We Need Your Help to Spread the Word About Us!

Dear Fans,

The holiday shopping season is in full swing. Response to our new social networking features has been positive and we're getting new registered users every day. But we still need your help to spread the word about us.

As the first and only virtual, 3D shopping mall, we're cool and fun. It's the kind of stuff most of us have only dreamed of, but we're real and up and running.

Please register today and invite your friends to join in the fun. Create a persona that reminds you of you or something totally different, depending on your mood. Schedule a mall date to meet your best buds in the mall.

To be sure you get what YOU want this season by creating your "I Want It" list.

It's fun and it's free.

Thanks for helping us spread the word. See you in the mall!

-virtualEmark

Announcing: Our "Put Something Extra Under the Tree Gift Card Giveaway!"

In celebration of our launch and in the spirit of the season, we're pleased to announce the first of many contests: The virtualEshopping.com "Put Something Extra Under the Tree Gift Card Giveaway!

On December, 23, 2009, we will give a $US500. Visa Gift Card to a lucky registered shopper among all those who earn 500 or more eBucks on the virtualEshopping.com site. No purchase required. Registration on the site is required.

Here is the summary of how eBucks are earned on the site as seen on the Contest link on the profile page of a registered user:

Here are the Contest Details.

So if you haven't registered, do so asap and win that $500 Gift Card!

As always, we welcome your feedback here or at support@virtualeshopping.com.

-virtualEMark

Special Events in the Mall

Come join us for live special events in our main atrium. We're starting out with presentations on our jumbotrons on topics of interest to shoppers - fashion tips, wedding planning, sports and outdoors, technology.

Experts will share their expertise and will be present in persona form live on stage to take your questions and chat with those attending the event.



We plan to book bands for concerts, celebrities, and other events. There's no limit to what we can do!

Do you have an area of expertise that you'd like to share with our audience? Do you have an informative youtube video that could be the basis for a live event?

Are you a performer who likes to share your talents? Contact us with all ideas here or at support@virtualeshopping.com.

-virtualEmark

Persona Pic's On Profile Pages

We're rolling out the new enhancements on virtualEshopping.com. Our new social networking features are fun and exciting to see come to fruition. Not just your run of the mill site, we're bringing forward our 3D mall elements to our 2D profile pages.

That means instead of a photo for your profile page, you have a snapshot of your persona that you created in the mall:

Every time you change your persona in the mall, it will update on your profile page and in all your friends lists with you in it. So you can change your look as you wish. Much better than in real life, huh? People do post old pictures of themselves on Facebook, etc., but where else can totally change the way you look on demand? ;)

With your friends list, all your friends' profile pic's are persona snapshots too.

Pretty fun, huh? Let us know what you think - either here or at support@virtualEshopping.com.

-virtualEmark

Launch and New Personas!

Hi all,

Yesterday was the day of our our second launch (sounds like a "second coming," doesn't it ;) and we're truly excited about our new offerings. I'll have more to announce in the coming days but today I'd like to highlight our new persona offerings, created by Daniel Brown and Michael Price, implemented by programmer Brad Gianulis.

When you register as a shopper, you load the free mall software and enter the mall. Clicking on the persona editor button on the left column gives you the ability to create your persona for the mall, which also updates on your 2D profile page.

The persona editor allows you to customize your persona from 12 persona styles, allowing you to change the color of the shirt, pants, hair and skin.

After you give yourself a screen name in the mall, you're ready to go. Save your persona selection and click the return to mall button.

I'll let the pictures tell it all:

Have fun creating your persona and meeting your friends in the mall.

As always, we want to know what you think. Let us know here or at support@virtualEshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Shopping Tips!

One of our favorite new features is the Shopping Tips section on the profile page. Not your ordinary chat function, Shopping Tips is a place to get and share some of your best finds.

For example, we just learned of Acer's newly launched 3D laptop last week. Incredibly, they timed their launch with our re-launch of our new and improved virtualEshopping site!

So I posted my note on Shopping Tips below:

Note that you can view the entire list of shopping tips by clicking the "More" link at the bottom and you can screen by friends, singles and all view at the top.

