Italian fashion brand, Pinko, has announced the launch of its first virtual store, developed using the Emperia platform and celebrating the opening of its new Milan boutique.
It says that this aims to “drive brand recognition and tap into new female communities, alongside empowering women around the world to feel independent and able to express their femininity in a bespoke way”.
Users will also have the chance to buy the brand’s NFTs, the Meta Love Bags, by accessing the Pinko metaverse experience.
Laid out in a futuristic pink setting, the virtual store features an array of new, specially designed handbags.
Customers will be able to purchase these products from the brand new Pinko Galleria, exclusive to this experience, directly from the metaverse store while experiencing, interacting with, and learning about them via 3D modelling.
“Opening in such a prestigious and internationally established location, we decided as mission statement to give global resonance to our new and unique store – such as its products – and the virtual shop is the most innovative environment that can guarantee us the possibility of expanding our vision of engagement for our consumers everywhere,” says Pietro Negra, CEO and Founder, Pinko.
“We’re happy to partner with Pinko, as it ventures into the metaverse, for the first time. The new experience allows audiences, worldwide, to experience the unique, bold design that Pinko is so well known for, wherever they choose to,” says Olga Dogadkina, Co-founder and CEO at Emperia.
“Our 3D technology ensures a high merchandise viewing quality, which complements its real life twin product, to the smallest detail, allowing Pinko to present and directly sell its exclusive capsule collection in a way that simulates a realistic shopping experience.”
Funding round
Last week, Emperia announced that it had raised a $10 million Series A.
This followed an $875k pre-seed in 2021 (featuring Concept Ventures, SFC Capital, Blissgrowth).
The Series A round was led by Base10 Partners and joined by investors including Daphni (via its retail fund Dastore), Sony Innovation Fund, Background Capital, Stanford Capital Partners and Concept Ventures. Angels include Blissgrowth’s Jay Radia.
Dogadkina commented: “While working in fashion, it became clear to me that e-commerce was the future, but 2D websites were merely a tool that enabled an online purchase, but were lacking the customer journey and story-telling that brands are after.”
“The solution was to bridge that gap, with the aim of making virtual experiences into the future of brands’ long-term e-commerce strategy.”
“We are strong believers in data reliance and as such all our virtual experiences are developed incorporating analytics, which is reflected in layout, design, user experience and merchandise placement.”
“Crucially, we’re doing this in a way that has a demonstrable impact on sales, traffic, engagement and brand perception.”
“I’m confident that the pool of participating investors in this round, from both the US and Europe, will make for a great network of advisors as Emperia continues its global expansion, pioneering e-commerce’s next generation. I’m looking forward to delivering an even more impactful experience for our brand partners.”
Luci Fonseca of Base10 Partners, said: “When we met Olga and Simon, we were absolutely stunned by the high quality team they had already built and the business’ early traction.”
“The more we spoke to customers, the more we saw that Emperia is on the edge of a global revolution on how consumers interact with retailers and brands.”
“One way to think about it is through the lens of ‘web 2.5’ – it is a device agnostic bridge for brands to engage with a new generation of consumers while driving real commerce.”
“Emperia is pioneering the development of virtual store creation and maintenance, and we’re excited to be partnering with a team that is truly building for the future of e-commerce.”
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