Meta will open an experiential pop-up store for its Ray-Ban smart glasses. This store will allow customers to try out the smart glasses and even get them customized.
Where will Meta Ray-Ban pop-up store open
Meta has been betting big with Augmented Reality. Its smart glasses with Meta AI, made in collaboration with Ray-Ban, are being eyed by Google as well. The company intends to spread the word about these wearable devices.
Such stores can allow new customers to experience these wearables and the features they offer. Incidentally, Meta tested the “Meta Lab” experience at this year’s Connect 2024. The social media giant boasted that over 90 percent of Connect attendees visited the Meta Lab. What’s even more promising is that the booth managed to convert 25% of the visitors into customers.
The temporary store will open today, on 8th November 2024 in Los Angeles and will be around through the end of this year. In other words, the experiential store for Ray-Ban smart glasses could be an experiment that Meta might replicate on a larger scale later.
What will the experiential store offer?
The Meta Lab had quite an elaborate setup. It offered a very personalized and interactive experience. The pop-up experiential store for the Ray-Ban smart glasses might not have the same structure and layout. However, visitors to this store can try out the glasses, and even get them customized.
The temporary store will also host local events with various creators, including stand-up comedians. Meta will also conduct live podcasts and cooking classes at the store. It would be safe to presume that the Ray-Ban smart glasses would feature prominently at these events.
According to The Verge, it’s themed to tie-in with LA and Southern Californian lowrider culture. Meta has reportedly setup an “immersion experience room”, where people would be able to view an AI-generated Malibu beach.
Temporary stores or time-bound experience centers have been an emerging concept for tech companies. Opening, staffing, and maintaining permanent storefronts is a very costly affair. Additionally, such stores need to stock, store, and display inventory, which is another recurring expense.
Meta seems to be experimenting with such temporary stores. The miniature Meta Lab in Los Angeles would close on December 31. However, the company has reportedly planned another such experience center in Phoenix that could open at the end of January 2025.
Meta is collaborating with Ray-Ban for future iterations of smart glasses. If these experience centers prove successful, these companies could lease permanent retail spaces.
2024-11-08 15:08:22