Benefit Cosmetics launches first virtual 3D shopping experience

Dive Brief:

• Joining the virtual shopping trend, Benefits Cosmetics has partnered with Obsess to debut its first virtual 3D shopping experience dubbed “The Benemart,” the retailer said in a Monday press release sent to Retail Dive. The digital space is currently available to shoppers in the U.S., Germany, the U.K. and France.
• Inspired by grocery stores, the digital experience highlights the brand’s best-selling and holiday products. Within the store, shoppers can create their own avatars, play games, try on their favorite products, win discounts, shop with their friends using the store’s voice chat feature and take quizzes to receive personalized product recommendations, the company said. 
• The brand also plans to bring The Benemart experience offline by hosting in-person pop-ups across the U.K., per the press release.

Dive Insight:

With its new virtual store, Benefits Cosmetics aims to replicate the experience of video games, a strategy it hopes will “resonate with young digital shoppers,” Toto Haba, senior vice president of global omnichannel marketing at Benefit Cosmetics, said in a statement. 

“Making people feel good and having fun is part of our DNA, so leading with entertainment to bring our holiday collection to life was a no-brainer,” Haba said in a statement. “Obsess has been a strong partner in creating a branded world that blends storytelling with play-driven discovery in a way that elicits the same kind of thrill as the in-store shopping experience.”

Benefits Cosmetics now stands in a long line of brands that have partnered with Obsess to create virtual stores, including L’Oréal, Mattel and Ralph Lauren. A year ago, Obsess added J. Crew and Crate and Barrel to their clientele. J. Crew’s virtual holiday store not only highlighted the brand’s winter and holiday products, but the brand also featured an AI greeting card generator, a skiing game and a digital scavenger hunt. 

Similarly, other retailers have been building virtual worlds to showcase their products for online shoppers with the help of an Obsess competitor: Emperia. In May, Walmart unveiled its Walmart Realm experience developed with the help of Emperia, where shoppers could browse various beauty, fashion and home items. In addition to Walmart, Hugo Boss and L’Occitane turned to Emperia to create virtual stores earlier this year.