Dr. Barbara Sturm Launches Virtual Store for Skin Care Products

• Dr. Barbara Sturm is launching a virtual store for its skin care products.
• The store will include four virtual rooms, including a “super anti-aging lab” and a “next-gen microbiotic room.” 
• The virtual experience was created by Emperia, the same company that recently developed a virtual store for Bloomingdale’s. 

Dr. Barbara Sturm in December launched a new 3D virtual store that it says will help customers learn about and shop its array of products. 

In a Dec. 1 release, the Germany-based skin care retailer said the virtual store was created by Emperia, a company that makes virtual metaverse experiences and stores for various retailers. Emperia recently developed a virtual shopping experience for Bloomingdale’s ahead of the holiday shopping season, as Retail Leader previously reported. The tech company previously worked with other big-name retailers, like Dior, Burberry and Sunglass Hut. 

The Dr. Barbara Sturm virtual store exists to complement its physical brick-and-mortar locations, enabling shoppers to experience its products virtually, the skin care retailer said. According to the release, the metaverse store exists in a virtual spa environment that’s separated into four unique experiences or “rooms.” The rooms include a main hall, the “super anti-aging lab,” a “next-gen microbiotic room” and an anti-inflammatory room, the release said. The anti-inflammatory room also includes access to a virtual tropical beach. 

"Dr. Sturm has always taken a groundbreaking approach when it comes to the digital world,” said Olga Dogadkina, the CEO of Emperia, in the release. “Dr. Sturm’s work with Emperia andthe new virtual store is a direct reflection of this mindset, adding a new dimension of interactivity to the online shopping experience, one that perfectly aligns with Dr. Sturm's unique brand approach."

The metaverse store will allow customers to purchase Dr. Barbara Sturm products, experience exclusive content and learn about the brand’s innovationse. The experience is built with skin care education in mind to help Dr. Sturm shoppers find products tailored to their needs, the release said.

“While our brick-and-mortar spa and boutiques will always serve as permanent places of skin care discovery, treatments and education, this beautiful virtual space with Emperia offers a new and exciting way in which clients can interact with us,” said Dr. Barbara Sturm, the German aesthetics doctor who is the founder and CEO of Molecular Cosmetics, which owns the retail banner.

Retailers across sectors have invested in the metaverse, creating various types of digital experiences meant to complement their physical and other online store experiences. J.C. Penney Beauty, the department store’s in-store beauty experience, earlier this year launched a virtual experience that allowed customers to get skin care recommendations and virtually try on makeup products, Retail Leader reported.