Check it out, add your best shopping tips and check out.

As always, we encourage your suggestions here or email us at support@virtualeshopping.com.

-virtualEmark

How to Add Your Own Favorite Store

We have over 150 stores in our mall but we want to give you the opportunity to share your favorites - whether they are currently in our mall or not. So when you're choosing your favorite stores from our aphabetical directory, if one of your favorites is not among them, we give you a way to customize your list to add out of mall stores.

When you click the select favorite stores link on your profile page, you will see a customize link at the bottom of the directory page.

Note that our upload system only supports .jpg and .png images. Many logo's on web pages are in .gif or .bmp format. So if you can't find a logo in either of our two supported formats, one option is to do a google search for the logo of the store you want. Select the images link on google and type a search for the logo of say, Best Buy. Find a .jpg image of the logo and right click on the image to save it to your desktop.

You may want to change the name from "images.jpg" to bestbuy.jpg so it will be easier for you to see and select later.

Next you'll upload the image from your desktop into the system by clicking the browse button on the upload screen.

If you've done it correctly, you'll see the logo in the upload screen. Then, enter the URL (web address) of the store (ex: http://www.bestbuy.com/) and the name of the store, "Best Buy."

Then you'll see your logo appear in your favorite stores list of logos.

Cool, huh?! You can always change the order of your favorites and remember, only the first seven display on your profile page.

When you select a favorite store that is not in our system, we send them an email with your name (but not your contact information) that tells them you have added them as a favorite and invites them to put a store in our mall. You can see the email that is sent by clicking on the "see what you'll send them" link on the upload screen.

Have fun with this new social shopping tool and as always, let us know what you think at support@virtualEshopping.com.

-virtualEmark

Inviting Friends

Inviting friends to join you in virtualEshopping.com is easy and we give three ways to find and invite your friends to create an account and so they can meet you in the mall.

First, you can find your friends who are already registered with us. Click the invite friends link beneath your friends list on your profile page.

Simply type in their name, city, state, etc., to see if they are already members. If so, invite them and they will appear in your friends list when they accept your invitation.


Secondly, you can invite new friends that you have in your address books of your web-based email accounts. We support the major ones like yahoo, gmail, hotmail, and aol.

Pick your web-based email account, enter your login/pw for that account at right, then a list of your address book friends appears. Select any/all and click invite. You may do multiple web-based email accounts in the same invitation.

You can customize your invitation with a personal message. We always want to offer transparency, so you can preview the email that you will send them with your invitation.

Lastly, we offer you a tool to simply enter the email address of friends you'd like to invite.

So don't let your friends miss out on the fun of virtualEshopping.com! Invite them today so you can share your favorite stores, your "I want it/I got it" stuff, and invite them for a mall date soon.

We want to make your experience in virtualEshopping.com fun and easy. Please send us suggestions at support@virtualEshopping.com or comment below.

- virtualEmark

Security Settings

We want you to be confident, comfortable and safe with your participation in virtualEshopping.com. We give you the opportunity to customize who can see your profile and hence, communicate with you.

See the settings at the bottom the edit profile page. You were able to set them up initially and you can modify them at any time.

In addition, when you are in the mall, you can block someone trying to chat with you that you are uncomfortable with. You simply click on the person's screen name in the chat screen and click the "block" button to block them for that session.

If you ever feel that you are being threatened or hassled on virtualEshopping.com, please report it promptly to support@virtualeshopping.com. We want you to feel safe and secure when using the site.

-virtualEmark

Special Events

Like any mall, you'd expect us to host special events on a regular basis. We don't plan to disappoint! At least weekly, we'll host a special event - a live guest with a video, music groups, experts with timely topics, celebrities - on one of our two main stages. You'll see a video on demand presentation and the guests will appear live, in persona form, to answer questions from the audience in real time.

Here are a few examples of our pre-launch invited guests to give you an idea of some of the topics we envision. Many will be shopping related.

Here's one of our two main stages:

Come join us each week for our special live events in the mall!

