In March retail designers predicted in FX that far from replacing traditional stores, virtual and real retail will develop side by side, happily augmenting each other. Doug Barber, who founded retail design agency Barber Design in 1999, takes that a stage further, describing a virtual reality that could be a seamless extension of the 3D environment – and one that retail designers can make their own

Without doubt the increasing use of ecommerce for retailers has made a huge impact on the profits and brand presence of those canny enough to jump on board in recent years. Initially, websites were unsophisticated and only offered limited products and an online experience that didn’t match the real store experience. However, with the arrival of broadband and a multitude of options, such as zoom in and out facilities, catwalk showcases, spin rounds, music and the ability to shop with friends, the online experience is becoming closer to the real life one.

Thus far, the missing link has to be the physical ability to navigate around stores and immerse oneself into the actual brand environment – we’re still lumbered with what is essentially a two- dimensional cyber-space. Wouldn’t it be great if you could pop over to New York and view the latest Top Shop flagship store online, wander around it and see the product on display, letting your eye take you to whatever catches its fancy, chat with a virtual shopping assistant, before going ahead and buying? Or how about an online trip down Oxford Street with your friends, navigating in and out of shops to see their latest offers.

With this kind of scenario in mind, we’ve been working with a gaming company, developing test- bed solutions to enable customers to navigate into branded stores on virtual high streets and shop for products on display.

This has a number of benefits. Customers can immerse themselves into a brand’s environment and get to grips with what they really stand for. Opportunities are being developed to virtually wander down aisles and check out the latest offers, or even enter VIP rooms to look at ‘special membership offers’ or view live events, streamed on demand.

The possibilities are almost endless and there are several routes a client could take. A simple showcase of a branded environment, a virtual re-creation of what the designer has already created for the high street, or even a whole new virtual world developed without the limitations of a 140 sq m box.

As in the real world, we recognise that product and windows need to be changed regularly to reflect the real-world offer, and this will all be possible. The synergy between what’s happening in store and what’s happening online to a brand needs to be consistent and vital, and we are currently working through the technical feasibility of doing this.

While this is a chance to enhance a brand’s online presence, we know as retail designers that customers all shop in different ways. People should need to be given the opportunity to get online and buy what they want quickly. But we also want to make this a longer, more realistic experience. We know that people go to physical shops with certain purchases in mind, but that browsing often leads to other purchases. This is something we hope to replicate.

We need to work with a client that wants to put these theories into practice. The framework of possibilities is currently being developed, and we can then apply this to an actual physical brand space. This is pioneering technology and there may be many doubters. But hey, 15 years ago some people said we didn’t need email because we had faxes.

I hope that one day we can shop online with friends – wherever they are – at exciting online shopping centres where we can immerse ourselves in the branded environment. This is a clear opportunity for real-world retail designers, basically an extension of what we do already when we develop a store concept that then gets built.

Soon we will be carrying that process into creating 3D online environments, that either replicate what we’ve just done for the client, or take the brand to new unexplored territory.

This article was first published in FX Magazine.