There are more than 12,500 Myer products in the world’s first virtual reality department store, that shoppers can select and add to their shopping cart via eBay Sight Search.
The Virtual Reality Department Store connects to the existing eBay API (Application Programming Interface). So the Myer VR product range, pricing and stock information can updated in real time – a first for virtual reality experiences globally.
The launch of the Virtual Reality Department Store is being run by Pulse Communications. Customers have the opportunity to receive their own shopticals (specially designed virtual reality viewers) from eBay and Myer, to start their VR shopping experience. 15,000 shopticals will be available free of charge from www.ebay.com.au/VR.
Anyone in Australia can shop virtually by downloading the eBay VR Department Store app on their smart phone and inserting their phone into the shopticals with the app open to start their virtual shopping experience.
The VR Department Store will also be introduced to Sydneysiders at an exhibition in the Harbourside Room on Thursday May 19 and Friday May 20. Places can be secured via Eventbrite.
Steve Brennen, eBay chief marketing and senior director of retail innovation, commented, “eBay has always been in the business of predicting the future of retail, and most importantly creating it. With the world’s first virtual reality department store, we have challenged ourselves to build an exciting and engaging experience that makes browsing and selecting products easier than ever before.
“We’re making this technology accessible to all Australians with our giveaway of 15,000 shopticals. Their insights and feedback will be invaluable to us as we look to the future of VR and build out experiences that take retail to the next level.”
How it Works:
- Personalise: Select your areas of interest at the beginning of the experience and the store is custom built around these needs, making the most relevant products visible first. As you move through the store, the smart technology suggests other products that might be desirable or interesting, based on what the store knows about them.
- Browse: using eBay Sight Search, view a product in the store. By holding your gaze on it, the product is selected and automatically floats towards you, with the top 100 products available to view in 3D, and more than 8000 in 2D. You can move through different departments of the store quickly, making your VR shopping time effective.
- Research: Simply lock eyes on information icons to receive full product specifications, as well as price, availability and shipping details.
- Purchase: Just hold your eyes on the Add to Basket icon and then view the basket to review before purchasing. To complete a purchase with the shopticals, follow these steps:
- Remove the handset from the shopticals
- Log into eBay
- Finalise the transaction through app, desktop or tablet
To check out on a Gear VR headset, enter your email address and follow the prompts.
David Loughnan, digital director of Traffik who led the VR development added, “So many branded VR experiences we see are passive 360 video. When it comes to truly interactive virtual reality experiences, the rules are still being written. The eBay VR Department Store pushes the envelope for both VR and e-commerce – not only by delivering a truly immersive shopping utility but also integrating directly with the eBay platform to develop an innovative retail channel of the future.”
Credits
Client: eBay Australia
Lead agency: Pulse Communications
Digital creative agency: Traffik
App production: Red Cartel
Social media agency: 303 MullenLowe
Event agency: Fourth Wall
