This Cyber Monday, eCommerce giant Shopify is upping the ante with a special collaboration with the famous Las Vegas Sphere.
In a joint effort, the two are displaying real-time data visualization on the Exosphere, giving viewers in Las Vegas a chance to witness the power of global commerce live on the gigantic digital canvas.
Sales numbers and order arcs grace the screen as people all over the world place their orders and Shopify merchants make their sales.
Once a purchase is made, an arc of light flies from the point of order to its destination, showing the transaction as it's made in real time. Additionally, fireworks will show on the map for every merchant making their first sale on Shopify.
BFCM Live on the @SphereVegas
— tobi lutke (@tobi) November 29, 2024
And I mean truly live! It turns out that the Sphere can be powered by the Unreal Engine, so of course we had to go there. Place an order from your phone, see it arc in front of you! pic.twitter.com/ecsNIQhVic
Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke shared his thoughts on X, saying that the latest efforts were powered using the software tool Unreal Engine. The Black Friday post has since been viewed nearly 300,000 times.
The efforts mark the second time the online platform has worked with the Sin City monument to display its Black Friday shopping data.
Overall, the company's brand marketing strategy is an effective display of Shopify's sheer size and scale, being one of the biggest retailers in the U.S. at present.
Going Global in an Immersive Way
Shopify's Sphere efforts come as part of its wider Black Friday Cyber Monday campaign, bringing the Live Globe to outer space.
Through an interactive web portal, the eCommerce platform allows users to experience the Live Globe like never before, enabling them to play with the built-in synth, translating real-time sales happening all over the world into sounds.
Shopify shared in a blog post how "something extraordinary" can be expected from the company this year:
"Our team of engineers and data scientists brought the Live Globe into another dimension. It’s the perfect way to see the impact of millions of Shopify merchants smashing sales goals and delighting customers worldwide."
The Live Globe can also be experienced through either the Apple Vision Pro or the Quest 3/3S VR headset, making it a unique immersive experience.
Other interactive elements and new features in the web portal include a gravity toggle, where users can turn off the gravity and witness built-in physics systems take over.
The portal will also reveal more real-time data: from live sales metrics to webhooks per minute and CDN requests per minute.
With the holiday season coming to a peak, many brands are aiming to end the year with a bang.
Previously, GoDaddy announced its new AI platform "Airo," which will make its debut in next year's Super Bowl.