Cult online retailer Black Milk Clothing has launched what it’s claiming is a world-first interactive 3D display to launch its new clothing line (based on the Harry Potter novels, called the Hogwarts Collection) aimed at tackling the online retail challenge of displaying product catalogues on small screens.

The patented 3D technology has been developed by Adelaide ecommerce company Thereitis and is, in effect, an interactive visual method of displaying and refining search results. It allows for many more items to fit into limited screen real estate, and could replace lists as the most effective way of browsing online stores, especially on mobile devices.

Black Milk devotees, known as ‘Sharkies’, are able to control the way they view different aspects of the range, and click through to purchase. Cameron Parker, marketing and operations manager of Black Milk Clothing, says ‘Sharkies’ are usually well versed in social media. “We like to push the edges of what’s possible online – previously we used Pinterest for previews but the highly dynamic, visual nature of Thereitisis so much better,” Parker says.

“It’s highly user friendly – you only have to look at our fans’ social media posts to see how they enjoyed it, making screen grabs and sharing with their friends – ‘I can make [the models] dance and spin!’.”

Full height images are displayed in a custom iFrame launched from the Black Milk homepage. Users can zoom, pan and spin to find the item they want and click on an item to see more details then make a purchase.

Thereitis CEO Nigel Standish says the 3D Display experience was immersive, displaying the Hogwarts Collection in a way that communicates Black Milk Clothing’s innovation.
“You really cannot find the Black Milk style anywhere else – for the Sharkies community, it’s as much an experience as a brand,” he says.

“The community is very expressive in social media about what they do and do not like, and Black Milk listens. From our perspective, we could not have a better scenario for showcasing Thereitis – a massively successful, community-driven clothing icon and arguably the most famous fictional characters of our century.”