Mastercard has teamed up with crystal seller Swarovski on a virtual reality app that immerses shoppers in a “home” where they can browse and purchase items using Masterpass.
The app, developed for the Atelier Swarovski home décor line, lets users who have a VR headset for their phone walk through five areas of a virtual home, browsing items. The app highlights the cost of the pieces, as well as details about the manufacturing process and the “story behind the inspiration”.When they launch the app, users are prompted to log in with their Masterpass account credentials, enabling them to checkout by focusing their gaze on the Masterpass button that appears at the bottom of the product description.
Linda Kirkpatrick, EVP merchants and acceptance, Mastercard, says: “At Mastercard, our goal is to provide consumers with the choice to shop when they want, how they want in a manner that is as seamless and secure as possible. This means that merchants need to be able to engage their customers across multiple, technology platforms – in-store, online, in-app and via virtual and augmented reality.”
Helen is the key contributor and editor of This is Retail. Featured as a key influencer in Adnews 40 under 40, Helen is considered to be one of the leading retail creative minds in Australia. Not only was she instrumental in building the ALDI brand in Australia and creating the Smarter Shopping positioning, but she is also the creative brains behind rolling Rebel Sport's new positioning into the market. She is a regular participant in the Westfield Retail Study Tour, and contributor on retail best practice.
Helen is currently the ECD of Retail at CHE Proximity and Co-founder of Rhubarb&Custard, a specialist retail and digital communications agency.