Macy’s launches metaverse hub to court shoppers to its new brand

The marketing world may be suffering from some metaverse fatigue, but Macy’s is looking to the virtual realm as a way to strengthen connections with its customers. Today, the department store chain rolled out “Mstylelab,” a new digital fashion platform where consumers can create their own users, collect digital items and explore new clothing styles. Macy’s worked with Journee, a metaverse technology firm, on the new offering. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs “What we’re looking to do is break down the barrier of connectivity and access and trying to really help consumers embrace newer technologies from a fashion perspective or an immersive perspective,” said Dave Torres, VP of interactive marketing at Macy’s. “This platform will be our launch pad.” The hub will debut with Macy’s new On 34th in-house brand, a women’s brand that it rolled out earlier this year as part of its strategy to better serve customer needs. Eventually, Mstylelab will extend to other brands within Macy’s portfolio. In the current iteration, users can navigate a New York landscape and personalize their own digital fabric in a gamified experience that is also shoppable. It’s the latest evolution of Macy’s Web3 strategy, which includes the 2021 launch of an NFT series for its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade and the debut of a Discord channel last year. “We took a lot of what we’ve done in the past as learning stages and this is our first step into something that’s a bit more curated and easier to use,” said Torres, noting that his team has been building out fashion experiences for more than a decade. To spread the word, Macy’s created a promo video (above) and will encourage social sharing from users about the experience, a spokesman said. The Mystylelab platform comes at a time when many previously metaverse-focused marketers are instead prioritizing AI. Disney and Microsoft have both backtracked from the space, though Meta remains committed to virtual reality and last month unveiled new headsets. Macy’s said it is using the metaverse and its possibilities primarily as a testing vehicle that will help it make other decisions while fostering deeper loyalties with customers. “This is a way to really connect with our community,” said Torres. “We’ll see what they’re resonating with and adjust with them as we grow.” The company’s digital efforts come amid sales declines for the struggling retailer. In the second quarter, Macy’s posted net sales of $5 billion, an 8% decline over the year-earlier period. Both brick-and-mortar and digital sales fell in the quarter versus the second quarter of 2022. The company is testing other initiatives such as smaller format stores that are roughly one-fifth the size of a regular Macy’s.

Macy’s launches metaverse hub to court shoppers to its new brand

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