- virtualEmark

My Favorite Stores

Share your favorite stores with your friends from our 150+ current roster of web retailers or add your own favorites if they are not currently in the mall. Once you select your favorite stores, they display at the bottom of your profile page.

To create your personalized favorite stores list, click the "Select favorite stores" link on the bottom of your profile page. Then, select your favorites from our alphabetical list of stores and click the "save" button.

If you don't see one of your favorite stores as a participant in our mall, click the link at the bottom of the store selection page as highlighted below.

For your customized favorite store, upload an image of their logo as directed in the screen below, along with their web address and the name of the store.

Next, select the order of all your favorites.

Note: Only your first seven (7) favorites will display on your profile page. The rest will appear in order on the overflow page accessed by clicking the "more" link on your profile page.

When you add a a customized favorite store that is not currently in our mall, we will send them an email on your behalf, inviting them to check out the mall to become a full member to create a storefront and other opportunities. (We will not give them your contact information.)

So have some fun and show your friends your favorite stores. Change them and move them around.

And as always, let us know what you think by commenting or emailing us at support@virtualEshopping.com!

-virtualEmark

One Woman's Experience at the Mall vs. VirtualEShopping.com

Why go to the mall when you can shop in your PJ's while the kids are asleep? Meet your friends in the mall and chat, window shop, see special events, collect coupons, people watch and meet new people. All from your desktop!

Let us know what you think by commenting below or contact us at support@virtualEshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Schedule a Mall Shopping Date!

A new feature we're adding with this release of virtualEshopping.com is the ability to shedule a mall shopping date with your friends. You click the "invite more friends" link in the friends section of your profile page and select the last tab on the right. You schedule your mall shopping date and select the people (who must be registered users) who you want to include in your group.



Our system sends everyone on your list an email and asks them to RSVP. You'll get notices of who is going to attend and who cannot and a reminder email will be sent 24 hours prior to the mall date. You can check the status of who's coming by clicking the "Mall Dates" link next to your persona pic in the upper left of the profile page.

Give it a try and let us know what you think! Comment below or email us at support@virtualeshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Billboards and Kiosks

Other features you'll see in the virtualEshopping mall include billboards and kiosks.

Billboards are large windows that can contain any of the elements found in the windows of storefronts: fixed images, slideshows (with up to 10 images), audio, video, and coupons. Similar also to the storefront windows, when you click on one of the billboards, you are transported to the webpage of the featured item or to the homepage of the advertiser.

Here are a couple of screenshots of billboards in the mall:

Kiosks are essentially small billboards with the exact same functionality. They are scattered throughout the mall.

Here's a screenshot of a kiosk:

Clicking on billboards and kiosks in the mall are a great way to find new advertisers you've never heard of or connect with those advertisers you love!

Let us know what you think! Comment below or contact us at support@virtualEshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Collecting Coupons

One of the many cool features in virtualEshopping.com is the presence of coupons. Advertisers can post them in a storefront window or in the window of a mall cart, billboard or kiosk.

In the Gamefly mall cart below, notice the logo hovering above the salesbot's head. Such an image indicates that she is holding a coupon for you. If you hover on the image, you'll see an barcode icon, which appears on hover on any window or salesbot that has a coupon.

When you click on the coupon image, the following window pops up with details of the coupon offer. If you click the add button at the bottom of the window, your coupon is added to your queue.

Select the coupon offers you want to save and click the print button at the bottom to print out your coupon offers. Use any redemption code provided to redeem your coupon on the advertiser's website. It's that simple. Pretty cool, huh?

Let us know what you think. Comment below or contact us at support@virtualeshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Mall Carts Display Small Items

Mall carts are another feature in the 3D mall. Some refer to them as "kiosks" but we have reserved that term for another feature in our mall.

A mall cart in the virtualEshopping 3D mall is an advertising opportunity for makers of small items like jewelry, cell phones, sunglasses, etc., to feature selected items from their catelog. Each mall cart contains 20 interactive windowsthat can display fixed images, slideshows with up to 10 slides, video or audio clips and coupons.

Salesbots and sales personas (see yesterday's post for storefronts for a full description of these features) can also be seen in a mall cart if an advertiser creates them.

