Remember when shopping online became a thing? I know that I, for one, briefly imagined myself walking through a virtual reality shopping mall and selecting products off of digital shelves and racks. In reality, shopping online is a lot more basic, with products and pictures listed like they would be in a catalogue.
Snobal hopes to change that. The creators of Snobal asked themselves, “Why do online stores still resemble product catalogues? It’s kind of boring. Why can’t online shopping be fun, like computer games are?”
How Snobal came to be
The “WordPress” of virtual stores
Snobal hopes to become the world’s first platform for creating real time 3D virtual eCommerce experiences. They want consumers, like video gamers, to be able to walk through virtual stores, galleries, and museums, and for shopping online to be an interactive, social experience.
Named for Jane Snowball, the woman who, in 1984 at age 74, made the world’s first online purchase, Snobal hopes to collaborate with online retailers and game designers and artists to advance online shopping into a new era of fun and interactivity.
Describing itself as a kind of “Wordpress” for creating 3D shopping experiences, Snobal is a “plug n’ play” platform that allows users to add products and payment points to a virtual environment that consumers can “walk” through on their mobile device, computer, or in in a virtual reality headset.
Like WordPress, it’s designed with an easy-to-use interface so that you don’t have to be a tech wiz to create a 3D store. However, because it’s an open API, developers can still get in on enhancing its applications and services.
Early access and real estate implications
Snobal is currently accepting requests for an invitation to participate in its Early Access Program, and to contribute to the development of the platform before it becomes available to the general public. This advancement in the online shopping experience could be huge for home builders and the real estate sector, particularly brands with repetitive inventory (think builders, remodelers, staging professionals, and so forth). What real estate implications can you see?
#3Drealestate
Ellen Vessels, a Staff Writer at The American Genius, is respected for their wide range of work, with a focus on generational marketing and business trends. Ellen is also a performance artist when not writing, and has a passion for sustainability, social justice, and the arts.
