For the Chinese Valentine`s Day, Macy`s offered an unforgettable shopping experience with the use of Virtual Reality (VR). Similarly innovative as the use of 3D configurators.

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The US department store chain Macy`s has long been regarded as a pioneer of digitization. They were the first to test iBeacons and now the company is using technology to make Valentine`s Day in China even more attractive. The American department store giant has established a shopping channel for Chinese customers via Alibaba that allows them to browse Macy`s and shop to their heart`s content. As the US business news site Quartz reports, Macy`s has also set up a virtual shop on Taobao. It is a peer-to-peer website similar to eBay.

VR on Valentine`s Day: an eye-catcher.

Valentine`s Day is China`s biggest shopping day. A total of 17.8 billion US dollars were spent on Alibaba alone on Valentine`s Day 2016. For comparison: Black Friday and Cyber Monday together generated only 13.5 billion US dollars in total retail sales in the USA last year. In other words: China and ist steadily growing middle class represent an enormous potential that can easily be tapped via Alibaba.

But it wasn`t just the fast money that drove Macy`s commitment to providing the Chinese with an online shopping experience in the US – as Quartz reports. Through Valentine`s Day, Macy wants to increase its visibility in the Chinese market.

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Head-mounted display for just 15 cents.

Alibaba started selling 150,000 VR headsets at a unit price of 15 cents cardboard, similar to Google`s Cardboard. From 1 to 11 November 2016, customers were able to browse and shop virtually at Macy`s New York flagship store with VR glasses and the Taobao app. On Valentine`s Day itself, Chinese customers were offered the same large discounts in the VR app, which generate lively sales on shopping days such as Valentine`s Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Other international brands such as Target, Costco and Tokyo Otaku Mode are experimenting with VR shopping on Alibaba, with Valentine`s Day being just a test to see how the approach is gaining ground. The American companies believe that buying through VR offers a completely new customer experience and supports stronger customer loyalty.

What makes virtual shopping even more attractive is that Alibaba has developed a pay app that lets you pay with a simple nod of the head.