rewrite this title eTail West 2025: Top Insights for Retailers

The Obsess team attended eTail Palm Springs 2025, where industry leaders gathered to explore the future of digital innovation, customer experience and the evolving retail landscape. As part of the event, Neha Singh, Chief Innovation Officer at Infinite Reality and CEO of Obsess, joined Ruchika Julapalli, VP of Digital Experience at J.Crew, for a compelling session on the future customer journey and the transformative power of immersive technologies. Missed the session? Here are the key insights:

The Rise of the Gaming Consumer

Singh highlighted a major shift in consumer behavior: 80% of today’s consumers identify as gamers, a figure that climbs to over 90% among Gen Z. As gaming culture continues to shape digital behavior, consumers expect dynamic and next-level brand experiences. Brands that recognize and adapt to this shift are well-positioned to capture the attention—and spending power—of this highly engaged demographic. To learn more about the gaming trends to keep top of mind for 2025, download the infographic.

Emotional Engagement as a Revenue Driver

The session underscored the power of emotional connection in driving consumer behavior. Emotionally connected buyers spend 2.5 times more annually, recommend brands at a 58% higher rate, and have a 306% higher customer lifetime value. Virtual 3D experiences are emerging as some of the most effective tools for fostering these emotional bonds, offering consumers memorable interactions that move beyond the traditional “explore-scroll-add to cart” shopping model.

Beyond engagement, immersive experiences are driving measurable business results, according to a study conducted by Coresight Research in partnership with Obsess.

Customer Acquisition: 67% of retailers implementing virtual stores reported acquiring new customers.

Increased Engagement: 77% saw an uptick in product clicks.

Sales Uplift: 88% experienced a boost in sales.

J.Crew’s Immersive Innovations

Julapalli shared J.Crew’s latest ventures into immersive retail, highlighting the brand’s approach to blending storytelling with innovation. J.Crew has introduced multiple seasonal web-based virtual experiences in collaboration with Obsess, most recently the Virtual Ski Chalet—a 360° holiday-themed shopping destination with interactive games and shoppable products.

In 2024, with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, J.Crew introduced the Virtual Closet, a premiere visionOS app in the fashion sector, solidifying its position as an early innovator in spatial computing. Designed to provide an interactive, intuitive and personalized styling experience, the J.Crew Virtual Closet reimagines how customers engage with the brand, reinforcing the storytelling element and creating more meaningful customer interactions. Read more about the experience here.

Strategic Considerations for Brands

For brands eager to explore immersive technologies, Singh and Julapalli offered a few pointers:

Define Objectives: Clearly identify the goal—whether it’s innovation, brand awareness, event engagement, conversion optimization or another strategic priority.

Purposeful Development: Align immersive initiatives with clear objectives to ensure focused and effective execution.

Data-Driven Iteration: Continuously analyze user behavior to refine and optimize immersive experiences over time.

Looking Ahead: Trends Shaping Retail

AI-Driven Personalization: AI-driven personalization remains a key driver of retail innovation. Beyond analyzing past behaviors, retailers are now leveraging predictive analytics and generative AI to anticipate future purchasing patterns, enabling proactive product recommendations and optimized inventory management. By integrating AI across the customer journey—from personalized marketing to dynamic pricing—brands can foster deeper consumer connections while driving sustainable growth.

Immersive Commerce Accessibility: Immersive commerce is becoming more accessible and efficient than ever. Advancements in AI and extended reality (XR) technologies have significantly lowered the barriers to entry for retailers. The global market for virtual reality in retail is expected to grow from $5.7 billion in 2024 to $24.1 billion by 2030, reflecting a 27% compound annual growth rate. This expansion is fueled by declining hardware costs and the rise of user-friendly platforms, allowing brands to rapidly develop and deploy 3D interactive shopping environments.

Social Commerce Expansion: Social media platforms are evolving into comprehensive shopping ecosystems, seamlessly integrating entertainment content to foster highly engaged communities. Brands are collaborating with creators to develop curated collections, leveraging influencer-driven trust and authenticity. Additionally, platforms like Roblox are redefining social commerce, enabling brands to create immersive digital storefronts where purchases are a natural part of the user journey.

To learn more about Obsess-powered virtual experiences, email us at contact@obsessvr.com or book a demo.