Overview
Traditional retail strategies often falter when transposed to virtual environments. Research by Hassouneh and Brengman in Retailing in social virtual worlds: Developing a typology of virtual store atmospherics highlights that simply replicating a physical store disregards the unique potential of virtual spaces.
“While some retailers just transfer an exact copy of a traditional store into the [Social Virtual World], others are
more considerate of the specific characteristics of the new channel and the opportunities it offers. As a matter of fact, American Apparel’s failure in [Second Life] was partially attributed to their ‘traditional’ store design, which was considered as disrespectful to the virtual world’s unique culture.” - Hassouneh and Brengman (2015)
more considerate of the specific characteristics of the new channel and the opportunities it offers. As a matter of fact, American Apparel’s failure in [Second Life] was partially attributed to their ‘traditional’ store design, which was considered as disrespectful to the virtual world’s unique culture.” - Hassouneh and Brengman (2015)
This case study explores the design of an immersive virtual storefront specifically tailored for hedonic products. Hedonic products, as defined by Dhar & Wertenbroch (2000), provide emotional satisfaction and sensory pleasure as the primary objective.
By creating a captivating outlet that complements the emotional connection offered by these products, the store can foster a desire to embody the experience, potentially leading to increased purchase intent. The following sections will delve into the design choices employed to achieve this goal.
A 'Coming Soon' teaser posted for cinphul customers in 2020 on Flickr showing raw screenshots using the Black Dragon Viewer.
Design Concept
cinphul is a digital fashion brand catering to a specific audience within Second Life drawn to a dark, otherworldly aesthetic. The brand name, a play on "sinful," reflects its core value: celebrating self-expression, through designs that challenge traditional notions that equate femininity and indulgence with sinfulness. Imagine towering heels fused with the sleekness of metallic, alien textures. These seemingly contradictory elements – both captivating and elegant, organic yet cold – are the hallmarks of the cinphul style.
The design concept for the cinphul storefront drew inspiration from two seemingly disparate sources: the Tower of Silence from Zoroastrianism and the circular language concept from the movie "Arrival”.
The Tower of Silence, where bodies are left for vultures, resonated with the brand identity on a philosophical level. Reflecting on cinphul’s mission and aesthetic the Tower of Silence became a powerful metaphor for a space housing these "forbidden" desires.
The circular language from "Arrival" further encouraged the idea for a non-linear storefront layout. Instead of a traditional linear path, I envisioned a circular design that would encourage exploration and discovery. This approach aligns with my goal of immersing users in the cinphul experience, allowing them to get lost in wonder as they encounter thought-provoking and evocative designs.
"Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: The language you speak defines the way you think" - An article on Medium further discussing the significance of the circular language and behavior in Arrival.
Research
In 2019, prior to embarking on the storefront redesign, I conducted a customer survey to gather valuable user feedback. Analyzing the survey responses provided key insights into customer preferences and frustrations with the previous store layout. This feedback directly influenced design decisions for the new storefront, with a focus on improved product organization, intuitive navigation, and an overall more immersive shopping experience that aligns with the brand identity.
Excerpt from a 2019 survey with 20 cinphul customer respondents.
Excerpt from a 2019 survey with 20 cinphul customer respondents.
For the 3D modeling of the storefront, I primarily used Blender, a popular open-source 3D creation suite. To achieve the unique circular design with optimized efficiency, I utilized the well-regarded Blender addon called Hopscutter. This addon allowed me to create a single wall segment and half a door frame, then replicate and arrange them in a circular array, creating the illusion of a seamless, never-ending structure. This approach minimized the number of polygons (tricount) in the final model, significantly reducing potential lag in Second Life.
Wireframe of Wedge
Wireframe of Top
Wireframe Perspective
Wireframe Side
Wedge View with Mirror
Top View of Exterior
Bird's Eye View of Exterior
Side View of Exterior
The final storefront measures a spacious 64 meters in length and width, with a comfortable ceiling height of 29.1 meters. This balance avoids feelings of claustrophobia while adhering to principles of feng shui, which suggest optimal ceiling heights for positive energy flow in a space. The open-air central design allows for a diffused haze of light to penetrate the structure, creating an atmospheric yet inviting environment. The two-story layout offers additional space for product display, with a centrally located elevator providing easy access between floors.
