Ralph Lauren, the American fashion brand, has announced that its new luxury-focused concept store in Miami’s Design District will accept cryptocurrency payments and serve as the focal point for a targeted push into the city’s active Web3 community. The Miami storefront will be Ralph Lauren’s first store to ever accept cryptocurrency as payment, with items available for purchase in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and other cryptocurrencies via a partnership with crypto payments service provider BitPay.
The Miami store will offer products from the company’s Men’s Purple and Women’s Collection luxury labels, as well as one-of-a-kind handbags and other accessories exclusive to the Miami store. The store’s design also leans into a more modern and digital aesthetic, with interactive screens that let users browse the brand’s catalog and book styling appointments.
Palm trees and eternal sunshine. Welcome to #RLxPoolsuite. For the first time, @RalphLauren celebrates Miami’s vibrant energy in collaboration with @Poolsuite #RLMiami pic.twitter.com/FdhZc1bzwe
— Ralph Lauren (@RalphLauren) April 4, 2023
The Miami storefront will host “a series of innovative and immersive moments” throughout the year to kickstart its season of interactive customer experiences, with Ralph Lauren partnering with Miami-based Web3 leisure community Poolsuite to offer Poolsuite x Ralph Lauren NFT as a gift to all Poolsuite community members. The NFT will unlock access to an exclusive in-person event, which will be one component of a three-day immersive experience at a waterfront private estate in Miami in late April. Over those three days, a number of Web3 activations will be hosted for influencers, customers, and Poolsuite x Ralph Lauren NFT holders to commemorate the Miami location’s opening.
This move by Ralph Lauren comes at a time when Miami is a hotbed of crypto activity, having embraced the technology for years. The city previously launched a MiamiCoin crypto token in 2021, and a number of dominant Web3 companies, including Yuga Labs, the $4 billion company behind the dominant NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, are based in the oceanside city. The annual Bitcoin Conference and increasingly NFT-centric Art Basel Miami Beach events are also in town.
Introducing our new #RLMiami store, the first Ralph Lauren store to accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
— Ralph Lauren (@RalphLauren) April 4, 2023
In partnership with @BitPay, customers can make purchases with different cryptocurrencies including #Bitcoin, #Ethereum and #MATIC by @0xPolygonLabs and more. pic.twitter.com/YUHhsDRexB
The move by Ralph Lauren to accept cryptocurrency payments and offer NFTs as gifts shows a growing trend of established brands, particularly luxury lifestyle ones, offering their wares to select, curated groups of high-impact customers, via NFTs and other blockchain-based tools. This marks a significant shift towards Web3 and crypto in the world of commerce, as it opens up new possibilities for brands to reach out to their customers and engage with them in new and innovative ways.
As more and more companies, particularly luxury brands, embrace cryptocurrency payments and NFTs, it seems that the future of commerce will become increasingly intertwined with Web3 and crypto. It is likely that we will see more brands following in the footsteps of Ralph Lauren, offering exclusive products and experiences to their customers through NFTs and other blockchain-based tools. As Miami continues to grow as a hub for crypto activity, it is likely that the city will continue to be a testing ground for new and innovative ways to use crypto in commerce.
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