Circuit City enters Second Life

Electronics retailer to launch virtual store in the online digital world.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumer electronics retailer Circuit City said Friday it is opening up a virtual store in the three-dimensional online world of Second Life.

The retailer said the virtual store will carry 3-D versions of products available in real Circuit City stores that customers will be able to browse. They'll also be able to place orders for real items to be delivered to their home.

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Retailers like Circuit City are exploring the three-dimensional virtual world of Second Life.

"These immersive environments provide an interactive forum for testing and feedback as we focus on the next generation of customer service," said Bill McCorey, chief information officer at Circuit City.

Second Life is an online virtual world that users access through their computer. After downloading free software and creating an avatar - a digital representation of themselves in the world - users can create objects in the world.

For instance, in Second Life customers can recreate their living rooms in the digital world - making it easier for them to decide what size TV to buy or where to place it, Circuit City said.

Circuit City (Charts) developed the store in partnership with IBM (Charts), which is launching a complex in Second Life next week.

Circuit City joins the growing list of companies which have established a presence in Second Life. Automakers like GM (Charts), Toyota (Charts) and Nissan (Charts) have all set up virtual dealerships in the booming online community.


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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.