Amazon has launched sales of real-world products on Roblox for the first time with a new shoppable gaming experience created by game developers, The Gang in partnership with Amazon’s in-house creative team.
The Amazon Holiday Gift Shop pop-up allows US players to buy real-world holiday gifts through their Amazon accounts without leaving Roblox. This e-commerce component is brought to life using Amazon Anywhere technology and is the first real-world commerce marketplace on Roblox featuring over 40 cross-category products from various brands.
The Gang has created Amazon holiday experiences on Roblox for the past four years. This year’s experience focuses on cultural traditions from around the world and offers fresh quests, challenges and exclusive rewards, bringing to life Amazon’s “Every Thing for Every Holiday.” Campaign.
Amazon’s move into real-world e-commerce on Roblox is part of its latest experience in the virtual world, which brings to life the iconic Amazon Holiday Kids Gift Book. “Amazon’s Great Holiday Climb” is a gamified world where players join Fox and the woodland crew to build the Holiday Traditions Tower, unlocking new levels each week. Each new level spotlights a global celebration such as Diwali, Dia de Muertos, Hanukkah or Christmas. Players can also compete in themed mini-games and earn rewards from major toy brands.
The experience will feature a range of coveted UGC (user-generated content) avatar items - digital accessories and outfits created by Amazon, The Gang and popular community creators like WhoseTrade - which are available for players to redeem and wear across Roblox.
Within the experience, the ‘Amazon Holiday Gift Shop’ allows players in the US who are over 18 to buy real-world holiday gifts and exclusive reward backed Robux digital gift cards through their Amazon accounts without leaving Roblox.
The experience integrates Amazon’s real-world e-commerce platform directly into Roblox gameplay. Players can shop physical products from the Roblox pop-up shop. Hasbro's iconic games and toys from Amazon's Holiday Kids Gift Book are also extending into the experience this year. Players can enjoy classic games like Connect 4 Frenzy reimagined for Roblox, earn free UGC from brands like Furby and purchase real products directly in the experience.
An in-person pop-up activation in New York city featuring larger than life products from brands like Barbie, Transformers, Elmer’s, and Wicked extending right out of giant pages from the catalogue also extends into Roblox- bridging physical and digital in a first of its kind, innovative way.
Jo Shoesmith, Amazon Chief Creative Officer, said, “Leveraging next-gen social platforms like Roblox to extend the life and interactivity with the IP we’ve built in these characters through our Holiday Kids Gift Book over the years has built brand love and engagement in a way not achievable through traditional channels. Leveraging our own technology like Amazon Anywhere and AWS to deepen the integration and partnership with Roblox bringing real-world commerce to life where our customers are actively engaging is an obvious next step we’re excited to be leading the way on.”
Max Proctor, CEO, The Gang, said, “Gaming has traditionally been seen as a top-of-funnel channel for marketers so it's incredibly exciting to see Amazon offering real-world commerce within its gaming environments to start proving out direct ROI for brands' gaming investments. With the scale of Amazon and the reach of Roblox, this could be a real game-changer for the medium.”