There are four different mall cart designs and several different orientations for the windows.

Here are a few from the mall:

Like with a storefront, when you click on any of the images, you are transported to the webpage of the item on the advertiser's 2D website.

Please let us know if you have questions. Contact us at support@virtualeshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Let's Look at a Storefront

Let's look at the different elements in the mall. First, let's review a basic storefront. Like in a "physical" mall, we have two basic types of storefronts. Anchor stores are the large ones at the end of a wing. The smaller storefronts in the other parts of the mall are referred to as perimeter stores.

Macy's anchor store

Ebags perimeter store

When you click on the doors of the storefront, the homepage of the advertiser opens in a new browser window.

When you click on an item in the window, you are transported to the 2D webpage of that item on the advertiser's website. So at the outset of the development of our site, we are a 3D mall that directs shoppers to the 2D websites of our advertisers. Yes, plan to add 3D stores behind the storefronts and have the technology to do so. We're approaching advertisers now to find interest.Each of the windows of a storefront can contain a fixed image, a slideshow with up to 10 slides, video, audio and coupons. If there is a video, audio or coupon in a storefront window, an icon of a video camera, music tunes, or a bar code indicates the existence of each when you hover on the window containing one of them.

Each storefront can also have a salesbot or a live sales persona out in front. A salesbot is an virtual salesperson who is not live in real time that can contain a recorded audio message or a coupon. A live sales persona is backed up by a live person, who can chat with customers in front of the store.

So a storefront in our virtual mall is a way to introduce or remind shoppers in our mall about the store. Standard retailers are primarily featured in the mall currently but we welcome any web retailer or service provider to join the mall. New participating advertisers pay per click for traffic driven to their 2D websites. We'll go into this further in another post as well as regarding opportunities for advertisers to create 3D stores to go behind their mall storefronts.

As always, we value your feedback and suggestions. Please contact us at support@virtualeshopping.com.

- virtualEmark

Let's Meet in the Mall!

Let's not go too far into the social networking features without showing you the heart and soul of our site - the 3D mall itself. This is where we're breaking new ground. To the best of our knowledge, we created the first, operational virtual, 3D shopping mall. I'll share the origins of the idea in a later post but for now, suffice it to say that we began development in December of 2005 and initially launched in July of 2008.

To visit the mall, one must first load the free software on your PC (sorry, Mac's not supported. borrow your parent's PC ;) Instructions for loading the mall software are at the Installation Guide Button next to the Load Mall Button on the main homepage. There's also a load mall button on the profile page in the upper right corner.

Once you load the free software, a launch button is installed in the lower right of your computer screen. It will appear each time you start your computer. This is how you enter the mall each time. Click anywhere in the center of the button to launch the mall.

You'll first encounter an entry screen. If you have registered on the website and have an account, you can enter your login/pw and enter as a registered users. If not, you can either go to the web pages and register or enter as a guest. Guests cannot create personas or collect coupons but can do anything else in the mall.

We have limited the number of malls to a main mall at present, but we'll add more - specialty malls (men, women, teens) and city malls - over time.

Click the main mall and wait a minute for it to load (or do something else. you'll hear mall noise when you have entered.)

You enter the mall in the main atrium.

You move around in the mall using your arrow keys: left, right, forwards and backwards. We'll look around in our next post but feel free to explore on your own.

As always, if you have questions, please contact us at support@virtualeshopping.com. We're open to your ideas, so please share them generously!

- virtualEmark

My Dates To Remember

Another neat social networking feature we're adding is "My Dates To Remember." On your profile page, you can list up to six special dates to share with friends and family so they won't forget your birthday and anniversary - again!



The add dates tool lets you customize your occasions and pick a date from the calendar.

When a friend clicks the more button on the profile page, it takes them to a dedicated page with all your special dates and even shows them a list of things in your "I Want It/I Got It" section so they can see what and what not to buy you if they wish to get you a gift for the occasion. It's like having your own gift registry - and not restricted by store!

Have fun and let us know if you have suggestions!

- virtualEmark