Will Mobile Games and Fashion E-commerce Merge?
In everyday life, we like to express our personality, originality, and creativity through the clothes that we wear. As players, we tend to do the same through avatars, character skins, and outfits. For the longest time in game development history, the appearance of our avatars was designed by artists, which is not a bad thing and can, in fact, lead to unique and beautiful designs. But imagine if your avatar’s clothing and overall appearance were created by professional stylists from all over the world! How would the gaming world look then?
Clothes define identities and tell stories in both the physical and digital worlds. Professional fashion brands have always been known for making their designs a big part of people’s lives. As digital fashion permeates our daily lives, we will see an increase in strong personal style. However, physical items have space and durability limitations. Every season they fade as new trends take their place. Meanwhile, a digital wardrobe has endless space and clothes don’t get worn out.
A virtual wardrobe is only a mouse click, tap, or voice command away. Players can combine items from different styles, decades, inspirations, and even fiction. When we move away from the creative constraints imposed by the physical world, digital fashion will become the ultimate expression of one’s identity.
Digital wardrobes give consumers more freedom to experiment with their identity and styles at a fraction of the cost of what traditional shopping allows us to do. Or free, for that matter. Also, from the comfort of your home or during your daily commute. With a digital wardrobe, you can freely express yourself and be recognized for your efforts by a community of like-minded people. And that community is rapidly expanding.
Over 1.5 million monthly users of the mobile game “Pocket Styler” are actively experimenting with various looks and styles. They appreciate the creative and fashionable freedom that a gamified virtual wardrobe can provide. The game is so engaging that it has spread beyond the app – the official Pocket Styler Facebook account has over 150 thousand fans, and the independent fan community is quickly approaching 10 thousand fashion lovers who post dozens of posts and hundreds of comments each day.
Though the “Pocket Styler” game’s main purpose is a friendly style competition, it shares many similarities with fashion e-commerce stores. “We can’t stray too far from what the audience knows and understands. Players use their earned currency to purchase digital items. We attempted to replicate the clothing categories and filtering system seen on a clothing e-commerce site. This way, our players are already familiar with the purchasing process and can spend more time on gameplay,” explains Pocket Styler producer Povilas Katkevičius.
Since the game’s release, many players have requested the inclusion of real-brand clothing in the game. “Pocket Styler” finally launched the first real brand integration after a year of growing the audience and calibrating the game. Agne Kuzmickaite, a rising designer from Lithuania, has debuted her “Butterfly Chic” collection. The experiment exceeded engagement expectations and drove over 100,000 users to the designers’ e-shop in the first month.
When compared to traditional media channels, brand integrations in Pocket Styler have several advantages. For example, the strength of the relationship built with the brand during the interaction. All players are fashion enthusiasts who interact with items by using them in compositions, finding the best fit for the items, adapting them to various events, sharing outfits, and receiving recognition. No doubt, they build a much stronger relationship with a brand, than through any passive media channel.
Following the approval of the first collaboration by the community, designer, and game team, the second will be released soon. “Pocket Styler” has begun the exciting journey of connecting brands and games. Will it become a part of your fashion story?
