How InReality Solutions Helped IWC Schaffhausen Singapore Bridge Luxury Retail and E-Commerce

Project Overview

Client	IWC Schaffhausen Singapore
Industry	Luxury Watches & Retail
Location	Singapore
Solution	Interactive Luxury Virtual Store
Project Completed	2022
Boutique Size	Approximately 150 m²
Panoramic Locations	20+
Interactive Products	Approximately 75 SKUs
Photography	High-Resolution DSLR Panoramic Photography
Development Period	Approximately 2 Months
Scope	Complete End-to-End Photography, Development & Deployment
E-Commerce Integration	Dynamic SKU-Level Product Integration
Video Content	Brand Films, Collection Videos & Product Videos
Appointment Functionality	Video Consultation Booking
Devices	Desktop, Mobile, Tablet & Compatible VR Devices
Primary Objective	Bridge Physical Luxury Retail and Digital Commerce

On This Page (26)

1. The Challenge: Luxury Retail During a Period of Digital Disruption
2. The Opportunity: Creating a Second Boutique Online
3. Why a Conventional Virtual Tour Was Not Enough
4. Luxury-Grade High-Resolution Panoramic Photography
5. Strategic Panoramic Placement
6. Capturing the Boutique Outside Operational Hours
7. Overcoming Glass and Reflection Challenges
8. Making Approximately 75 Individual Watches Interactive
9. Dynamic E-Commerce Integration
10. From Virtual Exploration to Online Purchase
11. Preserving Product Discovery in an Online Environment
12. Embedded Videos Inside the Boutique Environment
13. Connecting Physical Space with Digital Content
14. Booking Personal Video Consultations
15. Supporting Personalized Luxury Sales Online
16. Appointment Generation During and After the Pandemic
17. Custom Navigation and UI/UX
18. Deep Sharing
19. VR Compatibility
20. A Complete End-to-End Project
21. Completing the Project in Approximately Two Months
22. Supporting the Virtual Store After Launch
23. The Changing Role of the Virtual Store After COVID-19
24. The Client Response
25. The Results
26. More Than a Luxury Virtual Tour

The Challenge: Luxury Retail During a Period of Digital Disruption

Luxury retail has traditionally been built around the physical boutique experience.

Customers visit a store.

They explore different collections.

They inspect products closely.

They interact with sales associates.

They ask questions.

They compare different models.

They experience the atmosphere of the brand.

The environment itself forms part of the customer journey.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted this traditional retail model.

Customers were visiting shopping malls less frequently.

Shopping behavior increasingly shifted online.

Personal interactions between customers and sales associates also became more digital.

For luxury retailers, this created a particular challenge.

A conventional e-commerce website could display products.

But it could not necessarily recreate the experience of entering a luxury boutique, exploring different collections, discovering products naturally, and interacting with a sales team.

IWC Schaffhausen Singapore needed a way to help bridge this gap.

The Opportunity: Creating a Second Boutique Online

The concept behind the project was to transform the physical IWC boutique into an interactive digital retail experience.

Instead of asking customers to choose between visiting a physical boutique and shopping through conventional e-commerce, the virtual store brought elements of both experiences together.

Customers could:

• Enter the real IWC boutique virtually
• Move through the physical retail environment
• Explore the complete watch collection
• Inspect products through high-resolution imagery
• Click individual watches
• Access detailed product information
• View product photography
• Review specifications
• See pricing information
• Shop through the integrated e-commerce experience
• Watch brand and collection videos
• Book a personal video consultation

The objective was to create an additional digital retail channel that preserved more of the physical boutique experience.

Why a Conventional Virtual Tour Was Not Enough

A standard virtual tour would have allowed customers to look around the store.

That was not sufficient.

Luxury watches are highly detailed products.

Customers need to see:

• Watch faces
• Case designs
• Materials
• Straps
• Product details
• Collection differences
• Display arrangements

The photography therefore needed to provide significantly greater detail than a conventional virtual tour captured using a standard consumer 360° camera.

The platform also needed to do more than simply display the boutique.

It needed to connect the physical retail environment with IWC’s existing digital commerce infrastructure.

