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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Savvas PapagiannidisORCiD, Professor Michael Bourlakis
Consumers have traditionally looked for products that could fulfill their needs and retailers responded to demand by initially adopting product-oriented, and then more recently, customer-oriented strategies. This shift was heavily underpinned by technology, which enabled retailers to implement more intelligent approaches that evolved around consumers based on their profiles. The next step in this transformation is now towards a "unique" experience creation, with retailers providing a retail theater experience that is different and special and consumers enjoying an increased opportunity to interact and participate in the overall experience. In this paper, we examine how metaverses, i.e. Internet-based virtual worlds, and more specifically Second Life, can potentially provide the stage for this retail theater experience. Our discussion takes place in the context of two cases that are used to highlight the implications of retail theater for both consumers and retailers and illustrate the opportunities and challenges they face.
Author(s): Papagiannidis S, Bourlakis M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Virtual Worlds Research
Year: 2010
Volume: 2
Issue: 5
Pages: 3-17
Print publication date: 01/01/2010
Date deposited: 04/08/2010
ISSN (print): 1941-8477
Publisher: University of Texas at Austin
URL: https://journals.tdl.org/jvwr/article/view/808/720
