A buyers guide to Virtual Retailing. Part 2 – Static Merchandising
Metabrands
Part 2 of this series explaining virtual retailing focuses on Static Merchandising. This is defined as the presentation of real world products in a virtual world using 2D displays.
This is the area some real world brands are mistakingly looking hardest at. Static merchandising relates to displaying real world product images in a virtual store. Although many companies think this is virtual retailing, it is the weakest application of it. And of all five of the categories explained, this is the one that offers the lowest level of engagement.
Why? Because a really crucial point with virtual retailing is this – if the experience and process is better delivered via another channel (such as an e-commerce website) then whats the incentive to use virtual retailing? If theres no added value in place, then its highly unlikely to be a revenue stream worth pursuing for the foreseeable future.
Disappointingly in this context, the attributes of virtual worlds (collaboration, interaction and on-the-fly customisation for example) are not being maximised (or even considered in some instances) and the perception that the ?¢‚ǨÀúcoolness of having a ?¢‚ǨÀúvirtual store is sufficient to drive response and sales. I would argue that this is a short-term strategy with limited upside for real world brands looking to penetrate the virtual retailing marketplace.
Interestingly, static merchandising in its execution is actually ironic. Why? Because virtual worlds are 3D environments. Displaying a real world picture in a 2D picture format is an under-utilisation of available resources.
Here’s some examples of Static Merchandising.
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