This required a combination of:

• High-resolution photography
• Panoramic stitching
• Interactive development
• Individual SKU tagging
• Dynamic e-commerce integration
• Embedded video
• Appointment functionality
• Custom UI/UX

The final experience needed to function as a digital extension of the physical boutique.

Luxury-Grade High-Resolution Panoramic Photography

One of the most important requirements of the project was image quality.

Approximately 20 panoramic locations were captured throughout the 150 m² boutique.

Rather than relying on conventional one-shot 360° cameras, InReality Solutions used DSLR photography to capture the environment.

Multiple high-resolution photographs were captured from each panoramic location and subsequently stitched together to create the complete 360° environments.

This approach allowed the virtual store to provide significantly greater image detail.

Users could explore the boutique and zoom into the displays while maintaining sufficient clarity to better inspect the watches and retail environment.

Strategic Panoramic Placement

The relatively compact size of the boutique did not mean fewer panoramic locations were required.

In fact, the opposite was true.

Approximately 20 panoramic positions were strategically captured throughout the 150 m² space.

The reason was product visibility.

If panoramic locations were positioned too far apart, users would not have sufficient visual access to individual watches and collections.

The InReality Solutions team therefore needed to carefully determine where each panorama should be captured.

The objective was to balance:

• Smooth navigation
• Product visibility
• Image quality
• Boutique coverage
• Natural exploration

This allowed users to move through the store while remaining sufficiently close to the watch displays.

Capturing the Boutique Outside Operational Hours

The photography process needed to be conducted without disrupting normal retail operations.

The InReality Solutions team therefore entered the boutique during the mall’s non-operational hours.

This provided a limited photography window.

Our team needed to work efficiently to:

• Prepare the photography equipment
• Capture each planned location
• Maintain visual consistency
• Manage reflections
• Ensure complete store coverage
• Capture sufficient source photography
• Work within the available mall access period

Careful planning before the photography process helped ensure the team could capture the required imagery efficiently.

Overcoming Glass and Reflection Challenges

Luxury watch boutiques present a particular photography challenge.

Many products are displayed behind glass.

The watches themselves contain highly reflective surfaces.

The boutique incorporates lighting designed for physical retail rather than panoramic photography.

Incorrect equipment or photography techniques can result in:

• Excessive reflections
• Poor product visibility
• Loss of detail
• Inconsistent lighting
• Reduced image clarity

InReality Solutions used appropriate professional photography equipment and techniques to manage these challenges.

Following capture, the imagery underwent post-production and color grading to ensure visual consistency, clarity, and a presentation suitable for a luxury retail environment.

Making Approximately 75 Individual Watches Interactive

The completed virtual store incorporated approximately 75 individual interactive SKUs.

Every watch displayed inside the boutique was incorporated into the experience.

Users could explore the physical environment and select individual watches that interested them.

Clicking a watch provided access to the corresponding product information available through IWC’s existing e-commerce platform.

This included information such as:

• Product name
• Product photography
• Pricing
• Specifications
• Product details
• Other information available on the relevant product page

The result was a direct connection between physical product discovery and digital product information.

Dynamic E-Commerce Integration

One of the most technically important aspects of the project was the integration with IWC’s existing e-commerce platform.

InReality Solutions did not manually recreate product information pages for approximately 75 individual watches.

Instead, the virtual store dynamically pulled information from the corresponding SKU pages on the existing IWC e-commerce website.

Using embedded WebFrames, customers could access the relevant product page directly within the virtual experience.

This provided several advantages.

Product information remained connected to IWC’s existing e-commerce infrastructure.

Customers could move from product discovery to detailed information without leaving the immersive environment.

And the virtual store did not require the creation of a completely separate e-commerce database.

From Virtual Exploration to Online Purchase

The customer journey was designed to be straightforward.

Enter the Boutique → Explore the Collections → Discover a Watch → Select the Product → View Detailed Information → Purchase Online

When users clicked on an individual watch, the corresponding e-commerce product page was displayed within the virtual store.

Customers could review the product information and continue through the purchasing process.

The WebFrame integration allowed the transaction journey to remain connected to the virtual experience.

