Customers’ interactions with brands and their products have significantly evolved in the physical retail space during the previous years. However, with the pandemic, there has been a significant pivot in how brands that traditionally relied on physical interactions with customers now function – disrupting the status quo. Consumers who were previously fond of retail shopping in a physical store, must too now change their attitudes and embrace this new era of virtual shopping in the internet realm.
Lancôme amongst other beauty and cosmetic brands have been forced to fuse beauty and technology and adapt to the e-commerce shopping trends that are sweeping the nation in order to stay current.
Lancôme’s virtual pop-up was designed to promote the brands best-selling product Advanced Génifique.
The luxury French skincare brand, Lancôme, was among the first players in the industry to respond to the adverse impacts the pandemic had on the retail experience. Many major brands like Nars, Dior, and Charlotte Tilbury have also embraced and adapted this unique approach to online purchasing by launching virtual stores.
GREAT VIRTUAL DESIGN CREATES AN INTERACTIVE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
Lancôme launched their virtual pop-up experience to the Australian market in February of 2021. Presenting customers with an immersive 3D shopping experience, unlike traditional online stores. Allowing visitors to further explore the brand and engage with the world of virtual reality from the comfort of their own homes.
Lancôme’s immersive shopping experience is a replication of the physical store, guiding visitors across its 6 zones: Discover, Explore, Inspire, Live, Shop and Play.
As the virus took hold, their ambitious plans to open physical pop-ups around the world to promote their new and pre-loved products were put on hold. The cosmetics firm was able to save its ambitions for global pop-up stores by using ByondXR to build virtual storefronts, all while adhering to pandemic restrictions. ByondXR was able to create a VR experience that has equally engaging and interactive components which are enhanced by high-quality levels of realism bringing a true-to-life experience to consumers.
GREAT STRATEGY CREATES AN EXPERIENCE UNLIKE ANY OTHER
Lancôme’s flagship fuses the online and offline retail experience – described as the “next best thing” in beauty tech.
The virtual store is designed to showcase Lancôme’s best-selling product Advanced Génifique whilst providing an exciting environment for customers to delve into the ingredients and science behind the products as they discover the “next big thing” in the beauty tech industry.
The virtual flagship has been separated into 6 different zones, each with a different focus. Zone 1 (Microbiome Science) Zone 2 (Skincare Diagnosis), Zone 3 (Live Streaming), Zone 4 (Voice of Genifique) Zone 5 (Shop), and Zone 6 (Game).
Lancôme is pushing the boundaries of innovation by merging beauty with technology.
The debut of the Lancôme Virtual pop-up demonstrates the cosmetics brand’s commitment to innovation and ability to foresee and pave the path for the future of immersive digital experiences.
More powerful than just leaving with a product, customers that enter the Lancôme virtual pop-up shop leave with deeper knowledge about the brands’ products and an understanding of their own skin strength- this unique quality ultimately driving brand engagement.
The strategy of launching new products through the virtual pop-up experience that enables enthusiasts to discover, explore, inspire and shop, proved to be a successful brand awareness initiative for Lancômes products. The beauty brand was awarded silver for the ‘Best Digital Integration’ and ‘Best Pop-up experience/environment’ categories at this year’s Marketing Event Awards.
Click here to explore the virtual experience in reality.
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