Amazon Anywhere levels up shopping

Ecommerce giant Amazon has entered the metaverse as it this week introduced “Amazon Anywhere,” a shopping experience that enables customers to purchase physical inside video games, virtual worlds, and mobile apps. The experience offers next level engagement, integrating the Amazon store and checkout process into apps or games.

“We’re creating a new landscape for shoppable entertainment and digital experiences while continuing to meet our customers where they are, with the products they love,” Amazon wrote on its blog. “Most shopping in virtual worlds is currently limited to purchases of virtual currency and in-game digital items, with no easy path to purchase physical products. We want to change that.”

Amazon Anywhere launched with Pokemon Go creators Niantic’s new game Peridot. Peridot is an augmented reality phone game in which users raise cute cartoon creatures as pets, using the app to feed, walk, play and interact with them through the phone camera.

Players who link their Amazon account to Peridot can browse and purchase game-branded products such as apparel, phone accessories and pillows featuring artwork of the creatures in the game all within the game itself. Product details, availability, Prime eligibility and estimated delivery are all displayed and customers check out via their linked Amazon account from within the game. Products will ship as they would with any other Amazon purchase.

“Never before has it been so easy for our fans to purchase branded physical merchandise directly from within the experience, without ever having to leave the game,” Ziah Fogel, director of production for Peridot said.

While currently only invite only, Amazon is seeking interest from developers who “build experiences that can be empowered by including Amazon Anywhere,” to further implement the experience into other virtual worlds.

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