Beauty brand Elizabeth Arden opens first virtual store

The beauty company partnered with Obsess to launch the store, which includes quizzes and games

Elizabeth Arden is one of the oldest skincare, cosmetics, and fragrance brands still in existence: the company, which started in 1910 with a salon on New York's Fifth Avenue, is currently sold in more than 120 countries. And now it's going digital for the first time. 

This week the company announced the launch of its first-ever immersive virtual store experience, which it created in partnership with experiential e-commerce platform Obsess, a company that allows retailers to create immersive, branded, discovery-driven virtual stores on their websites. 

The Elizabeth Arden virtual store includes a spa room that features several elements designed to educate visitors about Elizabeth Arden skincare, including quizzes and games elements so they can find the best regimen for their skin type. It also  features gallery-style art that visitors can “jump” into as a way to learn more about the historical scenes depicted in the artwork and photos. 

“Elizabeth Arden has been a leading beauty industry innovator for the past 120 years and we are thrilled to launch our first metaverse shopping experience in partnership with Obsess,” said Martine Williamson, Global Chief Marketing Officer.

“We are truly operating as an omnichannel business to evolve our customer experience and engage a whole new generation of shoppers about our products and legacy through digital storytelling.”

Elizabeth Arden opening a digital store is another example of the importance of omni-channel in retail. While this is a brand sold in physical stores, the reverse is common as well, with direct-to-consumer brands also launching partnerships with brick and mortal retailers. For example, wearable company ŌURA recently partnered with Best Buy for first nationwide retail expansion, as well as Cuup, a direct-to-consumer lingerie brand that also provides a virtual fitting service, which recently entered into a partnership with Bloomingdale’s to make its products and services available not only on the retailer’s website, but also in-store at its 59th Street Flagship Store location in New York City.

Others include Warby Parker, which began as an online-only retailer, but opened its first retail showroom in 2013 and now operates close to 160 stores in North America, as well as Untuckit, Everlane, Allbirds, Boll & Branch, Casper, Wayfair, and Harry’s.