Walmart Launches New 3D E-Commerce Platform

Walmart, the world’s largest retail store, just announced the launch of Walmart Realm, a new 3D e-commerce platform that allows people to purchase digital doubles of select products that are available at real-life Walmart stores.

The virtual bazaar is aimed at attracting younger customers and includes an underwater universe, an outer space world, and a frontier that blends the Wild West with Gothic vibes. It is the latest sign that Walmart, who first made Web3 news back in January 2022 when it applied for seven NFT and crypto related trademarks, remains bullish on the metaverse.

Currently, there are around one hundred fashion, beauty, and home goods available on Walmart Realm, which is accessible via mobile or desktop. The products were curated by a team of influencers including Malia Fowler, Nava Rose, Makenzie, and Mai Pham. Over the next couple of weeks, they’ll be posting content related to Walmart Realm to their more than 11 million combined TikTok followers.

Besides exploring the fun virtual world, shoppers will have the chance to compete in mini-games to win prices. Also, visitors to Walmart Realm receive tokens that can be used for rewards and coupons. The idea is to create an immersive, entertaining space that will incentivize shoppers to linger and browse similar to the way people do in brick-and-mortar stores.

According to Walmart’s director of brand experiences and strategic partnerships, Justin Breton, the company is experimenting and learning about “immersive commerce” because it believes it’s “going to be the future of commerce.” He added that he didn’t think it would replace apps or websites, but instead be “complementary” to them.