Crocs expands metaverse presence with Jibbitz store

The specialty footwear brand is expanding its collaboration with experiential commerce platform Obsess to offer a new metaverse shopping experience for its Jibbitz charms.

The Crocs Jibbitz Experience includes the brand’s first-ever 3D “Jibbitz Customizer,” a feature engineered by Obsess to provide consumers with a mix-and-match tool to create their own custom pair of Crocs with Jibbitz charms, which can then be purchased directly from the metaverse store.

The store features five virtual departments, each themed for a different Jibbitz assortment type such as Letters to Food and Animals.The Jibbitz Experience also features an arcade-style claw machine game, in which users can collect virtual Jibbitz in order to win physical Jibbitz that cost one cent.

The Jibbitz Customizer includes 3D replicas of Jibbitz charms and clogs in a variety of men's and women’s sizes. Shoppers can add up to 26 different 3D charms to a clog model and then proceed to purchase the physical version of their custom product.

According to Crocs, the addition of the Jibbitz Customizer is part to its broader goal of educating consumers on the types of Jibbitz charms available for purchase, while showcasing how to apply and style charms on the its clog product. The metaverse store is available via mobile and desktop web.

“Obsess has built a strong partnership with Crocs over the past year, whereby both of our teams are empowered to lean into innovation and new virtual technologies, like the Jibbitz Customizer,” said Neha Singh, founder and CEO of Obsess. “The Jibbitz Experience is a perfect example of marrying personalization with discovery-driven shopping, in order to drive prolonged customer value through virtual.”

Crocs swims in immersive virtual waters

The new Crocs Jibbitz Experience is not the specialty footwear brand’s only metaverse or immersive virtual offering. In July 2022, Crocs collaborated with rap music artist Saweetie to design her own custom Jibbitz  charms. s part of the launch, Crocs and Saweetie opened an interactive virtual store based on technology from Obsess. The immersive experience features a digital avatar of Saweetie welcoming customers to explore the 3D metaverse environment. 

In October 2021, the company launched a global partnership with Bitmoji, the platform for creating personalized digital avatars. Through this activation, customers were able to outfit their Bitmoji avatars with items from a digital collection of Crocs shoes and Jibbitz charms.

The content was available to consumers on Snapchat and the Bitmoji app.Events including Crocs trivia on social media and in select Crocs retail stores also took place,.and customers could share Crocs-centric content on social media, with a chance to receive surprise items or be featured on Crocs' social media channels.

And during the September New York Fashion Week event, Crocs partnered with buy now, pay later platform Afterpay to reveal an exclusive collection of Jibbitz charms, at a Times Square digital “Dropshop” augmented reality-based shopping experience. Customers could also use Snapchat to virtually try the Jibbitz charms on a pair of Black Classic Crocs before the Dropshop event, via a new Afterpay Snapchat Lens.