E-commerce Technology Trends

E.L.F. BEAUTY just launched a virtual makeup experience on Roblox for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. They’re meeting the generation that doesn’t want to be marketed to inside the gaming universe. And it’s working. The experience puts players in the role of a makeup artist preparing characters for important life moments. You choose the theme. You create the look using virtual cosmetics. You see and interact with other players’ creations in a livestream-style mode. There are four launch characters, celebrating women in business, sport, music and gaming, with new characters dropping each month. The company says it’s aimed at Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers who believe their virtual avatar represents them better than their physical self, citing youth trend data. Around 60% of gamers say self-expression through gameplay matters more to them than ever. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. → e.l.f. joins a growing list of brands showing up on Roblox. → Pacsun launched 𝘗𝘢𝘤𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘴 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘛𝘺𝘤𝘰on. → Mattel is bringing Barbie, Uno and Hot Wheels into the platform. → Walmart built its own Roblox experiences and partnered with e.l.f. so players can buy physical products through Walmart. Roblox is also making it easier to link virtual and physical shopping, letting brands sell real-world items inside virtual stores through Shopify. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁! If a generation doesn’t want to be marketed to, you stop trying to persuade them and give them something they can step into, shape and make their own.

🎄 Amazon launched its Virtual Holiday Shop, a 3D shopping experience powered by its Amazon Beyond platform 👇 The seasonal digital space allows customers to explore & purchase top 100+ gifts across various categories from brands like Beats x Kim Kardashian, Kate Spade, Bumble and Bumble and Coach. 🎁 With the Virtual Holiday Shop, the retail giant aims to make holiday shopping feel both interactive and festive. Users can access the virtual shop via the normal Amazon platforms. Users can view product details, interact with items and add them directly to their cart. 🧸 A key section of the shop, the Virtual Toy Shop, offers a selection of children’s toys & games from iconic brands like LEGO and Play-Doh. Beyond holiday shopping, there's access to other branded showrooms, with spaces from Star Wars and Disney. 🤖 To support customers in finding the ideal gifts, Amazon introduced Rufus, its AI-powered conversational assistant that suggests deals and tailors gift recommendations. Complementing this is Amazon’s AI Shopping Guide, available across more than 100 product types, which simplifies product info. ⭐️ All the above tools make the customer experience easier and/or more immersive. The Virtual Holiday Shop, backed by Amazon Beyond technology, signals an ongoing shift towards immersive shopping. 🚀 We see a growing consumer demand for digital experiences that go beyond traditional product listings. The future of online retail lies in creating interactive environments that bring products to life and engage customers in ways that static pages cannot. ➡️ Will this become a new standard in digital shopping? #retail #ecommerce #immersiveshopping #shopping #amazon #trends

Roblox is becoming a shopping mall – is this the future of ecommerce? Roblox, the U.S.-based metaverse platform, is transforming from a gaming environment into a commerce-driven ecosystem. In Q1 2025, Roblox reported 97.8 million daily active users (DAUs), a 26% year-over-year increase, and 380 million monthly active users (MAUs). Revenue reached $1.035 billion, up 29%, with bookings of $1.206 billion (+31%). Now, with the launch of Commerce APIs and the Approved Merchandiser Program, Roblox allows creators and brands to sell real-world products inside virtual experiences. Purchases include both physical goods and matching digital items for avatars. Early results are significant: Twin Atlas, a Roblox creator studio, reported six-figure commerce revenues within weeks, with 90% of orders originating in-game. This shift is not just about monetization—it’s about meeting Gen Z where they already are. For Gen Z, digital identity is integral. They spend hours in gaming worlds not just to play, but to socialize, express themselves, and explore culture. Embedding commerce in these environments is a logical step: shopping becomes an experience, not a transaction. Relevance is not driven by ads, but by participation. However, integration remains a challenge for smaller merchants, as access still requires robust technical and logistical capabilities. Roblox is testing what immersive commerce could look like at scale. And the implications reach far beyond gaming. #retail #ecommerce #fmcg #gaming #digitalcommerce #omnichannel #virtualshopping #fenty #shopify #roblox #usa #northamerica #genz #consumertrends #retailtech #foodtech #brandexperience #immersivecommerce #marketing #sales #innovation #onlineshopping #startups #digitaleconomy #platformeconomy #avatars #digitaltwins #productlaunch #creatorcommunity #merchandising #technews #experientialretail

"𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲-𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗲": 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗲 I have always been very interested in fashion’s use of gamification and immersive environments. I often say in my conferences that my now 14-year-old nephew practically lives in Roblox since he was 10. Roblox Q4 2025 results: 🔥 144M daily active users ☑️ 2.6 hours/user per day ☑️ $2.2B in bookings ☑️ $1.4B in revenue. In my view, Roblox should not be read as a failed metaverse story. What The Business of Fashion highlighted very well is that not every fashion brand is succeeding in these spaces. Forever 21’s Shop City is a good example of how quickly a branded world can lose relevance when it is built as a one-off activation rather than as an experience people genuinely want to return to. By contrast, ALO Yoga and Vans have shown that when the content is engaging, branded spaces can continue to attract meaningful traffic and build cultural relevance over time. That is why I still see strong strategic value here for lifestyle brands: 🔘 Relevance Roblox is where younger audiences already spend time. 70% of Gen Z users wear branded virtual apparel that influence real-world purchases. The platform sees over 50M searches and 274M avatar updates daily. 🔘 Product strategy Virtual products are are a live testing ground. Brands can observe what users wear, how they customise, what gains traction and what does not, before making decisions in the physical market. That creates opportunities to test desirability, reduce product risk and involve communities more directly in product development. 🔘 Commerce Roblox announced Shopify as its first commerce integration partner in 2024, and in May 2025 it formally launched in-game shopping for physical items for eligible creators and brands. Users can now buy physical products inside Roblox experiences and receive avatar items bundled with those purchases. We are talking about a world in which a user can discover a product through an immersive experience, style it on an avatar, validate it socially and then buy the physical version without leaving the environment. How cool is that? For me, the opportunity is not really “the metaverse.” It is the convergence of community, self-expression, product testing and commerce inside spaces that younger consumers already treat as part of everyday life. The brands that will get value from Roblox will be the ones asking how to create an experience people want to come back to, how to learn from digital behaviour, and how to connect virtual identity with physical product in a way that feels natural. 💡 How do you see gamification? as a branding tool, or as an emerging layer of commerce? #FashionBusiness #RetailInnovation #GameCommerce #Omnichannel

Nobody wants to go to a boring webinar. I personally don’t have the attention span for that and you probably don’t either. Earlier this year, we hosted a virtual event at Exit Five that brought in 3,300 registrants, a 40% attendance rate, over 4,000 live chat messages, and 6+ hours of content we’re still repurposing months later. Safe to say most people didn’t think it was boring! Here are four things that made it work: 1. Make registration a no-brainer We treated the registration page like a product landing page - clear value prop front and center, short and simple form, real speaker photos and bios, a detailed agenda, and an FAQ to answer common questions. No fluff, no vague promises. Just straight to what’s in it for attendees. 2. Make it feel like an experience It’s not a meeting - it’s a show. We prepped with speakers ahead of time to keep the pace tight, transitions smooth, intros short, and get straight to the content. We left space for live Q&A, used interactive features like polls and giveaways, and kept the chat active the entire time so keep attendees engaged. 3. Build for repurposing Every session became content fuel for weeks and months ahead. Full recordings went to our podcast over the next few months. We pulled clips for social and gave speakers assets to use on their own channels. 4. Use a tool that helps you move fast We use Zuddl. Their event platform helped us build branded landing pages, manage invites and reminders, track promo performance, review post-event data, and host an event that ran smoothly from start to finish. So, the difference between forgettable virtual events and memorable ones isn’t budget or big-name speakers - it’s treating the whole thing like a real experience that’s actually worth people’s time. Make attendees excited for the next one before this one even ends. P.S - Zuddl is a sponsor of Exit Five and our Email Teardown (but we genuinely love the product and recommend it). We also wrote an article with more detail on how we pulled off this event - check it out below.

Live commerce, or livestream shopping, is reshaping the way consumers engage with brands and make purchases online. It’s an interactive, real-time shopping experience that allows users to ask questions, provide feedback, and make purchases without ever leaving the stream. The numbers speak for themselves: 👉 Global retail ecommerce sales are expected to hit $8T by 2027, up from $5.8T in 2023. 👉 Livestream ecommerce in the U.S. is projected to reach $68B by 2026, driven by increasing demand for interactive shopping experiences and advancements in technology, like AR and VR. Sectors benefiting from livestream shopping include: apparel, beauty, consumer electronics, and home furnishings. The appeal crosses generations, with the 35-54 age group showing the highest participation rates. We believe that livestream commerce presents interesting opportunities, particularly in AI powered personalization, virtual try-on tech, and multi-platform integration. A number of interesting companies have emerged in this space: Popshoplive, talkshoplive®, Bambuser, buywith, Firework, ShopShops, NTWRK, Whatnot, CommentSold, and Livescale. There are challenges to consider too: fragmented platforms, difficulties creating compelling content, and logistics that hinder growth. The Artemis Fund is eager to meet startups addressing these challenges head on, especially those exploring single platform solutions. If this sounds like you or someone you know, comment below or DM me! #livecommerce #ecommerce #interactiveshopping