View of the Interior with Array Applied to Wedge
Perspective of 2nd Level
Shoulder View
Shoulder View Scrolled Out
Interactive vendors line the walls of the storefront taking the form of slightly curved rectangular screens with thin metallic borders. Users can interact with these touch-enabled vendors to access product information and purchase options.
Products are displayed on innovative conveyor belt-like benches that circle the interior of the store. This unique approach allows customers to easily browse the entire collection.
Visual Merchandising
The cinphul storefront leverages a strong spatial layout and product presentation techniques prioritizing the concept of atmospherics to shape customer perception and behavior within the VR environment. Here are key elements of this strategy:
Customer Journey flowchart describing the functionality of having a separate landing point to the main building.
Store Landing point with heavy rain placing urgency on finding an exit. Lighter loading time due to distance from content heavy main structure shown in the distance.
A Controlled Entry Point: Customers arrive at a low-latency platform designed to minimize initial loading times. This transitional zone presents essential information – a group gift terminal, a store map for teleportation, and product listings for ongoing events at other locations. This layout prioritizes information accessibility and caters to customers seeking specific items, allowing them to teleport directly to the event location. Furthermore, the platform utilizes atmospheric elements such as particle rain and ocean sounds to subtly communicate that customers are "outside" the main store environment, encouraging them to explore further.
Store Map, Gift Vendor, and Redelivery Terminal
Elevator Button
Conveyor belts with product displays.
Left view of the lobby with awards and affiliated events as well as another redelivery terminal.
Right view of the entrance lobby with store gifts and gift cards.
A Deliberately Crafted Environment: Upon entering the store, customers find themselves situated between two pillars that direct their gaze towards the expansive interior. This interior space is designed to resemble a tomb, with dim lighting creating a central ambience that allows product vendors to subtly glow without being overwhelming. This approach plays on the concept of "playfulness", sparking curiosity and a sense of discovery within the virtual environment.
Intriguing Product Displays: A conveyor belt installation showcases abstract works in a manner that creates a sense of "familiar yet slightly curious" shelving adding an element of intrigue to the environment and contributing to the overall atmosphere. Customers can then explore the store at their own pace, with their gaze naturally drawn upwards to interactive screens positioned on the walls. These screens provide product information and facilitate purchases, ensuring a seamless and intuitive shopping experience.
Demonstration of the elevator switch carrying avatar to a second level where discounted and older items are housed.
Circular Layout: The storefront utilizes a circular layout that encourages exploration and discovery. Research by Liu et al. (2007) suggests that loop layouts in physical stores encourage browsing, and this concept translates to VR. This layout fosters exploration and discovery within the immersive VR environment, complementing the teleporting abilities users possess and the brand's goal of creating an engaging shopping experience.
3D Product Placement: Unlike traditional e-commerce stores with flat product images, cinphul allows customers to view products in full 3D before purchase. This level of detail satisfies customer curiosity and adds a layer of discovery by allowing users to examine items from different angles and within the VR environment. Additionally, some products feature visual previews of available color options and in-world HUDs (Heads-Up Displays) for further information.
Sub-Sections: To enhance customer navigation and discovery, products are strategically organized into sub-sections based on thematic elements. Neon mecha items are grouped together, for example, while fantasy demonic horror and alien metallic pieces have their own designated areas. This categorization ensures that customers can find items that suit their specific style preferences and avoid disruption from searching for coordinating items scattered throughout the store.
Exterior view of the main structure.
Customer Reviews
The biggest reward in this project is being able to delight the consumer. The following are observations from two unsolicited store walkthroughs by two cinphul customers, one from 2020, and the second, User B from 2023 after some slight adjustments were made to the organization of vendors.
Circular Layout Exploration:
The circular layout encourages users to explore the entire store at their own pace, fostering a sense of discovery and wonder.
The circular layout encourages users to explore the entire store at their own pace, fostering a sense of discovery and wonder.
While both customers navigated the store with relative ease, further observations are needed to determine if the circular layout intuitively guides users towards exploration or if additional signage could enhance the discovery process.
User A did not discover the second floor, whereas User B spent a significant amount of time exploring both levels. This suggests potential for improving elevator visibility or adding subtle directional cues.
Product Discovery:
The subsections (neon/mecha, fantasy/demonic, alien/metallic) were not a primary focus in the customer vlogs. However, both users expressed appreciation for the variety and uniqueness of the products, highlighting the store's ability to cater to diverse preferences.
