News

Swarovski's new VR app lets users buy goods via Masterpass checkout

September 27, 2017

MasterCard and Swarovski launched a virtual reality shopping app for the Atelier Swarovski home décor line, a collection of functional and decorative crystal home. The app immerses consumers in a tastefully decorated home where they can browse and purchase the pieces with Masterpass, Mastercard's digital payment service.

The shopping app highlights the value of the pieces, the story behind the inspiration, the complex manufacturing process, and the designers’ creative journeys in a new and engaging way. Masterpass enables consumers to check-out from within the VR experience without having to add payment details, according to a press release.

Consumers connect their phone into a compatible VR headset to enter the experience, which lets them walk through the five areas of the virtual home to browse designs by artists such Norwegian-born Kim Thome, Amsterdam-based Aldo Bakker, Spanish designer Tomás Alonso and the renowned architect Zaha Hadid.

Once in the VR environment, they are able to learn about the stories behind each piece, read through descriptions, see the pricing, and in some cases watch videos about its craftsmanship.

"Atelier Swarovski Home is a masterfully crafted collection that is most dynamic when experienced first-hand," said Nadja Swarovski, member of the executive board for Swarovski's crystal business, in the release. "As our e-commerce business continues to grow, this partnership allows consumers a fully immersive shopping opportunity to interact with the product and then purchase seamlessly within the experience. The cutting-edge VR technology allows consumers to fully realize scale and engage more deeply with design details before making a purchase — anywhere. We're grateful to have Mastercard join us for this exciting, first-time endeavor."

How it works:

• Upon launching the app, consumers will be prompted to log in and begin an authenticated, secure session by using their Masterpass account credentials.
• After starting a session, consumers will be able to navigate through the home's different rooms and browse through the collection by moving their heads left to right or up and down.
• Once the consumers decide and select the piece from the collection that they want to purchase, they can add it to the cart and checkout by focusing their gaze on the Masterpass button that appears at the bottom of the product description.
• When the consumer exits the application or the session detects that the headset has been removed, the consumer will be automatically logged out of their Masterpass account to protect against unintended purchases.