Fantasy Shopper Gets $3.3M from Accel Partners and NEA
Fashion Gaming Continues to Grow
London-based startup Fantasy Shopper has been a sweeping success in the world of online gaming since its October 2011 launch. The game that affords aspiring fashionistas the ability to virtually shop to their heart’s content is actually leading to real sales for featured retailers. The firm recently gained $3.3M from Accel Partners and NEA to build out engineering and expand beyond London; first to New York then LA, San Francisco and internationally. The projectable potential within gaming in the fashion industry is a growing trend in recent years and is growing with increasing speed and, according to industry expert Macala Wright, women are making up a majority of gamers with “women ages of 35 and 44 accounting for the largest segment of tablet gamers, the second largest is 18 to 34. The third largest group is males. ”
Users can shop in virtual stores, which may exist in an online and/or brick and mortar format to build fantasy wardrobes. But how can they possibly afford this? Well, the game also awards users with up to 20 daily “paydays” including £100 for new purchases. When a purchase is made, friends can correspond regarding said acquisition and compare wardrobes. While no official number stands for the amount of users, the firm says that membership has grown over 200% month over month.
A game where users contemplate and make virtual purchases while building a wardrobe holds enormous potential and important implications for retailers internationally. While consulting other users of Fantasy Shopper regarding a virtual purchase, gamers are more likely to solidify feelings of certainty with a product given the amount of time spent with the garment in mind further reducing returns when purchased in reality.
Sonali de Rycker, Partner at Accel Partners stated in an interview, “From what we understand, about a third of all offline retail is influenced by online activity. Anyone that can better enable that or develop a proposition that drives online to offline is going to be big. We think Fantasy Shopper has a shot at being that company.”
At present, the game features over 100,000 virtual items from 40 retailers including clothing, accessories and sporting goods. The relationship forged between retailers and consumers is based on the perceived value of a garment and if a user has spent a considerable amount of time simmering over a beautiful dress, especially with the input of admiring friends, the consumer will justify the purchase with ease no matter how extravagant.
by Natalia Ignaczak