The subsections (neon/mecha, fantasy/demonic, alien/metallic) were not a primary focus in the customer vlogs. However, both users expressed appreciation for the variety and uniqueness of the products, highlighting the store's ability to cater to diverse preferences.
The full-product rendering on the "conveyor belt" display shelves was a positive aspect, fostering trust and eliminating the need for purchasing demo items.
Vendor Interaction:
The vendor stations, with their modern aesthetic, likely contributed to the overall unconventional atmosphere the customers enjoyed, which aligned with the brand identity.
The vendor stations, with their modern aesthetic, likely contributed to the overall unconventional atmosphere the customers enjoyed, which aligned with the brand identity.
User A, being an experienced Second Life shopper, likely possessed the skills to navigate the vendor interfaces intuitively.
User B navigated the vendor interfaces intuitively as well. However, she did not demonstrate on-screen interaction with the vendor interface during the vlog due to it being off the recording area. Verbally it was understood that it wasn’t instantly understandable how to implement promo codes for use due to the complex nature of vendor systems in Second Life which will be covered in another case study.
Overall Experience:
Both customer vlogs conveyed a sense of wonder and immersion. The unique product offerings and non-cookie-cutter store design resonated with the customers, aligning with the brand identity.
Both customer vlogs conveyed a sense of wonder and immersion. The unique product offerings and non-cookie-cutter store design resonated with the customers, aligning with the brand identity.
The customers expressed elation when discovering desired products, highlighting the effectiveness of the design in reinforcing excitement about the merchandise.
Lessons
The cinphul storefront design has been a successful experiment in creating a unique and engaging shopping experience within the Second Life platform. Here are some key takeaways and areas for future exploration:
Customer Feedback Integration:
Analyzing customer feedback, like the survey conducted in 2019 and the customer vlogs, proved invaluable in refining the shopping experience.
Analyzing customer feedback, like the survey conducted in 2019 and the customer vlogs, proved invaluable in refining the shopping experience.
Future iterations will continue to prioritize user input to ensure the storefront remains intuitive, engaging, and aligned with customer expectations.
Directional Cues:
While the circular layout encourages exploration, subtle directional cues might be beneficial in guiding users towards the second floor and elevator, as observed with User A.
While the circular layout encourages exploration, subtle directional cues might be beneficial in guiding users towards the second floor and elevator, as observed with User A.
Usability Testing:
Conducting usability testing with a broader range of Second Life users, including those who are less experienced, can help identify potential hurdles in navigating the vendor interfaces and further optimize the overall user experience.
Conducting usability testing with a broader range of Second Life users, including those who are less experienced, can help identify potential hurdles in navigating the vendor interfaces and further optimize the overall user experience.
Landing Point Refinement:
While both vloggers navigated the landing point with minimal difficulty, future iterations could explore enhancing its clarity and communicating its purpose more effectively to users.
While both vloggers navigated the landing point with minimal difficulty, future iterations could explore enhancing its clarity and communicating its purpose more effectively to users.
Vendor Interface Optimization:
Based on observations of both customers’ experiences further exploration of the vendor interface's usability might be beneficial. This could involve A/B testing different design layouts or conducting user interviews to identify any potential areas for improvement.
Based on observations of both customers’ experiences further exploration of the vendor interface's usability might be beneficial. This could involve A/B testing different design layouts or conducting user interviews to identify any potential areas for improvement.
By continuously iterating on the design based on user feedback and data analysis, the cinphul storefront can become an even more successful platform for showcasing unique products and providing a truly immersive shopping experience within Second Life and other social VR platforms.
Summary
This case study explores the design of a virtual storefront for cinphul, a digital fashion brand in Second Life targeting a niche audience drawn to a dark, otherworldly aesthetic. The goal was to create an immersive shopping experience that complements the emotional connection offered by the brand's hedonic products (focused on sensory pleasure and self-expression).
Here we explored the following concepts:
Circular Layout: Encourages exploration and discovery, aligning with the brand's identity.
3D Product Placement: Allows detailed product examination and fosters trust by eliminating buyer’s remorse.
Atmospheric Elements: (controlled entry point, tomb-like interior) Spark curiosity and align with the brand's identity, fostering wonder and immersion.
These design choices demonstrate the potential for adapting visual merchandising strategies to the metaverse to create engaging shopping experiences tailored to specific brand identities and virtual environments instead of assuming what works in the physical world will work for the digital one.
