to create an immersive, 360 degree experience for their customers. Those virtual spaces are not just a concept anymore but a reality in which people can visit and shop from anywhere in the world from any device.
For brands wishing to create immersive shopping experiences for their customers, they must build virtual stores. Shoppers can then explore the brand, find out about its story, experience products in a 3D environment and purchase them. Virtual stores also help retailers reach customers in countries all over the world with localized content.
The immersive nature of branded metaverse helps retailers generate repeat visits from existing customers, as well as driving new customers by attracting people who love browsing through products in-store. Brands have the power to create a private shoppable space or invite real customers into their virtual world. While in a branded metaverse, users are able to custom their future acquisitions. A brand can even implement mini virtual games which will help immerse the users for a better understanding of the brand identity. Thus, it reinforces the unique brand voice from web, mobile and social to physical retail.
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Themed stores in the branded metaverse
Whether it’s a tiny version of a brand’s store or a miniverse model that customers can walk through, branded metaverse are a quick and cost-effective way to create a new avenue for selling products.
It is about creating a destination for a brand. From a holiday-themed experience that lasts weeks at a time to a completely fantasy store, virtual themed stores are an engaging and innovative way to create customized environments.
Retailers can make their customers dive into their brand-driven experiential 3D virtual world with for creating their own animated virtual experiences. It is way way to provide consumers with a creative and interactive new shopping experience. Besides, it is at a lower cost than getting a real location.
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Offering a new range of virtual products
Whether it’s for a new product launch or collection, retailers can use these virtual environments to immerse customers in their brand world, providing an innovative way to showcase products. The challenge is to leave a lasting impression with consumers which can be used to leverage new product launches and collections with high-end features like fully customizable spaces and animated articles, advanced rendering tools and a multi-channel sharing capabilities.
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Proposing virtual showrooms for products to test
Branded metaverses can serve as a digital showroom where retailers can share detailed pictures of their products and make purchasing easier. Those virtual showrooms can also be used as an experimental shopping tool for the brand wishing to test the attractiveness of new products.
Virtual showrooms are the next great thing to visiting a physical store, without actually going there. These spaces provide retailers with an array of in-store digital solutions to help them improve their business through better planning and efficiency, lower operating costs and faster visual impact of products in their stores. They allow retailers to create digital 3D experiences and strengthen their brand image.
H&M brand for instance introduced a virtual showroom for their customers. The visitors can move around freely and talk to other users, both verbally and via chat. It provides a way to be in contact at any time without having to physically go to one of the brand’s offline showrooms.
The immersive H&M mini branded Metaverse
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Testing a virtual pop-up stores
Virtual stores provide a way to maximize the potential of a pop-up store. They allow brands to keep their pop-up store open longer than traditional physical retail, and offers deeper insight into consumers’ interests and interactions with the brand. It is a way for retailers to have a flexible, scalable and accessible platform for their pop-up stores. They can continue to drive sales from the consumers, maximize their reach and brand awareness across new audiences and generate deeper insight into consumer behavior.
Bringing the physical to virtual and vice versa is the way forward for retailers. Virtual stores are an important tool in this age of Web3 marketing, as they allow brands to capture valuable consumer interest while also driving engagement across different demographics and geographies.
Retailers need to start thinking about their branded metaverse. It especially a virtual 3D area where they can showcase their brand identity, no matter if they’re launched yet or not. Retail is no longer simply offering product pages. It’s time to bring fully personalized interactive experiences that are unique. METAV.RS provides for brands an end-to-end solution that enables brands to build an immersive and engaging shopping experience, right in the browser.
To learn more about creating Metaverse experiences and how NFTs are changing the retail and Fashion industry, download our white paper ENTERING IN THE WEB 3.0 – A GUIDE FOR LUXURY FASHION IN THE METAVERSE
