Amazon debuts virtual holiday shop

Dive Brief:

• Ahead of the holidays, Amazon has debuted a virtual holiday shop, a 3D immersive shopping environment where customers can watch content and browse new products, the e-commerce giant announced on Friday. Among the brands featured in the shop are Kate Spade, Coach and Bumble and Bumble.
• Within the Virtual Holiday Shop, shoppers can view the Virtual Toy Shop, featuring toys, games and activity kits from brands like Play-Doh, Lego and Disney, the company said.
• Throughout the holiday season, Amazon plans to update its product selection in the Virtual Holiday Shop with “hundreds of items.” The retailer is also compiling gift ideas within its AI Shopping Guides, which will use AI to aggregate product information for possible gift items, per the press release.

Dive Insight:

With its virtual store, Amazon is blending the holiday music reminiscent of in-store shopping with digital animations and a guided tour to help shoppers find their ideal gifts. To promote its virtual store, Amazon tapped A Piece of My Glam Home and Everything Envy to create shoppable homes. The retailer also created virtual showrooms for brands like Lego, Disney and Star Wars.

“We’re always innovating to enhance the shopping experience and empower customers to discover products in easy and fun ways,” Carmen Nestares Pleguezuelo, vice president of North America marketing and Prime Tech, said in a statement. “With the Virtual Holiday Shop, we are excited to transport shoppers into a new immersive experience where they can browse over 300 of the most coveted gifts and toys of the season.”

In addition to enlisting influencers to promote its holiday offerings, the retailer launched its holiday campaign this week. The campaign, dubbed “Midnight Opus,” follows a theater janitor with a passion for singing and features “What the World Needs Now Is Love” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. 

Amazon’s AI Shopping Guides are part of the e-commerce company’s continued investments in artificial intelligence. In October, the company unveiled its AI Shopping Guides on its U.S. mobile app, allowing shoppers to research products quickly, such as rugs, TVs, headphones and dog food. The company also rolled out Rufus, its generative AI-powered shopping assistant, to all U.S. shoppers in July. 

Ahead of the peak holiday shopping season, Amazon reported notable gains. In the third quarter, online store sales increased 7.2% year over year to $61.4 billion and physical-store sales rose 5.4% to $5.2 billion.