Wonder Works Debuts an Immersive Virtual Toy Store Experience

The spread of COVID-19 is creating challenges across the country, and for independent toy stores, the biggest issue is the loss of foot traffic as the doors are closed.

For some, challenges are becoming opportunities, and Wonder Works — an independent toy store with three locations in South Carolina — has completely reinvented its shopping experience. Using immersive reality, shoppers can explore Wonder Works’ flagship location in the Belle Hall Shopping Center through an interactive virtual tour. Items marked with red dots open product videos while green dots link to shoppable pages on the Wonder Works website. Store owner Christine Osborne enlisted the help of H3 Photography to create the experience.

“We want to thank our customers for their continued support as we navigate this unprecedented time,” says Osborne. “We are working our hardest to continue stocking the newest and hottest toys.”

Osborne, who recently took park in the Toy Book‘s annual State of the Industry Q&A series, has been innovating independent toy retail for nearly three decades. Her stores have debuted innovative store-within-a-store experiences from Mattel and Melissa & Doug.

Wonder Works is open for phone orders and offers no-touch curbside pick-up and no-touch local porch delivery

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.