A new way to shop online

Are you sick of leaving your house to shop? Sick of waiting in long lines at the register to pay? Now you won’t have to.

Everyone loves to shop and in this day and age online shopping is becoming increasingly popular. Typical online shopping would be visiting each individual website and choosing particular items you wish to purchase. However, now there is a new way to shop online.

 Alex Danieli, a 15 year-old Sydney boy has created the unthinkable; a virtual 360° mall, which enables customers to virtually stroll through an animated shopping centre. According to retailbiz.com, “the 360° mall replicates a lifelike representation of a shopping centre; complete with an elevator, advertising and all the shop fit-outs, where users can ‘walk’ through a shop door”. The mall also allows users to see other virtual shoppers. Once users have been within the mall for a number of minutes a screen appears asking where you would like to go or what products you would like to purchase.

The virtual mall is set to have the price competitive stores on the lower level, mid market stores on the middle level and high end stores on the upper level where shoppers arrive in a lift with glass doors that open to their desired high end store.

I think this is a clever way to re-invent online shopping. Rather than visiting websites, the mall delivers the ultimate online shopping experience right where you are, whether you use it on your computer, iPad, iPhone or Android phone; it is all compatible.

After 2 years in the making the mall has over 90 stores within its visual portal, including SABA and Sportscraft. There are also plans to launch in Asia, Europe, UK and the United States. This virtual mall is expected to launch on October 1^st 2012 to be up and running for the Christmas period, where shoppers need to be up 24/7.

Could this be the answer to online shopping?  Would you shop at this online mall once released in October?