Roblox makes billions of dollars a year selling virtual items like avatar skins and digital house decor, much of which is designed by users (who also make big bucks from sales). Now it’s hoping that buyer traffic will extend to IRL items, too.
The platform has partnered with Shopify as its first ecommerce integration partner, it revealed at annual developer conference RDC. The integration will put a “Buy Now” button on items within the game that, when tapped, will take users to a digital storefront where they can buy the tangible, physical version of the item (a hoodie or poster, for example) with real money and have it shipped to their door.
“Our vision for the Roblox economy is that it will ultimately model the physical world, with the ability to go above and beyond by overcoming physical limitations,” Stephanie Latham, Roblox’s VP of Global Brand Partnerships and Advertising, told Modern Retail. “We believe this vision holds true for shopping on Roblox, as well.”
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We’ve written before about how Roblox was at the forefront of the whole metaverse trend, and was able to lap companies like Facebook (ahem, “Meta“) because it had already built an infrastructure where players could live digital second lives within countless experiences, engaging in everything from hockey to home design to hotel management. While most metaverse entrants have lost interest, Roblox is still at the forefront, and this Shopify integration–which begins as a pilot soon, with a full rollout in early 2025–is a way for it to potentially monetize the metaverse, something other companies couldn’t figure out.
Latham added that with the Shopify partnership, Roblox sees itself as a sort of digital third space: “We envision this way of shopping to be a lot more similar for our users to a fun and social experience of visiting a mall with friends–unlike browsing or scrolling through items on your own,” she said. “Users come across shopping opportunities on Roblox while already immersed in environments tied to their interests–be it exploring their favorite virtual town or competing in a driving simulator or a fashion contest.”
The goal is to recognize what users are interested in and show them products that fit those niches. Driving simulator enjoyer? Car posters. Fashion contest partaker? New clothes.
While this is Roblox’s biggest ecommerce move to date, it has dabbled previously: This past April, it partnered with Walmart and E.l.f. Cosmetics to create digital storefronts selling real items. And, just last month, it teamed up with Warner Bros. and Fandango to sell tickets to Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice.
“Commerce opens up a whole new opportunity for brands and retailers to engage existing and new fans with their IP,” Latham told Modern Retail. “We already have retailers and brands like E.l.f. and Walmart on the platform, and as commerce ramps up in the future, they see an opportunity to turn their brand affinity and consumer engagement on Roblox into an effortless shopping experience.”
