Lacoste opens gamified store in the metaverse
A French fashion brand best known for its crocodile logo is opening its first-ever virtual store in time for the holidays.
Lacoste is leveraging technology from retail and fashion virtual reality solutions developer Emperia to operate a metaverse shopping environment that includes gamification elements. Upon entering the metaverse experience, customers are taken through a crocodile’s mouth, where they find themselves in a virtual showroom featuring five shoppable, seasonal products with a 360-degree view.
The second room of the metaverse store offers a gamification feature that enables customers to interact with more products in the Christmas range. A third and final token-gated room at the end of the store, exclusive to VIP customers who are members of Lacoste’s UNDW3 Web 3.0 community that are in possession of a Lacoste NFT.
The fashion brand created this exclusive room utilizing token-gated technology from Arianee. Throughout December 2022, Lacoste will drop virtual “loot” boxes for UNDW3 customers to collect, and five users will be selected at random daily to win a prize.
“Lacoste is bridging the gap between holiday shopping and gamification with this unique virtual experience. Tapping into a wide variety of demographics with the various rooms and product ranges enables Lacoste to attract a wide-range of demographics.” said Olga Dogadkina, co-founder & CEO of Emperia. “having a presence in the metaverse during such a significant shopping season and utilizing NFTs in a practical way that creates a sense of community, will take Lacoste to the next level, allowing them to leverage e-commerce and web3 innovation like never before, positioning the brand as fashion trailblazer.”
“Web 3.0 engagement doesn't start at minting,” said Pierre-Nicolas Hurstel, Arianee CEO and co-founder. “The personalization of shopping experiences, whether physical, digital or immersive, is the key to the future of Web 3.0 customer journey. We are delighted to show that our on-the-shelves token-gated solutions can be implemented in an environment like Emperia.”
Lacoste is an international brand from MF Brands Group, operating 1,100 stores in 98 countries.
Bloomingdale’s opens multi-brand metaverse store for holidays
Upscale department store retailer Bloomingdale’s also recently unveiled a metaverse store built on technology from Emperia. Bloomingdale’s new holiday-themed virtual store includes unique spaces for Chanel, Ralph Lauren, and Nespresso, in addition to features such as a luxury beauty/spa room, party room, and gifting experience.
Bloomingdale’s initiated its metaverse collaboration with Emperia in September 2022 with a virtual store introduced during New York Fashion Week. It features a video of the evolution of the brand from Bloomingdales’ initial establishment to the present; in addition to games, surprises, and exclusive collections from Bloomingdale's and several partner brands.