Mastercard has teamed up with jewellery firm 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, said: “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.”
“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,” said Linda Kirkpatrick, executive vice president of merchants and acceptance at Mastercard. “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.”
VR stands to provide an additional platform for luxury brands to align with premium consumers, particularly Millennials. Pavers — Nielsen’s term for early adopters of the technology — tend to belong to the demographic. These shoppers propose large opportunities for brands to reach consumers who have been otherwise unattainable.