What: Roblox, a digital space where young people play, learn and communicate in a world that is user-generated is gaining steam and a number of brands like Gucci, Nike and Forever 21 are on it.

Why is it important: The ability to purchase both digital and physical clothing creates different touchpoints for teen customers and can be an additional revenue opportunity to build brand recognition. Roblox is a means for companies to engage with the metaverse and get their brand identities in front of a younger audience.

The company has three major arms, roblox client, roblox studio and roblox cloud. Roblox Client, the application that allows users to explore 3D worlds, Roblox Studio, which allows developers and creators to build, publish and operate 3D experiences, and Roblox Cloud, which includes the services and infrastructure that powers the platform. Users create a unique avatar that can go across experiences, like games and events.

With 12 million daily active users on the platform in 2018 there were 31.1 million people were on the platform every day — and 54% of those users were under the age of 13 by 2020. When the company reported recent earnings, daily users increased to 45.5 million average daily users for fiscal 2021, an increase of 40% year over year.

Signing up for Roblox is free, along with most of the platform's experiences but users can use real-world currency to purchase Robux, the platform's digital currency. Robux allows people within the universe to purchase experiences and items for their avatar. If a retailer sells a digital hat with a logo, the user will wear the hat while visiting different experiences on the platform, and thereby show off the brand. Just like in the real world where people can sport labels and be influencers, avatars can wear items that are valuable within the digital world.

With so many young users on the platform every day, big brands are joining to create experiences for the plugged-in audience.

Jenn Szekely, managing partner at Coley Porter Bell says, “By getting to these younger audiences early, they are building affinity to brands they most likely would not be aware of yet. A presence on the platform demonstrates to existing audiences that a brand is on the pulse of immersive technologies.”

Retail is evolving, and as the metaverse moves forward, omnichannel is not only about physical retail and e-commerce. It’s now also the web 3.0, and a persistent digital world where millions upon millions of customers are spending significant time.

Retailers joining Roblox is a sure strategy to increase brand awareness and sales, as well as a great long-term plan that should be considered. Young consumers are no longer spending their time at the mall anymore, they are online and more and more in this digital space.

Roblox, an opportune marketing tool for retailers