This helped transform the platform from a passive virtual tour into an interactive digital retail channel.

Preserving Product Discovery in an Online Environment

Conventional e-commerce is typically built around search and product listings.

Customers search for a watch.

They open a product page.

They view information.

They move to another product page.

The virtual store provided a different experience.

Customers could browse.

They could move through the boutique.

They could see how collections were displayed.

They could discover products visually.

They could encounter watches they may not initially have searched for.

This more closely replicated the exploratory nature of physical luxury retail.

Embedded Videos Inside the Boutique Environment

InReality Solutions also incorporated approximately four to five videos throughout the virtual store.

The video content included:

• Brand films
• Product videos
• Collection videos
• Marketing content

Rather than placing these videos inside a conventional menu, they were integrated directly into the physical boutique environment.

For example, a wall located near a particular collection could display a relevant collection video.

More general areas could feature IWC brand films.

The videos played directly within the virtual environment.

This transformed otherwise static areas of the boutique into interactive digital content surfaces.

Connecting Physical Space with Digital Content

The video functionality demonstrated another important advantage of virtual retail.

A digital representation of a physical store does not need to be limited by what exists in the real environment.

The physical boutique could be enhanced digitally.

Static walls could display video.

Watch displays could become interactive.

Individual products could connect to e-commerce.

The boutique could incorporate appointment booking.

This created a hybrid experience combining:

Physical Environment + Digital Content + E-Commerce + Personalized Sales

Booking Personal Video Consultations

Luxury retail frequently involves personalized service.

Customers may have questions.

They may want recommendations.

They may want to compare different models.

They may want additional information before making a purchasing decision.

The IWC virtual store therefore incorporated appointment booking functionality.

Users could access an embedded booking form and schedule a video consultation with the sales team.

The booking process collected relevant information including:

• Customer name
• Contact details
• Product of interest
• Preferred appointment date
• Preferred appointment time

This allowed the virtual experience to generate opportunities for direct interaction between prospective customers and IWC sales associates.

Supporting Personalized Luxury Sales Online

The video consultation functionality was particularly relevant within the broader COVID-19 retail environment.

Customers who were not visiting the physical boutique could still:

• Explore the store
• Discover products
• Research individual watches
• Identify products of interest
• Schedule an appointment
• Speak directly with a sales associate

This helped preserve an important element of the luxury retail experience: personalized human interaction.

Appointment Generation During and After the Pandemic

According to feedback provided directly by the IWC Singapore boutique team, the virtual store generated video consultation appointments.

During the pandemic period, appointment activity through the platform was approximately four times higher than the level experienced after normal physical retail activity resumed.

As customers returned to shopping malls and physical stores, the importance of the virtual channel naturally declined.

However, even after the pandemic period, the virtual store continued generating approximately one appointment booking per week.

This demonstrated that the experience continued to provide value even after its original business context had changed.

Custom Navigation and UI/UX

The virtual store incorporated custom navigation and user interface elements designed to make the experience easy to explore.

Users needed to be able to:

• Move through the boutique
• Navigate between areas
• Discover products
• Select watches
• Access e-commerce information
• View videos
• Book appointments

The UI/UX was designed to support these interactions without overwhelming the user.

The same responsive experience was designed to function across desktop and mobile devices.

Deep Sharing

The virtual store also incorporated Deep Sharing functionality.

Specific locations and viewing directions within the boutique could be shared directly.

Instead of simply sending someone to the beginning of the virtual store, users could share a specific area or view.

This could be useful when discussing:

• A particular collection
• A watch display
• A section of the boutique
• Specific products

The recipient could access the relevant view directly.

VR Compatibility

The IWC Schaffhausen Singapore virtual store was also compatible with supported VR devices.

This allowed the experience to be viewed in a more immersive format, further recreating the feeling of entering and exploring the physical boutique.

A Complete End-to-End Project

InReality Solutions handled the complete project from initial photography to final deployment.

