American specialty retailer Pacsun opens virtual mall on Roblox

Pacworld allows players to create a unique hub, intersecting fashion technology and community. Within the social environment, customers find community in this space, leaning on the metaverse's strong network effects. Players are the owner and operators of a new mall, and it is their objective to make the mall as profitable and popular as possible. Players will be able to create and remove shops, upgrade the shops that do well, decorate the mall to try and attract more customers, and even invite their friends to visit their mall, the company said in a media release.

"Innovation and creativity are at the heart of Pacsun's brand voice, and we view our audience as the cultural pioneers of the future. As we are catering to a fully digital generation, we recognise that Gen Z values community and accessibility more than any other generation, and we joined Roblox to further build that connectivity with our consumers," said Brie Olson, president at Pacsun. "Considering that they leverage Roblox as a point of socialisation, we knew that in order to further our strong emotional resonance as a brand, we needed to continue to build alongside them in the gaming world."

Pacsun stepped into the NFT space with the introduction of the Pacsun Wave NFT in November 2021, followed by the Pac Mall Rats series in January 2022 and most recently PS Sunset in collaboration with Pakistani artist Sara Shakeel. The second drop of Pac Mall Rats has also debuted, representing 14 different Pacsun locations, as well as Reebok, Pacsun's first Pac Mall Rat based off of a brand partner. Locations in this wave of Pac Mall Rats include Glendale and Downey, CA, Orland Park, IL, St. George, UT, Raleigh, NC, New York City, NY, and more. Pac Mall Rats are available for auction now on Open Sea for one week.

In PACWORLD, players will be able to customize their malls with flair and aesthetics that can be purchased with their virtual income they earn in-experience. The starting point is a sunny beach island reminiscent of Pacsun's Southern California home base, where players can choose a plot for their personalized mall that they can build their stores onto. Shops are the primary aspect of the game, and each shop will generate its own virtual income to add to the player's overall virtual income earned in-experience. As a mall's popularity increases and is visited by more shoppers, modelled after their Roblox friends list, the players can continue to upgrade their mall by adding new fun shops and restaurants, along with decorations such as plants, furniture and murals, the release added.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KD)