Lacoste opens gamified store in the metaverse – Chain Store Age

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.
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.

source