• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 13, 2018

Fred Segal, the tony California store best known for outfitting celebrities, is breaking new territory in interactive shopping, with an immersive 3D shopping experience introduced in Los Angeles at Refinery 29’s latest 29 Rooms experiential event.

Working with Mastercard and Next Retail Concepts, the retailer created a 3D digital experience that invites shoppers to browse. Not unlike Google’s Street View, it lets people enter the store, breeze by the clothing racks and click on products that appeal to them, taking a closer look or viewing a runway video. From there, it’s a simple click to purchase.

The initiative comes at a time when many retailers are experimenting with interactive technology, scrambling to build bridges between online and physical offerings.

Companies like Macy’s, Wayfair and Ikea, for example, are tinkering with augmented-reality offerings to help people imagine furniture in their own homes, while stores like Lowe’s and the North Face are experimenting with virtual-reality concepts. And of course Amazon and others have mastered easy checkouts.

“But we think this is the first time linking the interactivity of 3D product views, immersive shopping and frictionless checkout, bringing all three of those things together,” says Aaron Kopelowitz, senior vice president of strategic partnerships at Next Retail Concepts.

He tells Marketing Daily that the goal of the Fred Segal experience, which brings the famous West Hollywood store to life, “is to deepen the connections between consumers and brands they love.”

And as fashion brands become increasingly commoditized, particularly when shopping online, “these immersive experiences are a good way to tell the designer story, for example, or the season story, or talk about best-sellers. We’re hoping it accentuates what’s special about both the retail brand and the products.”

The experience is enabled for headsets. “But adoption just isn’t there yet,” he says. “We need to meet consumers where they are, and that means making it easy for them to access on their desktops, devices and IoT.”

The collection was curated with Refinery29, and shoppers who pay with Mastercard can earn a $30 credit when they spend $200 or more on the holiday collection.