Our responsibilities included:

• Project planning
• Photography strategy
• DSLR photography
• High-resolution panoramic capture
• Panoramic stitching
• Image editing
• Color grading
• Reflection management
• UI/UX design
• Virtual store development
• Approximately 75 individual SKU integrations
• Dynamic e-commerce integration
• WebFrame development
• Video integration
• Appointment booking integration
• Navigation
• Deep Sharing
• Mobile optimization
• Desktop optimization
• VR compatibility
• Testing
• Deployment

The complete experience was delivered by InReality Solutions.

Completing the Project in Approximately Two Months

The IWC virtual store took approximately two months to complete.

Although the boutique itself was approximately 150 m², the complexity of the project came from the level of interactivity required.

Approximately 75 individual products needed to be:

• Identified
• Matched with their corresponding online SKU
• Made interactive
• Connected to the correct e-commerce product page
• Tested

The team also needed to integrate video content, appointment functionality, navigation, and the overall user experience.

The project therefore required significantly more development than a conventional virtual tour.

Supporting the Virtual Store After Launch

Following deployment, InReality Solutions continued supporting and maintaining the virtual store.

As an SKU-level retail experience, maintaining the platform presented an inherent challenge.

Luxury retail inventory changes.

Products sell.

New collections launch.

Store displays change.

Unlike the category-based approach InReality Solutions later implemented for projects such as MPL, each individual IWC watch was connected to a specific product.

Updating the virtual store could therefore require:

• New photography
• New panoramic stitching
• New SKU tagging
• Updated product connections

InReality Solutions continued maintaining the experience for approximately six months after normal physical retail activity began returning.

The Changing Role of the Virtual Store After COVID-19

The business environment eventually changed.

Customers returned to shopping malls.

Physical boutique visits increased.

The need for a regularly updated virtual alternative to the physical store became less significant.

Because the experience was built around individual SKUs, continuously updating the platform as products and displays changed would also require ongoing photography and development.

IWC therefore eventually stopped regularly updating the virtual store.

However, this does not diminish the business value of the project.

The experience was created to address a specific challenge at a specific point in time.

And according to the feedback provided by the IWC Singapore team, it successfully helped bridge the gap between online and physical retail during that period.

The Client Response

The IWC Singapore team particularly valued the ability to create a second version of the physical boutique online.

Customers could experience the real store remotely.

They could explore the collection.

They could inspect individual watches.

They could access detailed product information.

They could shop.

And they could book a personal consultation.

The experience helped connect the physical and digital sides of the luxury retail customer journey.

The Results

The IWC Schaffhausen Singapore project did not provide InReality Solutions with access to online sales, conversion, or Google Analytics data.

However, direct feedback from the boutique team provided a clear indication of how the platform was being used.

The virtual store:

• Provided an alternative digital retail channel during the COVID-19 period
• Allowed customers to remotely explore the physical boutique
• Made approximately 75 individual watches interactive
• Connected individual products directly to IWC’s e-commerce platform
• Allowed customers to complete online purchases
• Integrated personalized video consultation booking
• Generated significantly higher appointment activity during the pandemic period
• Continued generating approximately one appointment per week after conventional physical retail activity returned

For InReality Solutions, the project also represented an important milestone.

It was one of our earliest opportunities to work with a major international luxury brand and demonstrate our ability to deliver the photography quality, technical integration, and overall execution required for a luxury retail environment.

More Than a Luxury Virtual Tour

The IWC Schaffhausen Singapore project demonstrates how immersive technology can help retailers respond to changes in customer behavior.

The project began with:

• A physical luxury boutique
• Approximately 150 m² of retail space
• A changing retail environment
• Reduced physical store traffic
• Increasingly digital customer behavior
• Approximately 75 individual watches
• An existing e-commerce infrastructure

InReality Solutions transformed these elements into:

• A high-resolution virtual boutique
• 20+ panoramic locations
• Approximately 75 interactive SKUs
• Dynamic e-commerce integration
• Embedded online purchasing
• Brand films
• Collection videos
• Product videos
• Appointment booking
• Video consultations
• Deep Sharing
• Responsive desktop and mobile access
• VR compatibility

The result was a digital extension of the IWC Schaffhausen Singapore boutique that connected immersive product discovery, e-commerce, and personalized luxury sales consultations within a single customer experience.