A First Look Into Brands’ Shopping Experiences on Apple’s Vision Pro

Following the launch of Apple’s
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Vision Pro headset, a handful of popular brands have announced the release of dedicated apps to offer immersive experiences for users, with shopping being the clear end-goal. The mixed-reality headset has already attracted attention and hopes to entice more than just gamers, but can it actually become a new sales and marketing channel for retailers? Here are different ways fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands are attempting to leverage the platform to attract consumers:

Alo Yoga’s Wellness Experience On Apple Vision Pro

The athleisure and lifestyle brand launched “Alo sanctuary”, a wellness-first immersive experience that blends self-care and shopping thanks to an app developed in partnership with Obsess, a leading immersive shopping platform that has developed virtual stores for brands like Crate & Barrel, Coach, Armani, Charlotte Tilburry and many more. The alo app offers different environments that immerse users in nature and lets them enjoy a range of meditations, before being presented with new products from the brand. The app’s main objective is to deliver a realistic, immersive brand experience that embodies Alo’s ecosystem, while effectively showcasing its products and encouraging purchase.

“The visual fidelity of the Alo app experience in visionOS is remarkable, with scenes so realistic that users feel as if they’re being transported into an outdoor shopping environment,” said Neha Singh, CEO and Founder of Obsess in a press release. “Shoppers can even interact with products as if they were in a physical space. They can bring them close enough to clearly see the weave and texture of an item, and get so granular as to see the difference between one spandex type versus another.”

E.l.f Cosmetics Dives Into Gaming

One of the first beauty brands to launch on Apple’s Vision Pro, elf cosmetics brings to life “your best e.l.f”, an app blending gaming and discovery through playful environments that dive users into the world of the cosmetic brand.

This brand’ approach is centered on a gaming-like experience, providing a multi-sensory platform that feels playful thanks to a few branded games, but also encourages enjoyment and relaxation through exercises of the body and mind. Of course, products are displayed throughout and can be purchased via Apple Pay.

“We know that emotional connection plays a large role in consumer decision-making, and that’s the intention behind the e.l.f. app for Apple Vision Pro,” shared Singh in another statement. The your best e.l.f.’ is a space where the e.l.f. community can indulge in a deeper relationship with the brand through immersive exploration and branded games. Offering users an entirely new way to engage with the brand, the app paves the way for a new era of spatial shopping and immersive storytelling for beauty.”

J. Crew Brings Virtual Closet Experience To Life

Similar to Alo’s app, the one imagined by fashion brand J.Crew showcases new clothing in a remarkably realistic, 3D environment that makes product discovery extremely straightforward and engaging. Also developed by Obsess, this app is here focused exclusively on shopping, with a mannequin displayed in different clothes and styles, and that can be set up in different real-life settings for a realistic experience. The virtual closet allows for the most optimal product discovery ever imagined virtually, thanks to technology providing a high magnification on texture, color and material, which makes it easier than ever for consumers to get a good understanding of the garment. Styling is the core activity of the app, with users able to mix-and-match and style the mannequin to their liking, while also being able to chat with J.Crew stylists and host in-app group calls to get friendly advice on outfits. The immersive shopping experience is probably the most realistic, convenient and personalized one offered on a platform before, definitely setting the tone for what the future of shopping could look like.

While engaging in mixed-reality brand experiences will likely become more common in the near future, whether or not consumers adopt this technology and decide to use it as a shopping channel at this time remains to be seen. Is there enough of an addressable market to developing these shopping apps at the moment? The fact is, it does not really matter: the brands testing out this new type of brand platform are early adopters of a technology that will democratize itself in the future as headsets become more versatile and affordable as they innovate, and therefore have first-mover advantage when this happens. Obsess has been at the forefront of developing virtual store experiences for some of the most well-known luxury, lifestyle and fashion brands, and given the rise in these type of activations, can testify to a nascent channel that brands will have to address at one point.