In Pictures: Bloomingdale’s debuts multi-brand virtual shopping experience

Luxury department store Bloomingdale’s has unveiled a new virtual shopping experience for the festive season, allowing visitors to shop various brands within the digital realm.

Developed alongside virtual reality (VR) technology developer Emperia, the virtual space will feature dedicated areas for Chanel, Ralph Lauren and Nespresso, as well as holiday exclusive spaces including a “luxury” beauty and spa room, party room and gifting experience.

The store will allow each of the participating brands to communicate their own identity, with users able to transition between the brands via a virtual elevator located in the store.

Chanel’s space reflects a similar atmosphere to the moon, while Ralph Lauren takes shoppers into a wooden ski chalet-inspired space.

In a release, Emperia said virtual stores will be “a key component” of brands’ e-commerce and marketing efforts during the festive season, becoming “an extension of retailers’ physical stores and aligning with their holiday campaigns”.

It added that the technology allows retailers to measure product engagement, demographics and stock demand, among other factors, all in real-time.

Speaking on the launch, Olga Dogadkina, co-founder and CEO of Emperia, siad: “Emperia believes that the multi-brand virtual experience will become the new department store of the future.

“The virtual environment provides endless opportunities for brand creativity, design, and user engagement, breaking barriers of accessibility and physical space limitations - providing a new technology playground for retailers.”